Synopsis:
It’s time to come home…
The Hull family has owned the Gallows Hill Winery for generations. The sprawling old house has long been perched on top of a hill overlooking the nearby town, jealously guarding the estate’s secrets. Their wine wins awards. Their business prospers. Their family thrives: until Hugh and Maria Hull enter the dark halls of Gallows Hill one last time…and are found dead the next morning.
People whisper that the curse has awakened once more.
It’s been more than a decade since Margot Hull last saw her childhood home. She was young enough when she was sent away that she barely remembers its dark passageways and secret corners. But now she’s returned to bury her parents and reconnect with the winery that is her family’s legacy—and the bloody truth of exactly what lies buried beneath the crumbling estate. Alone in the sprawling, dilapidated building, Margot is forced to come face to face with the horrors of the past—and realize that she may be the next victim of a house that never rests…
I have never read any of Darcy Coates novels. Saying that, this probably wasn’t the best “first book” to read by her. If a book is intriguing, I can probably read it within a week. However, it took me 2-3 weeks to read this one. It was slowwwwwwwwwww. The only reason I made myself read it was because of book club. Other than it being slow, the ending was just weird. I can’t say why or will expose spoilers.
Since this was my first book by Darcy Coates, I decided to read a few bad reviews on Amazon. I am glad I did for two reasons: 1) they agreed that is was slow, boring, predictable; 2) many said this was not her best book (so I will probably read another one of her books).
Saying all that…I decided to google Gallows Hill to see if I could find any reflections on the book. I am very familiar with the Salem Witch Trials (who isn’t) but didn’t realize the believed name of the hill (where the accused were hanged) was called Gallows Hill (which would totally explain the book) (click for article). Some say it was not Gallows Hill but Proctor’s Ledge (article). Here is one more article that may interest you (article) which talks about famed author Nathaniel Hawthorne’s connection to the Salem Witch Trials. It has been around 27 years since I studied Hawthorne (ouch…that makes me feel old). I am sure I learned about his background but totally forgot about his connections to Salem.
After my little research, I could probably re-read this book and read with a different perspective. Without giving spoilers, I believe she wrote this book to bring awareness to many wrongs of the past and how history still haunts us (not physically). Maybe that was her intent behind the book; maybe it wasn’t. Anyhoo… although the book was blah, I did enjoy looking up the history. Happy Reading!
Resources:
Salem’s Lost Gallows (archeology site)
Picture of Gallows Hill, Salem
House of Seven Gables (museum)…pretty sure I will have to go and re-read this book (it has been awhile)…I think it would be interesting to re-read after this book just to draw comparisons of author’s main viewpoint
In this link, read the “Description” and possibly find a parallel with this book
