Review Detail

Set in mid-19th-century Mississippi, this retelling of the Brothers Grimm fairy tale "Bluebeard" almost immediately pulls the reader into the enchanting yet suffocating world of Wyndriven Abbey, where it's main character, Sophia, finds herself after her father's death. Thanks to her godfather, Monsieur Bernard de Cressac, Sophia is privileged at the tender age of 17 to be able to escape the difficulties which await her brothers and sister from having lost both of their parents. Instead, she is invited to join her godfather at his abbey and begin her education in living a life of luxury and leisure. Soon after her arrival, however, it becomes clear that her eccentric godfather has had more planned for her than she realized.

In spite of the somewhat predictable plot (I have read many but not all of the Grimm fairy tales, so this was one with which I was not familiar), Jane Nickerson manages, with her writing, to weave a world that is both frightening and absorbing, not missing any details in describing the rooms, the dresses, the food--in essence, the incredible grandeur of Wyndriven Abbey and the life de Cressac leads. It is because of the writing I stayed with the story. Having read stories of this nature before, the reader is probably going to be quick to tell the general plot--predatory, charming, powerful rich man can get whatever he wants and so uses it to get away with terrible secrets--but the character development, albeit slow-going, nevertheless built upon itself. Initially, I was bored with Sophia, but by the end of the book, she had truly blossomed into a strong and interesting woman. If you like historical fiction and mysteries, hers is a story you may thoroughly enjoy.