Exploring Top Books of Shelfari

Jane Eyre is a first-person narrative of the title character, a small, plain-faced, intelligent and honest English orphan. The novel goes through five distinct stages: Jane's childhood at Gateshead, where she is abused by her aunt and cousins; her education at Lowood School, where she acquires friends and role models but also suffers privations; her time as the governess of Thornfield Manor, where she falls in... (more)

Rebecca

by Daphne du Maurier

Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again. . . With these words the reader is ushered into an isolated gray stone manse on the windswept Cornish coast, as the second Mrs. Maxim de Winter recalls the chilling events that transpired as she began her new life as the young bride of a husband she barely knew. For in every corner of every room in the immense, foreboding estate were phantoms of a time dead but not... (more)

Nine Coaches Waiting

by Mary Stewart

A governess in a French château encounters an apparent plot against her young charge's life in this unforgettably haunting and beautifully written suspense novel. When lovely Linda Martin first arrives at Château Valmy as an English governess to the nine-year-old Count Philippe de Valmy, the opulence and history surrounding her seems like a wondrous, ecstatic dream. But a palpable terror is crouching in the... (more)

The Phantom of the Opera

by Gaston Leroux

The novel that inspired the Lon Chaney film and the hit musical. "The wildest and most fantastic of tales ."--New York Times Book Review .

Castle of Otranto

by Horace Walpole

One of the first, great Gothic novels, and one of the most influential books in literary history, this thrilling tale abounds in adventure, suspense, and supernatural occurrences. In a realm where a villain reigns, mysterious events aid in fulfilling a prophecy that spells doom for the ruler and justice for the rightful heir.

A Long Fatal Love Chase

by Louisa May Alcott

"I'd gladly sell my soul to Satan for a year of freedom," cries impetuous Rosamond Vivian to her callous grandfather. Then, one stormy night, a brooding stranger appears in her remote island home, ready to take Rosamond to her word. Spellbound by the mysterious Philip Tempest, Rosamond is seduced with promises of love and freedom, then spirited away on Tempest's sumptuous yacht. But she soon finds herself... (more)

The Mysteries of Udolpho (Penguin Classics)

The Mysteries of Udolpho (Penguin Classics)

by Ann Ward Radcliffe, Terry Castle

With The Mysteries of Udolpho , Ann Radcliffe raised the Gothic romance to a new level and inspired a long line of imitators. Portraying her heroine's inner life, creating a thick atmosphere of fear, and providing a gripping plot that continues to thrill readers today, The Mysteries of Udolpho is the story of orphan Emily St. Aubert, who finds herself separated from the man she loves and confined within the... (more)

Mistress of Mellyn (Ulverscroft Large Print)

Mistress of Mellyn (Ulverscroft Large Print)

by Victoria Holt

As Martha Leigh approached the sprawling mansion of her new employer, Connan TreMellyn, an odd chill of apprehension overcame her. Soon whispers of past tragedy and present danger began to insinuate themselves into Martha's life. Powerless against her growing desire for Connan, she is drawn deeper into family secrets. But though evil lurks in the shadows, so does love -- and the freedom to find a golden promise of... (more)

On the Night of the Seventh Moon

by Victoria Holt

According to ancient Black Forest legend, on the Night of the Seventh Moon, Loke, the God of Mischief, is at large in the world. It is a night for festivity and joyful celebration. It is a night for singing and dancing. And it is a night for love. Helena Trant was enchanted by everything she found in the Black Forest -- especially its legends. But then, on the Night of the Seventh Moon, she started to live one of... (more)

Kirkland RevelsVictoria Holt

Kirkland Revels

by Victoria Holt

Kirkland Revels loomed high above the wild and eerie Yorkshire moors like a brooding stone fortress. To some there was an atmosphere of evil about the place, but to innocent young bride Catherine Rockwell, the mansion seemed magnificently romantic. She did not know then of the terrible secrets imprisoned behind its massive walls. Or that at the moment she had entered her new home, she had crossed the threshold of... (more)

Touch Not the Cat

by Mary Stewart, Kliton Nesturi

Bryony Ashley knows that her family's grand estate is both hell and paradise -- once elegant and beautiful, yet mired in debt and shrouded in shadow. Devastated by her father;s sudden strange death abroad, she is nonetheless relieved to learn the responsibility of running Ashley Court has fallen to a cousin. Still, her father's final, dire warning about a terrible family curse haunts her days and her dreams.

Airs Above Ground

by Mary Stewart

Vanessa March never thought to look for her missing husband in Vienna -- until she saw him in a newsreel shot there at the scene of a deadly fire. But her hunt for answers only leads to more sinister questions in a mysterious world of beautiful horses. And what waits for Vanessa in the shadows is more terrifying than anything she has ever encountered.

The Ivy Tree

by Mary Stewart

Mary Grey has nothing to look forward to except a future as colorless as her name. So if she looks, walks, and smiles so much like the glamorous missing heiress Annabel Winslow, why not be her for a little while? Because fairy tales do not come true...and someone wants Annabel to stay missing.

Wuthering Heights

by Emily Bronte

There are few more convincing, less sentimental accounts of love than Wuthering Heights. This is the story of a tormented foundling who falls in love with the daughter of his benefactor, and of the violence and misery that result from their thwarted longing for each other.

Silk Vendetta

by Victoria Holt

"It is quite possible that <this> is her most thrilling and compelling novel to date." RAVE REVIEWS As long as she can remember, the exquisite Lenore Cleremont has lived at The Silk House, the luxurious English country estate of the wealthy Sallonger family. Neither a slave nor a servant, she has grown into a young woman who has shown promise as a dress designer. But she has also won the heart of the two... (more)

The Shivering Sands

by Victoria Holt

Caroline Verlaine, the lovely young widow of a world-famous pianist, comes to the legend-haunted Stacy estate to investigate the disappearance of her sister, Roma. As Caroline falls under the spell of the Stacy family and its macabre past, she becomes aware that her sister must have discovered some deadly secret amid the nearby ruins -- a secret that cost Roma her life. A secret that now threatens Caroline . . .

Black Dagger Brotherhood: Book 2

Lover Eternal

by J. R. Ward

Within the brotherhood, Rhage is the vampire with the strongest appetite. He's the best fighter, the quickest to act on his impulses, and the most voracious lover-for inside him burns a ferocious curse cast by the Scribe Virgin. Possessed by this dark side, Rhage fears the times when his inner dragon is unleashed, making him a danger to everyone around him. When Mary Luce is unwittingly thrown into... (more)

Bride of Pendorric

by Philippa Carr

Favel Farington knew very little about her new husband. When they met in Capri, the dashing young heir to Pendorric had swept the lovely English girl into marriage with the sudden fierceness of a summer storm. It was all wonderfully exciting, until Favel discovered that someone was planning a very special place for her in the family -- in the crypt with the other legendary "brides of Pendorric" who had all died so... (more)

His Dark Kiss

by Eve Silver

Set high atop a hill, Manorbrier Castle is shrouded in darkness and savage rumours: No servant has ever survived for long...Stay away from the Round Tower...There's death there...And then there is the dark lord of the manor himself...a monster, they say, and a murderer...Sinner...Emma Parrish isn't easily frightened by hearsay. She's escaped a far worse fate in order to take a position as governess at Manorbrier.... (more)

Curse of the Kings

by Philippa Carr

For centuries the tombs of the Pharaos were haunted by a deadly curse. And when two eminent archaeologists have died mysteriously, Judith Osmond was certain that it was the curse at work. Then, overnight, her life changed. There was an unexpected inheritance. Then Tybalt, a young archaeologist and the man she adored, asked her to marry him. But Tybalt planned a honeymoon amid the tombs of the Pharoahs, and... (more)

Shelfari Book Activity

Tags: gothic romance

by Charlotte Bronte

by Daphne du Maurier

by Mary Stewart

by Gaston Leroux

by Horace Walpole

by Louisa May Alcott

by Ann Ward Radcliffe, Terry Castle

by Victoria Holt

by Victoria Holt

by Victoria Holt

by Mary Stewart, Kliton Nesturi

by Mary Stewart

by Mary Stewart

by Emily Bronte

by Victoria Holt

by Victoria Holt

by J. R. Ward

by Philippa Carr

by Eve Silver

by Philippa Carr