"Spooky Gothic!"

This gothic not only kept me riveted to my seat but it also kept me up very late at night until I had read the very last word! I, for one, am very glad that Gothics have made a comeback.

Catherine has lost everything she holds dear. Her young son drowned, her husband killed himself in his grief and her home on St. Simon's Island was lost during the civil war. Then she gets a very strange letter from her sister Elizabeth near New Orleans. Her sister tells her she's very afraid and that Catherine must come immediately.

Catherine decides she has nowhere else to go so she packs her meager belongings and makes the trek from Georgia to Louisiana. The closer she gets to Whispering Oaks Plantation, the more she is compelled to hurry. When she arrives, she finds that Eilzabeth has left with no clue as to where she's gone.

John McMahon, Elizabeth's husband, an enigmatic man at best tells Catherine that he has no need for her to be there. When Catherine tells him she has nowhere else to go and that she'd like to get to know her niece Rebecca, he reluctantly agrees to let her stay. Catherine finds things very strange and forbidding in his home and she also realizes that many people are keeping lots of secrets. Can she figure out what's going on before it's too late?

I simply could not put this book down. I found myself picking it up every chance I got and when I wasn't reading it, I found myself thinking about how the story would turn out. I sincerely hope that Karen White will give us more gothics!

Reviewed by Kathy Boswell
Posted September 23, 2001

Summary

WHISPERS OF GOODBYE is the story of Catherine deClaire Reed, alone in the world with nothing left to fear, and John McMahon, a man from whom Catherine unwillingly seeks protection, but who is intent on hiding a very dark secret.

Set against the backdrop of a Louisiana sugar plantation, admidst the humid air and cloying Spanish moss, Catherine must fight her growing passion for John to uncover the secrets he hides. But will her discoveries release her from her darkest nightmares or threaten her very life?