As a student of the classic 19th-century gothic novel, I like to read 21st-century gothic novels from time to time to see how well the seeds Ms. Radcliffe planted are flourishing. I’m happy to report that authors like Michelle Pillow are keeping the gothic tradition alive and well by utilizing standard gothic plot devices, but making them their own as gothic evolves into something more spiritual and less frightening than its creators may have intended. imagined at first.
Forget Me Not has all the classic gothic elements a reader could want, drawing heavily from those early novels for its setting and atmosphere. We can also define it as a regency novel, since it is set in England in 1812, when George IV was still Prince Regent of England. Today’s readers might call it paranormal instead of gothic, and of course it also falls under the category of romance novel.
The story begins when Isabel Drake and her sister Jane speculate as to whether Rothfield Park is haunted. The family has leased the manor house from its owner, the Marquess of Rothfield. Legend has it that during a fire, a boy and a servant died in the house. Jane claims that she has seen evidence of hauntings in the castle, but Isabel believes that Jane has simply let her imagination get the better of her after reading a “shilling surprise”. (Shilling shockers were popular short books in the 19th century that often plagiarized best-selling gothic novels and were abridged to make them affordable, costing just one shilling.) This scene is reminiscent of Jane Austen’s Northanger Abbey and the emotions Catherine Morland and Isabella Thorpe have. for reading “horrifying” novels by Mrs. Radcliffe and others.
Isabel, however, has bigger problems than ghosts. Her parents do not like how she treats her governess, so they have decided to hire a tutor approved by the colonel, nephew of the Marquess of Rothfield, with whom they plan to marry her. Isabel wants nothing to do with marrying the colonel or a new guardian.
Angry, Isabel goes riding and reaches the woods, where a thick fog is gathering. There she meets a mysterious boy who asks her to play with her, but Isabel refuses, scared. As she tries to return home, she has an accident with a tree branch and falls off her horse.
Isabel has no memory of the accident, but when she recovers, she discovers that her parents have left her alone in Rothfield with her new guardian, Dougal Weston. Here, I admit, my willing suspension of disbelief was challenged a bit: no self-respecting noble family would leave their daughter alone with servants and a handsome male tutor, but Michelle Pillow will provide some surprising explanations, and ultimately instance, credible. for this chain of events before the end of the novel.
Dougal Weston turns out to be unlike any tutor Isabel has hoped for. She doesn’t really teach him much of anything, she just asks him to read and then discuss with him what she read. Isabel soon begins to suspect that he is not a guardian, but someone with an ulterior motive for being in Rothfield.
However, Isabel falls in love with him and confesses that she now repeatedly sees the ghost boy. Dougal seems interested in the story of the house and the ghost boy, but he also tries to comfort Isabel and calm her fears. Comforting him ultimately goes a bit too far, though Isabel doesn’t object, and guess what, they have pretty nice sex. Before long, Isabel begins to consider how she might circumvent her social status and her expectations of marriage in order to run away and live in a country house with Dougal.
Eventually, however, Isabel begins to suspect that Dougal is only using her to learn more about the ghost boy. Dougal then asks Reverend Stillwell to talk to Isabel about the ghosts. Reverend Stillwell is a kind of medium who can communicate with the dead; he explains things to Isabel about ghosts that make her feel more comfortable, and she realizes that she’s not crazy. He will also encourage Isabel and Dougal to pursue happiness.
I can’t say more without revealing all the plot twists, but I’ll just say that I love how Michelle Pillow takes old gothic themes and turns them into new ones. Before the story ends, there is even a cursed man who has made a Faustian pact to gain knowledge from evil wizards in exchange for his soul. However, he can avoid going to hell if he captures other souls for the devil, a classic Victorian twist used earlier by authors such as George WM Reynolds in The Necromancer (1852). Pillow also draws on the conventions of Regency novels: there’s even a runaway marriage to Gretna Green, worthy of a Jane Austen novel. Finally, I didn’t see the final plot twist at the end, although I think I should have, but in any case, I loved it.
Forget Me Not isn’t exactly Jane Austen, but if you enjoyed books like Pride and Prejudice and Zombies or Mr. Darcy, Vampyre, Forget Me Not should give you plenty of ghostly delight. If you’re a fan of TV shows like The Ghost Whisperer or movies like The Sixth Sense, you’ll also find more enjoyable modern twists on ghosts and gothic in these pages. After you finish Forget Me Not, I suspect you’ll want to read more Michelle Pillow novels; Fortunately, she has written extensively in both the romance and paranormal genres.