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    The Widow of Pale Harbor
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    The Widow of Pale Harbor
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    The Widow of Pale Harbor
    Ebook386 pages7 hours

    The Widow of Pale Harbor

    By Hester Fox

    3.5/5

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    Currently unavailable

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    About this ebook

    A town gripped by fear. A woman accused of witchcraft. Who can save Pale Harbor from itself?

    Maine, 1846. Gabriel Stone is desperate to escape the ghosts that haunt him in Massachusetts after his wife’s death, so he moves to Maine, taking a position as a minister in the remote village of Pale Harbor.

    But not all is as it seems in the sleepy town. Strange, unsettling things have been happening, and the townspeople claim that only one person can be responsible: Sophronia Carver, a reclusive widow who lives with a spinster maid in the eerie Castle Carver. Sophronia must be a witch, and she almost certainly killed her husband.

    As the incidents escalate, one thing becomes clear: they are the work of a twisted person inspired by the wildly popular stories of Mr. Edgar Allan Poe. And Gabriel must find answers, or Pale Harbor will suffer a fate worthy of Poe’s darkest tales.

    Hester Fox comes to writing from a background in the museum field as a collections maintenance technician. This job has taken her from historic houses to fine art museums, where she has the privilege of cleaning and caring for collections that range from paintings by old masters to ancient artifacts to early-American furniture. She is a keen painter and has a master’s degree in historical archaeology, as well as a background in medieval studies and art history. Hester lives outside Boston with her husband.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHarlequin
    Release dateSep 17, 2019
    ISBN9781488036620
    Author

    Hester Fox

    Hester Fox is a full-time writer and mother, with abackground in museum work and historical archaeology. She lives in New England with her husband and their two children.

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    Reviews for The Widow of Pale Harbor

    3.5/5

    23 ratings3 reviews

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    • 3/5
      The Widow of Pale Harbor has some standout aspects, while other aspects fall short of their potential.I loved the setting, with the secluded mansion and the remote village in Maine. I felt Sophronia's claustrophobic existence inside the walls of her mansion-turned-prison, as she hid from the judgmental villagers under a cloud of suspicion. The portrayal of women's issues during the mid 1800s is handled well. We see and feel the limited choices, the desperation, and the fear.I wanted to love this book for those reasons. But I had trouble buying into Sophronia and Gabriel's instantly intense love connection, particularly given both of their pasts. Also, I never got a clear sense of why the villagers would decide that Sophronia must be a witch. The circumstances surrounding her husband's death don't really support a witchcraft claim.The Poe-inspired mystery is intriguing, though I thought the whodunit aspect was fairly obvious.Overall, this is a good story, but not one that will leave a lasting impression.*I received a review copy from the publisher, via Amazon Vine.*
    • 4/5
      Sophronia is a reclusive widow. The towns people of Pale Harbor are sure she is a witch and she murdered her husband. Enter Gabriel. He is the new minister in the small town of Pale Harbor. He and Sophronia meet and become good friends…and of course this leads to a love affair…with the preacher no less! However, Sophronia is being blamed for all the odd activities around Pale Harbor. She knows she didn’t do it and she is determined to find out who is.Give me an old house and weird happenings and I am hooked. This story bewitched me from the start. I enjoyed all the odd scenes from Edgar Allan Poe stories. And of course the mystery kept me guessing. Add in a little love affair and you have a good read! Don’t miss this one! Perfect for Halloween!I received this novel from Harlequin for a honest review.
    • 4/5
      The Widow of Pale Harbor is the second novel by Hester Fox. I read her first, The Witch of Willow Hall, earlier this month. The two books have similarities: a gothic feel, strong female characters trying to make their way in 19th century America, creepy central mysteries, a little bit of witchcraft, and a little bit of romance. Both are well written, engaging, and great reads for me.

      The titular character of The Widow is Sophronia Carver, a wealthy recluse in 1846 whom the townspeople suspect of being a witch and the murderer of her husband. Sophie lives with her spinster maid friend, Helen (who is also a real witch) in Castle Carver, editing her deceased husbands magazine and generally being shunned by everyone in town. Gabriel Stone is a recent widower and the new minister in town, hoping to leave behind the ghosts of his own past.

      Strange, unsettling things are happening around town, and Gabriel and Sophie quickly realize that all of them are related to stories by Edgar Allan Poe that have been published in Sophie’s magazine. As the mystery culprit escalates from creepy pranks and threatening notes to gruesome murder, our characters struggle with who to trust and their own developing feelings for each other.

      This book was pretty much un-putdownable, and I read it in a day. The writing is atmospheric and hauntingly beautiful, the mystery kept me guessing for quite a while, and the romance was just perfect: not too much, but enough to get me invested. I loved Sophie and Gabriel, and it was nice to have the story from both of their points of view. The Poe elements were very cleverly done and ratcheted up the tension and creepiness. A perfect read for a chilly, fall day.

      Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the free copy in exchange for an honest review. I’m looking forward to more books from Hester Fox.