Set in Stone

by Linda Newbery

Book Overview

When Samuel Godwin, a young and naive art tutor, accepts a job with the Farrow family at their majestic home, little does he expect to come across a place containing such secrets and lies. His two... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0385751028
• ISBN13: 9780385751025
• Release Date: November 2006
• Publisher: David Fickling Books
• Length: 357 Pages
• Weight: 1.25 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.2" x 5.5" x 8.8"
• Age Range: 14 to 17 years
• Grade Range: Grades 9 to 12

Customer Reviews

Stones Set in Scandal

Set in Stone by Linda Newbery is an atmospheric Victorian gothic novel with stirrings of family drama, love, passion, and hidden secrets. What a tantalizing novel this turned out to be! I was expecting a rather predictable light and easy turn of the century gothic romantic suspense story and was pleasantly surprised to be led down other paths I had not anticipated, which is always so much fun to encounter. This enchanting novel is about the lives of one widowed father gone mad, Ernest Farrow, two teenager daughters; Juliana and Marianne who are opposites in temperament, one somber and withdrawn, the other an untamed wild girl with a vivid imagination. They are cared for by a doting spinster governess named Charlotte who has her own secrets she covets, and an invited local painter, Samuel Godwin, that is brought into their magnificent mansion they call Fourwinds, to teach the girls the art of drawing and painting. The story, taking place just outside of London in the English countryside, opens dramatically with the youngest daughter Marianne colliding with her new tutor as he opens the gates to their home in a cloud of mist and fog. Immediate mystery and mayhem draws the reader in as Samuel's first impression of Marianne is that she is a madwoman recently escaped from an asylum. Nearly knocking him over in the street, she rambles on hysterically about needing him to help her find a certain lost Mr. Westwind, leaving Samuel to believe the girl deranged. Samuel listens to her incoherent hysteria, but thankfully is quickly rescued by Charlotte as she shepherds him and the crazed young woman into the house. Other proper introductions are immediately made to the other residents of the household. Samuel is soon swept up into what he believes is going to be a simple luxurious job of tutoring two young ladies. When the reader realizes that Samuel is basically of the same age as the two girls and even the governess, it is easy to assume that a romance with one of them is imminent. However, Samuel very quickly realizes he was manipulated into this household of mysterious occupants by Mr Farrow who dangled the carrot of advancing his art career, but had his own secret agenda for Samuel's true purpose amongst them. This is a riveting story that brews and bubbles slowly, giving you the initial feelings of a Jane Austen novel touched by Victoria Holt or Phyllis Whitney, who were great authors of this gothic genre. Newbery creates a feel of sensual awareness between the players and soon evokes remarkable sensations and story attributes to make the reader wonder just what in the world is really going on behind closed doors and in the hallways of Fourwinds. All is not as it seems as shocking revelations are chiseled and carved into the pages offering glimpses into a family quite filled with corruption and deceit. Ample doses of horrible acts, family betrayals, and desperate actions that slowly unravel page after page, leave the reader gasping in shock and lo

a wonderfully absorbing read

I don't read children's fiction much; but I had to put a display together and write a few shelf talkers for the books I had chosen. And while "Set in Stone" promised to be an interesting and good read, I didn't expect too much from the book. How wrong I was. "Set in Stone" proved to be such a well written and wonderfully absorbing book, that I stayed up to finish the book. In late nineteenth century England, young Samuel Godwin is hired by the wealthy owner of Fourwinds, Ernest Farrow, to tutor both of Ernest's daughter's on the finer points of drawing and painting. For the impoverished Samuel, who has a mother and a sister to provide for, this job is like a godsend -- a generous employer, the beautiful and enchanting Fourwinds, two pretty and talented students -- could any employee ask for anything more. But soon, Samuel senses that there is something rather odd about the entire setup at Fourwinds. The governess, Charlotte Agnew, seems to be very anxious and watchful, and very protective of her charges; the two Farrow sisters seem to be wrapped up in a scandal from the past; while the behaviour of Mr. Farrow leads Samuel to suspect that he has been specially chosen for a particular purpose. Before long, Samuel finds himself enmeshed in the strange atmosphere at Fourwinds, and finds himself compelled to unravel all the mysteries that Fourwinds seems to be hiding... I kept thinking about how alike "Set in Stone" was to Wilkie Collins' "The Woman in White" -- the impoverished art teacher who finds himself drawn to one of his charges and mixed up in the scandals and secrets of the gentry -- not only was the storyline somewhat similar but like "The Woman In White," "Set in Stone" was also magnificently layered with atmosphere and mystery. I like a good gothic novel, and had read quite a few gothic novles as a teen. So I was pleased to discover that good gothics were still being published for teens. True the very last secret seems a tad over the top but that's a small price to pay for a well crafted and beautifully written gothic novel. Absorbing and compelling, "Set in Stone" is an excellent choice as a recommendation for a young reader you're hoping to introduce Wilkie Collins to one day.