The Whispering Rocks

By Sandra Heath

Fate has just granted once-poor Sarah Jane many riches. But soon a scandal sends her to a far-off land, where evil seems to lurk in every corner. And perhaps scariest of all are the unfamiliar pangs of love she feels for a handsome local.

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0451215605
• ISBN13: 9780451215604
• Release Date: June 2005
• Publisher: Signet Book
• Length: 214 Pages
• Weight: 0.28 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 4.2" x 6.8"

Customer Reviews

3.5 stars

The Whispering Rocks is a wonderful gothic story, full of that gloomy gothic atmosphere, danger, and people who aren't what they seem to be. Illegitimate Sarah Jane Stratford has been recognized by her father and brought from a life of poverty into the wealthy world of Regency society... so that he can marry her to his nephew and heir. When she's innocently involved in scandal, he sends her away to Mannerby and places her under the care of Paul Ransome and his sister Melissa, and it's a frying pan and fire move, as they seem to dislike her even more than her father and cousin do. In true gothic tradition, sinister things start happening, and Sarah Jane's only ally seems to be her maid. I've always liked gothics, even before I knew they were romances, but this one gets docked a star because I didn't get to see the relationship develop between the hero and heroine. Which was always typical of gothics, but I find I'm less tolerant than I used to be.

4 1/2 stars: lacking in romance, but still a splendid read

A "rewrite" of an earlier gothic novel ("Mannerby's Lady"), The Whispering Rocks" still read more like a gothic than a Regency-era romance novel. It had all the necessary ingredients: a heroine who finds herself almost friendless in a hostile and remote environment, people who are not what they seem, mysterious goings-on, violent death, and an evil that seems hell-bent on menacing the heroine... When improverished Sarah Jane Stratford's immensely wealthy natural father (yes, she is illegitimate) seeks her out, she is initially overjoyed. But she soon learns that her autocratic and selfish father had a reason for seeking her out, and that is to marry her off to her oafish cousin, Edward, who is also Sir Peter's heir. Disheartened that Sir Peter only wanted her in order to bring Edward to heel, the vulnerable Sarah Jane soon falls for the blandishments of a practiced rake, and ends up in the middle of a scandal. Outraged, Sir Peter packs her off to Mannerby in the heart of Dartmoor country, under the strict supervision of Paul Ransome. And Sarah Jane, who had hoped to start anew and to make new friends, soon learns to her dismay that her host, Paul Ransome, his beautiful sister, Melissa, and nearly everyone at Mannerby, seems to disapprove of and dislike her immensely. And as Sarah Jane's feelings of isolation and despair grow because of the surrounding cold, bleak and ghostly Dartmoor landscape, so too does her feelings of oppression because of the beautiful Melissa's cold and malicious behaviour... I enjoyed "The Whispering Rocks" immensely in spite of the fact that it was not really a typical Regency-era romance novel. Nor was it much of a romance novel either as you never really get the feeling that there was much of a "connection" between Sarah Jane and the hero. In fact you'd almost feel as if Sarah Jane ends up with the hero because he's the last man left standing so to speak! Perhaps if there hadn't been a rush to tie things up neatly and have a happily ever-after ending, things would have seemed a little bit more romantic. Especially if the author had left us with a promise of a romance developing between her hero and heroine, instead of merely presenting us with things fait accompli. On the other hand "The Whispering Rock" was a very polished and well written gothic novel, full of atmosphere and suspense. And Sandra Heath's vivid and superb descriptions of the Dartmoor countryside will inspire many to want to set off for England at once! So even though it was not much of a romance novel, "The Whispering Rocks" still rates as a splendid and worthwhile read.