Freer's Cove by Ethel Gordon [1972]

Cover scan from...can't recall. I didn't scan it.

Yes, I'm still alive. :-P Have been busy with non-fiction reading and a correspondence study involving 12 courses, with diploma upon completion.

Absinthe recommended "Freer's Cove" when she had her blog Gloomy Sunday. She gave it 5 Towers of Doom, and rightly so: It's a FABULOUS story. Totally Gothic, like she said. Beautifully and patiently written; a genuine work of art.

The story involves Daisy, a 20-something college student working towards a degree, whose marriage is now on the rocks. She and husband had a whirlwind romance and a hasty marriage...of which they repented in leisure. They live on a shoestring budget in a ramshackle apartment on a rundown side street in NYC. Daisy, originally from Illinois, is practical and tries to make do; her husband, a selfish and vain git, spends whatever extra money is available to him on clothing for himself. Both are students with hectic schedules, part-time jobs, deadlines and mounting debt.

And then Daisy discovers she's pregnant.

Her husband demands an abortion (recall this is in the early 70s, height of Roe vs. Wade). Daisy can't bear the thought of abortion; she decides to leave and surrender the baby up for adoption (good for you Daisy!!).

Daisy finds a quality adoption agency. She's arrived for her 1st appointment and for an initial check with a physician, when Amos Freer approaches her in the waiting room. His wife Joan is also pregnant; she's a delicate soul who's miscarried before. Would Daisy accompany him to Freer's Cove, befriend Joan and be her companion until both babies are due? Daisy will be given room and board, and quality physician care during.

Daisy agrees. That same day Amos drives her from NYC to Freer's Cove in Maine. She and Joan immediately befriend each other. Ernest, Amos' brother, does not; he dislikes and distrusts Daisy. Sibling rivalries, old hatres and grudges beseige the mansion.

And then there's the matter of Freer children meeting with strange accidents...and even death.

Riveting. Super suspenseful. Gloomy and atmospheric. Read it or miss out. ;-)