Thale's Folly
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4.4 • 47 Ratings
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- $5.99
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- $5.99
Publisher Description
A New Yorker becomes ensnared by the eerie drama unfolding at a derelict New England family home in this charming mystery from the author of the Mrs. Pollifax novels.
“Delightful . . . a suspenseful romp . . . highly recommended.”—Booklist
At the request of his father, New York City novelist Andrew Thale tackles an odd assignment—to check out an old family property in Massachusetts, neglected since Aunt Harriet Thale’s death years ago. But far from being deserted, Thale’s Folly, as Andrew discovers, is fully inhabited—by a quartet of charming squatters, former “guests” of kindhearted Harriet. There is elegant Miss L’Hommedieu, Gussie the witch, Leo the bibliophile, and beautiful Tarragon, who is unlike any girl Andrew has ever met in Manhattan.
Andrew is entranced by these unworldly creatures and their simple life. Yet all is not well in Thale’s Folly. A thief breaks into the farmhouse, an old friend of the “family” disappears, and Andrew and Tarragon are drawn into mysteries they cannot fathom. . . .
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Sowing her pages with quotations from Renaissance herbals, Gilman (author of the Mrs. Pollifax mysteries) cultivates a quaint (and not overly sophisticated) novel of romantic suspense. When eccentric Harriet Thales died, her farmhouse in Western Massachusetts--called Thale's Folly--was inherited by her corporate shark nephew, who now resents the bundle of money he's been paying in taxes. He sends his son, Andrew, whose failed writing career has relegated him to a back office hack job at his father's company, to check out the old place. Andrew finds that the purportedly empty house is home to an enchanting group of squatters: a six-foot spinster who begins a new short story every day; a sharp-eyed practitioner of Wiccan magic; a Marxist Luddite; and a 19-year old waif named Tarragon. The waif, of course, fascinates Andrew the most. Snoopers and would-be murderers add an element of suspense as the fate of Thale's Folly is determined and Aunt Harriet's peculiar legacy is revealed. Gilman relies too heavily on her characters' idiosyncrasies to do the work of characterization for her, but her fans will probably enjoy being gently propelled on a pleasant narrative track.
Customer Reviews
Thales Folly
No books today are written like this, to my knowledge. there's a character who is troubled, but curious about the inhabitants of Thale's folly. gradually his character is revealed, including the sources of his troubles. the plot moves along at a slow but steady pace and all along you, the reader, know it's going to end happily. but you're happy to go along till the end.