The Wedding Guest

A young woman's adventures as she uncovers a long-buried secret are the basis of British writer Gilbert's ( The Long Shadow ) latest novel in the historical/romance/suspense genre. When Elinor Findon is orphaned, she joins the household of her father's half-sisters, but her father's tales of the gay days in an Edwardian English country home did not prepare her for the genteel poverty and eerie atmosphere of Hoodman House and the aunts she hardly knows. Kelda is a widow, while beautiful May waits by the gate for her fiance, whom others have long presumed dead, to return home from WW I. Elinor becomes increasingly aware of the secrets binding the two aunts and the part played in perpetuating them by the charmingly manipulative May. Determined to escape this hothouse life and her aunts' tenacious grasp, Elinor falls in love and plans to marry. But she is unable to ignore the mysteries surrounding Hoodman House, and she continues to ask questions that may put her at risk. Gilbert's ending is anticlimactic, and her passive heroine a little too oblivious to clues, yet her ornate, Gothic tone will appeal to fans of the genre. (Sept.)