The House of a Thousand Lanterns

The House of a Thousand Lanterns
By Victoria Holt
0385008171

Hong Kong, a new place! I’m so used to Australia at this point, I seem to have read so many Victoria Holt’s books that wind up in Australia. There were a few things I didn’t like about this book. One was her relationship with her husband, uneasy and secret-keeping as it was. She thought him capable of murder, but really he was just lying to her. Ummm… That doesn’t make any sense. Oh, as long as he was only lying and keeping things from her, he’s a good husband? And her relationship with her “marriage of convenience” husband. She could never see past his wheelchair to think he may have been the right one for her? She was so blinded by the playboy to even consider the “cripple” right in front of her. After he dies, she realizes how much he meant to her. By then it’s too late, but she uses his death to stall for time anyway, invoking her one year rule. I think she’s an idiot who didn’t see the great guy staring her in the face. Sitting across from her at dinner every night. Giving her son a name and a place to live, love and acceptance. Instead, she pines for what she can’t have. I hope I’m not that stupid if I ever fall in love, not noticing deep flaws like lying and conniving!
7/10