Love Those Gothics

Did you watch it? Last night? No, not the Screen Actors Guild Awards. Who cares about that? Jane Eyre. Did you watch Jane Eyre?

I sure did.

Loved it. Loved Ruth Wilson as plain but luminous Jane. Loved Toby Stephens as Rochester, mostly because he made Rochester a little less forbidding and gave him that biting wit that can be so much fun to watch. Loved Thornfield Hall, which was as creepy as it needed to be.

Don’t you love gothics? They have all the elements to make a truly great romance:

· A moody, secret-keeping hero, who may, or may not, also be the villain;

· A vulnerable but strong heroine who is alone in the world and forced, therefore, to rely upon the hero;

· The heroine is often trapped, with nowhere else to go; and, of course;

· The creepy house.

What could be better?

So here’s my question for you—what’s your favorite gothic? Jane Eyre? Rebecca? Anything by Victoria Holt? One of my personal favorites is Holt’s The Devil on Horseback. Anyone remember that great story?