Gentle from the Night

The bleakness of the Yorkshire moors provides an appropriate backdrop for this unconventional Victorian romance by veteran McKinney (A Man to Slay Dragons). Sexually abused as a young boy by his governess, Miss Ursula Pole, the handsome Lord Damien Newell has learned to associate sex with violence. Now, years after his trauma and Miss Pole's mysterious, sudden disappearance, Newell has returned to his family's Cairncross Castle in York, and to his younger brother Sam, who was struck mute when Miss Pole vanished. Newell writes to the esteemed Dr. Horace Benjamin, inviting him to York to treat Sam, unaware that Dr. Benjamin is dead. The doctor's daughter, Alexandra, responds to Newell's missive, offering to treat Sam herself, ambiguously signing her letter ""Alex."" Expecting Dr. Benjamin's son, Newell is furious when the pretty young lady arrives. He quickly becomes obsessed with Alexandra's virtue, and she with his barely suppressed potential for cruelty and violence. While Alexandra attempts to coax Sam into speaking, the malevolent ghost of Miss Pole harasses her, pushing her down stairs, hiding her belongings and, eventually, painting a Star of David on her mirror. Terrified, Alexandra perseveres. She knows that locked in Sam's unspeaking, childish mind is the answer to what happened to Miss Pole. His revelation provokes the climactic twist that puts the poltergeist in her place eternally. In this gothic morality tale, Damien's victory over his violent sexual abuse is a counterpoint to Alexandra's rebellion against anti-Semitism. In the end, what is truly haunting about this novel is not the mischief of the undead Miss Pole but the questions McKinney raises about the seductive nature of evil. (Feb.)