Woman without a Past

Written by Phyllis A. Whitney

Narrated by Anna Fields

Successful author Molly Hunt, the adopted daughter of Long Island parents, is stunned when a handsome man she meets in her publisher’s office makes a startling declaration: that he is about to marry her twin sister. Molly soon discovers that she is actually the long-lost child of the wealthy Mountfort family of Charleston, South Carolina. Eager to solve the puzzle of her birth, Molly begins a fateful journey south.

At the historic family plantation, she meets her beautiful twin, Amelia, their reclusive mother, and a cast of intriguing yet disturbing characters who both question her identity and, in their way, confirm it. Nevertheless, her arrival has set in motion a series of strange and frightening events, and in the intoxicating, magnolia-scented world of Molly’s original family, haunting memories of an unsolved murder threaten the family’s very existence-as well as her own.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Blackstone Audio
• Release date: Feb 1, 2010
• ISBN: 9780786112272

Phyllis A. Whitney

Born in Yokohama, Japan, on September 9, 1903, Phyllis A. Whitney was a prolific author of award-winning adult and children’s fiction. Her sixty-year writing career and the publication of seventy-six books, which together sold over fifty million copies worldwide, established her as one of the most successful mystery and romantic suspense writers of the twentieth century and earned her the title “The Queen of the American Gothics.” Whitney resided in several places, including New Jersey. She traveled to every location mentioned in her books in order to better depict the settings of her stories. She earned the Mystery Writers of America Grand Master award in 1988, the Agatha in 1990, and the lifetime achievement award from the Society of Midland Authors in 1995. Whitney was working on her autobiography at the time of her passing at the age of 104.  

Reviews for Woman without a Past

[jalenv_2 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I was a big fan of Phyllis A. Whitney when I was young -- first of her juveniles (still a good read!), then of her adult novels. I see from the book list inside that she wrote quite a few more after I switched to cozy and historical mysteries.While I did figure out the killer and motive, I didn't guess the who or why the heroine was kidnapped when she was an infant and sold to her adoptive parents.Molly Hunt doesn't have amnesia, the past she's missing is the one she would have had if she'd been left with her birth parents. Molly knew she was adopted, but had assumed she was given up. She writes mysteries with the kind of strong heroines she wishes she were. A chance meeting with a stranger at her publisher's is how she learns the truth.Molly is not terribly keen on flying to South Carolina to meet her birth family, especially when she learns that not all of them want to meet her. She doesn't like her original first name. Her birth father is dead. Her sister is thrilled. Her birth mother had never recovered emotionally from losing her older daughter. Is Mrs. Mountfort just a little weird or is she insane? Ms. Whitney gives us plenty of reasons to wonder which answer is correct.As is usual in this type of book, there are two potential romantic leads. If this book runs true to type, one of them is evil. Is it the one engaged to Molly's sister? Will her sister have to die so the heroine gets the man?I've never been to Charlston, but I enjoyed the descriptions very much. I also enjoyed the touch of the supernatural and the endearing psychic cat. Molly's comment that she wasn't famous enough yet to have her name appear above the title of her latest book made me chuckle.If you like romantic suspense, this is a nice example of the genre. It certainly had me turning the pages during the last chapters.Scott Ordley is the artist for the cover with the impressionist-style landscape of watger, trees with low hanging branches, and a little bridge curving over the water. The author's name in above the title and they are in equally large pale orange letters.

[vhartpowers · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

If I had read this book when it was first published, in 1991, I may have liked it. However, I'd like to hope my literary taste has matured a little, because during the entire book I kept thinking,
Do any of these characters have any say in what they do or do not do? Do any of them have the word "no" in their vocabulary?
The story and characters seemed weak to me and in the beginning the author messes up on the location of the main characters birthmark, was it the left or the right wrist? And the time period of when the baby/child was kidnapped, was it one years old? Then why would the twins have a tutor?
There were a few other time periods that didn't make sense.
The twist at the end wasn't even that startling it was more of a finally I'm almost finished with the book now that the truth is out. And when it was out, the man that held the secret should be tried as an accomplice to murder. But maybe that's not the way it's done in the south?
I wouldn't recommend the book.
Afterthought: if you are a Christian this book is not for you. One of the characters becomes possessed by a deceased character and has a seance. Maybe these types of thins were popular again when the book was published? All the "new age" old age pagan demon possession that the character was said to have "higher powers".