On the Night of the Seventh Moon

Written by Victoria Holt

Narrated by Virginia Leishman

Best-selling author Victoria Holt spins breath-taking tales glimmering with danger and romance. In this entrancing novel, set in late 1800s Europe, a beautiful English schoolgirl participates in an ancient celebration, only to discover she no longer knows the difference between truth and myth. As shadows lengthen, 17-year-old Helena Trant and her classmates must finish their picnic in the Black Forest. Tonight young men will be out to honor Loke, the god of mischief, with drinking and pranks-no woman will be safe. As Helena walks through the misty woods, she loses her friends, but her fear turns to joy when a broad-shouldered man on a horse rescues her. The bewitching time she spends dining and dancing with him seems a thrilling dream-until that fateful night alters her life forever-blurring the borders between reality and dreams. One of the world's most popular authors, Victoria Holt skillfully weaves intrigue, suspense, and rapture into impetuous Helena's exploits. Virginia Leishman's spellbinding narration will leave you alternately holding your breath with anticipation or sighing with bliss.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Recorded Books, Inc.
• Release date: Nov 4, 2011
• ISBN: 9781461810889

Victoria Holt

Eleanor Alice Burford Hibbert (1906–1993), better known to readers as Victoria Holt, Philippa Carr, and Jean Plaidy, was one of the world’s most beloved and enduring authors. Her career spanned five decades, and she was heralded as the “Queen of Romantic Suspense.” She continued to write historical fiction under the name of Jean Plaidy and romantic suspense as Victoria Holt until the time of her death.

Reviews for On the Night of the Seventh Moon

[gpangel_1 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Time of the Hunter’s Moon by Victoria Holt is a 2013 Sourcebooks Casablanca publication. (Originally published in 1983) Victoria Holt writes Bodice Ripper?While attending school, Cordelia Grant and a group of her friends, indulge in a little harmless folklore by gathering at a specific location, at the time of the Hunter’s Moon, in hopes of finding their future husband. Sure enough, a man emerges in their midst, striking up a brief conversation with the girls, paying close attention to Cordelia, especially. Upon graduation, Cordelia takes a job at an all- girls school. After meeting the mysterious stranger again, only to have him disappear, Cordelia tries to search him out, only to have the mystery deepen. Over time, she tries to put the experience out of her mind. As it turns out, she has more troubling things to concern herself with. One is a student that needs extra attention, and another group of girls who intend to challenge her authority. But the most upsetting issue is that she has somehow managed to catch the attention of Sir Jason Verringer, a land baron, with a wicked reputation… including the rumor that he may have murdered his invalid wife so that he could marry his mistress. Once Jason has set his sight on Cordelia, he manipulates, schemes and connives to spend time alone with her. His attentions flatter her, but he also seriously frightens her, especially after his mistress suddenly disappears…. Maybe I have mythologized Victoria Holt over the years, or perhaps I have selective memories. I have not read all of her books, so maybe I read a handful that were tame compared to the others-I’m not sure. But, this book, written well past the Gothic Romance/Suspense genre’s prime, felt like an attempt by Holt to cash in the wildly popular historical romance/bodice ripper trend of that time, write something that appealed to a more mature audience, and still make her romantic suspense fans happy. The result was a mix of bad writing, and an almost unforgivable attempted rape scene. If I had been reading a historical romance written in the early eighties by any other writer, I would have braced myself for such an inevitable scene, but I certainly wasn’t expecting that to pop up in a book written by Victoria Holt! Definitely not one of Holt’s finer moments- 2 stars

[jhullie-3 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

My all-time favourite Victoria Holt book. Loved it as a teenager and love it now.

[debbiemccauley-2 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Raised on fairy tales, Helena Trant gets lost in the misty Lokenwald (Loki’s Forest) during a school outing in Germany in 1859 and is rescued by a handsome stranger with whom she becomes infatuated. She returns to England to find her father has died. When distant relatives come visiting a few years later she returns to Germany with them and on the 'Night of the Seventh Moon' finds herself with the handsome man yet again. They marry in secret, but after a short honeymoon he is called away urgently. Helena wakes to be told by those around her and a doctor that she has been drugged to help her recover from being attacked in the forest and that the drug would have induced another nice reality for her. Helena doesn't know what to believe. She finds she is pregnant, but is then told that her baby was born dead. Returning to England she lives a kind of half life for the next nine years before an opportunity as an English teacher in Germany presents itself. There she find the handsome man again and they try to uncover what really happened in their past. An okay read.

[philsyphe · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Compared to the other Victoria Holt novels I’ve read to date this one rates high in terms of creating mystery and suspense. Certain outcomes weren’t difficult to predict but many other revelations did surprise me.The characters are all well-drawn, especially the children and the illness-obsessed aunt.The plot works well and many scenes are vividly portrayed.As usual with Ms Holt much of this novel revolves around a long suspenseful build-up to a climax that's over too soon. I often feel that this author doesn't squeeze the full potential out of dramatic/exciting/frightening scenarios. She's great at building suspense, creating mystery, but tends to resolve her heroine's most trying moments too quickly and too easily, as I feel she's done here.Overall, a good read, though the ending had the potential to have been much better.

[kasthu_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

After running out of fresh Mary Stewart novels to read, I turned back to Victoria Holt to try and fill the gap. On the Night of the Seventh Moon is romantic suspense with a bit of a fantasy twist. Set in the middle of the 19th century and spanning the course of about two decades, this novel is set in the Black Forest. The Night of the Seventh Moon is the evening on which Loke, the god of mischief, comes out to play; on one such of these nights, Helena Trant becomes lost and meets a dark handsome stranger in the forest…The concept is a little bit cheesy, the outcome is predictable, and there were a number of coincidences that were a little bit too much for me. But I loved this novel. The setting is magical, literally, and the book moves at a rapid pace. Holt keeps her reader perpetually guessing at the motives of the main character’s love interest (in a good way; if we were as sure as Helena is about Sigfried/Maximilian’s motives, the fun would have been completely removed from the plot.I also loved the inclusion of German pagan myths, which adds something interesting and fun to the book. Victoria Holt was also very skilled at writing about people; I enjoyed watching Helena mature from a naive girl to a young woman. It’s pretty obvious, however, where the story will go; but getting there is half the fun of this novel.

[headinherbooks_27 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Truly alluring and brilliant. Victoria Holt succeeds again with her "spine-tingling" novels. So far from the books that I've read by her, this novel has an aura of magic, and charm in it.

[dawnlovesbooks · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

victoria holt's books suck u right in from beginning to end!