Dark Hollow

By Anna Katharine Green

A mysterious veiled woman slips into the home of the secretive Judge Ostrander in the town of Shelby. The people of the town rush after her to protect their respected judge but in the confusion and furore that follow, a servant of the house dies. In the solemn atmosphere succeeding this drama, the veiled woman refuses to show her face, insisting on telling her story from under her swathes of purple veil. Her name is Deborah and she is the widow of a convicted murderer, a man sentenced to death many years before by Judge Ostrander. She took her young daughter and fled the town in shame when it happened, changing their names and ignoring the past. Now she must confront the truth. By a strange twist of fate Deborah's daughter is engaged to be married to Judge Ostrander's estranged son. She has only just learned of her father's conviction and execution but with steadfast integrity refuses now to sully her prospective husband's reputation by letting him marry the daughter of a murderer. Deborah is determined therefore to prove her husband's innocence and she believes the judge who convicted him is the one person in the world who can help. Reluctantly he allows her to stay in his home as a maid while she carries out her mission. But does the judge have something to hide? And if her husband was innocent, who is the guilty party? These are questions that Deborah must answer if she is to redeem her husband's reputation and secure her daughter's lasting happiness. But a secret so long buried cannot be uncovered without serious repercussions… Dark Hollow is a truly a compelling and classic tale of hidden guilt, honour and remorse.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Hesperus Press Ltd.
• Release date: Feb 28, 2014
• ISBN: 9781780942728

Anna Katharine Green

Anna Katharine Green (1846–1935) was an American writer and prominent figure in the detective genre. Born in New York City, Green developed an affinity for literature at an early age. She studied at Ripley Female College in Vermont and was mentored by poet, Ralph Waldo Emerson. One of Green’s best-known works is The Leavenworth Case, which was published in 1878. It was a critical and commercial success that made her one of the leading voices in literature. Over the course of her career, Green would go on to write nearly 40 books.

Reviews for Dark Hollow

[bjace_1 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Green was the author of The Leavenworth case, which is considered to be an American mystery classic of sorts, but this book is just plain indigestible. The story centers around a the murder of a respectable citizen. His murderer, a disreputable tavern owner with a reputation for violence, is caught, tried and hanged, but the lives of the central figures around the trial--the judge, who was also the victim's best friend, the tavern owner's wife and child, the judge's son--are never the same again. After some years, the widow returns, convinced that her husband was not guilty and, seeking justice for him and respectability for her daughter, begins to open old wounds.If that sounds interesting in theory, the execution wrings every drop of movement from the story. The prose is turgid and melodramatic. By the end of the novel, only one possible suspect could have done it and the conclusion is mildly interesting but not worth dragging yourself through the book for. I found it icky and depressing.