The Witch Of Willow Hall

The Witch of Willow Hall is not what I expected. I wanted a mysterious story with witches using their magic and ghosts creeping about the place. Instead, it turned out to be more of a strange romance novel. Catherine is a mean spirited and selfish woman who seems slightly off balance. She does not care how her actions reflect on her family or what must be done to clean up her messes (of which there are many). If her sister, Lydia has something, then Catherine will take it away. As they grow up, it becomes suitors. Catherine does not want Lydia to have any joy in her life and goes out of her way to make her miserable. Lydia and John Barrett's relationship was frustrating. Lydia is awkward with him which leads to miscommunication, misunderstandings and outright rudeness. The unlikeable characters lacked development and the dialogue did not suit the era. I enjoyed the authors descriptions that helped me to visualize the story. However, the pacing was slow and then it becomes sluggish. The story is vague in the beginning with details slowly being revealed (if you stick with it that long). It all comes together in the end when disturbing information is revealed. I did find the last quarter of The Witch of Willow Hall to be the best. The story wraps up quickly at the end and some issues were left unresolved. The Witch of Willow Hall had potential. I wish the author had focused on the paranormal elements. If they had been developed, it could have made for an intriguing tale. As you can tell, The Witch of Willow Hall was not a pleasant reading experience for me.