STRANDS OF BRONZE AND GOLD moves the Bluebeard fairy tale to the pre-Civil War South where it meshes nicely with the plantation lifestyle. The story is filled with gothic creepiness and a strong sense of foreboding—and ghosts. Seventeen-year-old Sophia is first pleased to be moving to rural Mississippi to live with her godfather. Her family life in Boston is uncomfortable. After the death of their father, she and her older sister and brothers are living in very reduced circumstances.When Sophia arrives in Mississippi at Wyndriven Abbey, she is dazzled by her dashing new guardian and by the lavish gifts he showers on her. It doesn't take too long though for cracks to appear in the glittery surface. Sophia doesn't like that she is cut off from all contact with anyone outside the plantation. She doesn't like how the slaves are treated. She doesn't like the number of secrets that are being kept from her. Just how many wives has Bernard de Cressac had? She doesn't like Bernard's volatile temper and the accommodations she must make to keep from setting it off. When she meets a young minister in the woods by her home, she falls in love with him. However, she fears for his safety if de Cressac learns of his existence. After all, a slave who treated her kindly was taken from the house and sent it work in the fields of the plantation. De Cressac treats the slaves like animals while Sophia sees them as human beings. When Bernard first proposes to Sophia, she declines but he doesn't take her no for an answer. It isn't until he allows her family to visit and she sees the potential he has to ruin their lives that she agrees to marry the man she has come to fear and loathe. Sophia is much more than de Cressac every supposes though. Beneath her young, naive appearance is a practical and courageous young woman who will fight for her safety and happiness.This story will appeal to those who like romances, those who like ghost stories, and those who like some creepiness in their fiction. I loved the language in this one which swept me into the story.
