uninspired gothic, with too much of its plot having the "heroine" rely on male help in the form of -- *gasp*, who would have guessed -- the man she loves without actually realising it. the best part, as so often with stewart's gothics, is her sense of place; in this case the novel is staged in a remote area of the pyrenées, and i could really feel myself there (and i don't think that's so because i've actually been there; i've had similar feelings about others of her books that take place in locations í've not been to).