The Trembling Hills

The Trembling Hills was never one of my favorites among Ms. Whitney's romantic suspense books for adults when I was young. Of two other books she set in San Francisco, I'm not even sure that I've read her teen novel, The Fire and the Gold (also published in 1956 and set in 1906). It was her 1957 juvenile, Mystery of the Green Cat that I loved, the one which I was so glad to get when I experienced the magic of having my very own copies of favorite library books.

The Trembling Hills is only the third of Ms. Whitney's books for adults, but it features elements that were standard in them: a heroine removed from a parent's home and kept cut off from that parent/parent's family, a traumatic event witnessed as a small child that still show more terrifies the heroine as an adult, and a neglected child whom the heroine befriends.

Sara Jerome and her mother come to San Francisco so Mary Jerome can be the new housekeeper for the rich Renwick family of Nob Hill. Mary has been using her maiden name since she took her four-year-old daughter and fled to Chicago. Sara has only an old photo of her father, Leland Bishop, and his name. She thinks she has memories of him, but can't be sure. Why has he never written or come for them?

Mary never wanted to see San Francisco again, but that's where Sara's beloved Ritchie Temple moved, so that's where she's going to go. Sara has a rival in the beautiful elder Renwick daughter, Judith. They're not married yet, Sara reasons. That means there's hope.

Mrs. Renwick has been enjoying herself by staying home and eating or doing what she likes since her bossy husband, William, died. Her son, Nicholas, is now the junior partner at the Renwick and Merkel Insurance Company. (Oh, dear...) Ritchie is working there, even though he studied to be an architect. The neglected child is Allison, the youngest, whose only friend is Comstock, her terror of a tomcat.

Sara manages to get office work. If she could sew as well as her mother does, instead of merely having a flair for design, she might be able to make money without having to type and take shorthand. Didn't Mrs. Renwick take Sara's advice about Judith's new evening gown over that big name seamstress? Meanwhile, Ritchie's behavior toward her is leaving Sara's heart sore. Nick Renwick is a very nice man, but he'll probably marry sweet Geneva Varady, who adores him.

Sarah has been doing some investigating about her father's family. She dreams of becoming Ritchie's social equal, not just the daughter of his late parents' housekeeper. Could she be related to that grand San Francisco dame, Hester Varady? Geneva thinks Sara reminds her of someone, but she can't recall whom. Mary Jerome considers Hester to be a wicked and dangerous woman, but won't tell Sara why.

Expect good descriptions of real locations. The 1906 earthquake and fire form an exciting part of the action. It's in the rebuilding phase that Sara comes to know her heart and find meaningful work. Will she be able to overcome the obstacles that stand in her way?

Hester Varady's Chinese servant, Ah Foong, may speak only pidgin English, but he is old, wise, extremely competent, and loyal. If you're hoping for some stereotypical sinister 'Chinaman,' you'll have to look in some other old book (thank goodness).

The Trembling Hills is well worth reading. show less

This book has become a classic story of suspense and romance set in San Francisco in the momentous year of the San Francisco earthquake and fire of April 1906. Based on a true event.

FROM AMAZON: Sara Bishop was raised in Chicago, but her heart belongs in San Francisco, where her childhood sweetheart, Ritchie Temple, has moved to pursue a career in architecture. Convinced he feels the same way for her, she hopes his fiancée, the manipulative Judith Renwick, is just a passing fancy. And now Sara has packed her bags to prove it. Sarah’s mother is not only concerned by her daughter’s pursuit of an elusive romance, she’s also scared of the city itself—and the secret she and Sara’s father buried there years ago.

Once Sara arrives show more on the far side of the Golden Gate, she finds herself in the midst of a tantalizing puzzle involving Ritchie, Judith, and Judith’s mysterious brother. She soon discovers a monstrously wicked matriarch nursing a strange and unfathomable vengeance in her Nob Hill mansion. And one fateful morning, when the earth moves and the city is set afire, the pieces of Sara’s past will emerge from the ashes—but will it be too late to save her? show less

Long before Sara came to San Francisco, the candle lit figure in the mirror haunted her dreams. But in the towering, old Varady mansion, the nightmare turned to reality. This is the story of a young woman caught between love and suspicion and forced to confront a past she has hidden from everyone--including herself.

3.5*