Sweet Heart

Charley has a strange feeling when she sees the idyllic mill house with its cluster of outbuildings. A powerful sense of recognition, as if she has been there before. Except she knows she hasn't. After Charley and her husband move into Elmwood Mill, sinister memories of a previous existense start to haunt her.

From Publishers Weekly

When Tom and Charley Witney, young Londoners desperate to conceive a child, decide a move to the country will relax them (per doctor's orders), they purchase Elmwood Mill, a secluded 15th-century building, and begin a rural existence that proves to be anything but relaxing. It seems the place is inhabited by the spirit of a nasty woman who once lived there, and Charley soon falls victim to horrific visions that leave Tom untouched. Charley experiences an odd familiarity with the house and begins "regressive therapy" to find out whether she had a past life that involved Elmwood Mill. James ( Possession ) uses these therapeutic sessions to chilling narrative effect as the regression continues and Charley's discoveries mount up. Readers will want to lock all the doors and light the lamps. Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the hardcover edition.

From Kirkus Reviews

A fitfully chilling variation on James's old-fashioned damsel- in-demonic-distress theme (Dreamer, 1990; Possession, 1988) finds Charley Witney and her lawyer-husband moving into a country house- -which turns out to be haunted by a most malevolent ghost. Looking to rekindle their marriage--which has been cooling, thanks to their inability to conceive a child--Charley and Tom buy Elmwood Mill, a dilapidated 15th-century mill house in Sussex. Before long, odd events (much like those in James's earlier novels) begin: a befuddled elderly ghost walks a nearby hill; cold spots plague the house; the couple's electric bill soars from a mysterious drainage. And what's worse, these occult disturbances are echoed in mundane life as Tom takes up with Charley's former clothing-shop colleague (a liaison as sexually graphic as the story's ensuing violence is gory, marking a striking departure from James's demure first two novels). All these troubles, though, take a backseat to the revelations that unfold as Charley, visiting London, undergoes past-life hypnosis therapy to uncover a possible psychological cause for her infertility. Entranced into the same recent past life time and again, she relives a sexual encounter in a car and her burial of a locket. Back at Elmwood Mill, she finds herself sleepwalking, digging up the locket, and then, horrifyingly, trying to hang herself while asleep. A final hypnotic session, sufficiently terrifying to strike the hypnotist dead, uncovers the secret behind Charley's woes--one stemming from the homicidal sins of her mother, and powerful enough to free, in an exciting climactic stalk-and-slash, the vengeful spirit behind all this mayhem. Well written, with nice scares and very rich characters, but, here, James is basically repeating himself (and fellow Jameses Henry and M.R.), despite the sex-gore overlay. The formula is wearing a bit thin. -- Copyright ©1991, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the hardcover edition.

From Library Journal

For no medical reason, Charley and her moody husband Tom are unable to conceive a baby. Hoping a change of scene will help, they move to the country. The old house seems familiar and threatening to Charley, though she has never been there before. Charley has been trying various psychological treatments to cure her infertility; she visits a hypnotist and begins to believe that, because of the past, she does have a connection with the house. An orphan, she traces her natural parents; sure enough, the house played a deadly role in their lives, and now Charley's presence has awakened some vengeful ghosts. This is a quietly frightening horror thriller, only slightly marred by one of those "but is it really the end?" epilogs. Bewildered Charley is a likable heroine (though one wonders what she sees in spoiled Tom), and the clues that mount up do make the reader anxious to find out what really happened to Charley's parents.- A.M.B. Amantia, Population Crisis Committee Lib., Washington, D.C.Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the hardcover edition.

About the Author

Peter James was educated at Charterhouse and then at film school. He lived in North America for a number of years, working as a screen writer and film producer before returning to England. His novels, including several number one bestsellers, have been translated into thirty-six languages. He has produced several films, including the BAFTA-nominated Merchant Of Venice, starring Al Pacino, Jeremy Irons and Joseph Fiennes. Peter James lives in Sussex. --This text refers to the hardcover edition.

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