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Title: A masterpiece of American gothic
Review: This wonderfully atmospheric novel takes the raw materials of the typical gothic tale -- hidden treasure, ghosts, family secrets, curses -- and transforms them into a work of art that succeeds both as an escapist orgy of character- and scene-painting, and as an exploration of familial "traits," depression and anxiety, aging, classism in America, and the countervailing promise of technological advancement and intermarriage. Don't be put off by the rather forced Dickensianism of the early chapters. The book will eventually cast its spell if you let it.
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