The Mirror

Content Warning: This section of the guide features depictions of death by suicide, and physical and emotional abuse.

“The manor stood, as it had for generations, on the high, jagged cliffs above the thrash of the sea. Through the swelter of summers, against the bitter winds of winters, in blooming springs, and in dying autumns, it held its place on the rocky coast of Maine.

Within its stone and cladded walls, inside the gleam of its windows, it had seen births and deaths, it had known triumphs and tragedies. Both blood and tears had spilled on its polished floors; secrets and shadows lived in its many corners.

And it remembered them all.”

The opening sentences of the novel show why it can be considered a work in the Gothic romance genre: The setting, the haunted house, is described in evocative detail, and the supernatural elements are immediately established. The image of the lonely but strong manor that displays a degree of consciousness, as well as the hints of the secrets the manor, is a staple of the Gothic romance genre. Nora Roberts uses descriptors like “jagged” and “cladded” (encased) to convey the sense of danger and mystery associated with the manor.

“In the many rooms, time came and went. Music played, clocks ticked, floors creaked, as the manor waited for another generation.

As it waited for one who might break the curse.”

The description of the manor establishes its eerie, otherworldly quality. While the manor is described as standing still, time flows through its many rooms, highlighted by the mention of clocks ticking. There is a cyclical, haunting quality about the repeated ticking of clocks and the creaking of floors, as if time has gotten stuck in the house, an early illustration of the theme of The Interplay Between Past and Present. However, the description also introduces a note of hope with the image of the waiting house. Waiting implies anticipation, as if the house and its inhabitants have been waiting for Sonya.