Hello eveyone. I'm hoping somebody on this forum can help me find a book I've been forgetting about for the past ten years. Unfortunately, I have no title and no author to help with my search, which makes googling utterly useless, though I've been trying for hours. With some luck, hopefully one of you will recognize this book.
The story is about a family who holds a strong hatred for another family, but is also cursed from that other family (can't remember the name of either, nor can I recall the curse). Of the beginning, that is all I can remember. Later on, the youngest daughter (I think - she was young) finds a friend, near her age, who she plays with. One day, they take off to play in a graveyard just by themselves. (Somehow) the older brother finds out that his little sister is playing with a member of that "other" family, and takes off to find his sister. In the graveyard, he finds a grave with fresh soil, and (I think) has his sister's name on the grave, but with the last name the name of the "other" family. He digs with his hands and finds a casket, opens it, and in it is his little sister, "white and pale" (as the book described) and dead. I don't remember anything else about that part.
The story does not focus on any particular generation of the family. It moves onto another generation, with a new son, who is probably a teenager, who finds a family heirloom of his family buried in the ground (though I don't think he realizes it belongs to his family). He meets with a girl who he comes to love, and meets with her father where he tells the story of his family curse to them. The girl's father says he knows the curse, and he is of the family who cursed the boy's family, and that the only way to remove the curse is for the family to be married. So, the boy decides to marry the girl.
Somewhere in there, the boy's mother falls into a well and dies. Can't remember much else about that.
The boy tells his father about the marriage and the family, and the father protests. He goes to the other family, and shoots the girl. When about to shoot the girl's father, it is revealed the father was only lying, and that he is not part of the family, but made it up because he was poor, and the boy's family was not. Then my memory goes blank.
I recall a family tree somewhere in the opening pages, but could be mistaken. I also recall the cover of the book being a rose in a puddle of blood, but I feel very unsure about this one - I think I'm remembering some other novel I picked up later on.
Any help is really appreciated. I'm sorry I haven't a more detailed description, but I hope this is enough to ring some bells. Thanks to anyone who can help.
The story is about a family who holds a strong hatred for another family, but is also cursed from that other family (can't remember the name of either, nor can I recall the curse). Of the beginning, that is all I can remember. Later on, the youngest daughter (I think - she was young) finds a friend, near her age, who she plays with. One day, they take off to play in a graveyard just by themselves. (Somehow) the older brother finds out that his little sister is playing with a member of that "other" family, and takes off to find his sister. In the graveyard, he finds a grave with fresh soil, and (I think) has his sister's name on the grave, but with the last name the name of the "other" family. He digs with his hands and finds a casket, opens it, and in it is his little sister, "white and pale" (as the book described) and dead. I don't remember anything else about that part.
The story does not focus on any particular generation of the family. It moves onto another generation, with a new son, who is probably a teenager, who finds a family heirloom of his family buried in the ground (though I don't think he realizes it belongs to his family). He meets with a girl who he comes to love, and meets with her father where he tells the story of his family curse to them. The girl's father says he knows the curse, and he is of the family who cursed the boy's family, and that the only way to remove the curse is for the family to be married. So, the boy decides to marry the girl.
Somewhere in there, the boy's mother falls into a well and dies. Can't remember much else about that.
The boy tells his father about the marriage and the family, and the father protests. He goes to the other family, and shoots the girl. When about to shoot the girl's father, it is revealed the father was only lying, and that he is not part of the family, but made it up because he was poor, and the boy's family was not. Then my memory goes blank.
I recall a family tree somewhere in the opening pages, but could be mistaken. I also recall the cover of the book being a rose in a puddle of blood, but I feel very unsure about this one - I think I'm remembering some other novel I picked up later on.
Any help is really appreciated. I'm sorry I haven't a more detailed description, but I hope this is enough to ring some bells. Thanks to anyone who can help.
