Who's your favorite American author?

[maisonvivante]

Barbara Michaels and Phyllis Whitney are the queens of American gothics, in my opinion. Michaels' books are the more innovative of the two, in that she sometimes uses actual supernatural elements, and sometimes sticks with the more traditional Gothic romance formula. Whitney excells at using real locations in her books. Her real gift is creating realistic mysteries in real American locations, and as an American, I've had fun seeing my country as a Gothic setting. So often Gothic conjures up images of old European castles, but Whitney can take a modern American house built on a flat prairie and make it "Gothic."

I guess Michaels is the one who comes closest to matching the literary craftsmaship of a du Maurier or Mary Stewart.