Mistress of Mellyn was the first Gothic romance novel written by Eleanor Hibbert under the pen name Victoria Holt.

[3] Set in 19th century England, Mistress of Mellyn weaves together elements from earlier Gothic novels such as Jane Eyre (1847), The Woman in White (1859), and Rebecca (1938) - a young, impressionable girl meets a mysterious widower in a mansion filled with the memories of his first wife who has suffered a tragic death.

Looking to solve the mystery, the young woman starts poking around the gloomy corners of the spooky mansion set on the wild Cornish cliffs.

[4] The novel was serialized in the Ladies' Home Journal, chosen as a Reader's Digest condensed book and issued in a treasury volume that included other Gothic authors such as Daphne du Maurier, Phyllis A. Whitney, Evelyn Anthony, Madeleine Brent and Jessica Nelson North.

The novel's setting in Cornwall made the resemblance to Rebecca so remarkable that it was speculated that Victoria Holt was a pseudonym for Daphne du Maurier.