Hunt's The Awakening features an introverted central character, Aurora Norquest, who has cared for her invalid mother for many years and has developed a pathological fear of leaving her Manhattan apartment. When at last her mother dies, Aurora begins experiencing some disturbing dreams accompanied by an authoritative voice. Somehow all of this seems connected to her mysterious father, a horror writer who deserted her mother when Aurora was still in the womb. A kindly confirmed bachelor helps Aurora to overcome her obsessions. Though Hunt's premise is interesting, in the end it collapses into atmospherics and is little more than a formula romance.
