Reviews with content warning for Confinement - Mrs England

When children’s nurse Ruby May finds herself in need of serving a new family, she strikes gold with the England Family of four children in Yorkshire. When she arrives, she’s quickly smitten with the children and enthralled with the master of the house. However, the mistress of the house, Mrs England, is another matter altogether. With Mr England’s strict rules regarding his wife, and Mrs England’s apparent absent mindedness, Ruby is captivated by the ongoings of this dysfunctional marriage. As Ruby’s curiosity and caring responsibilities clash, and her own past traumas resurface, the tale of Mrs England promises to make us think twice about what we think we know about families and what goes on behind closed, locked doors.

Stacey Halls returns with her third novel, and in true Halls style, the story enveloped me with every chapter, and caused my mind to blaze with rife suspicion and dread. Just like The Familiars and The Foundling, Halls writing is cosily ensnaring and tugged back and forth at my heart. One minute it lulled me forward and pushed away, then pulled me in once more and pushed away again. It’s a story about devotion, power, family, harmony and survival.

The England’s family home and the time period was so well drawn I felt it vividly as if I’d travelled in time and was in the midst of it all. I felt the hollowness and coldness of the house, then on the other hand, I felt the love and care of Ruby attending to the children by indulging their childhood fancies of stories and hide and seek.

The characters were likeable and compelling, evoking warmth and sympathy or mistrust and anxiety throughout. My thoughts kept shifting on all of them - even our narrator Ruby - as Halls cast doubt at every door. I felt the building undercurrent of suspense throughout, as it becomes increasingly clear both Ruby and the England family has secrets that will upturn everything as the story builds toward a menacing end.

My only quibble is I wish the story went farther and delved deeper. I wish Ruby’s background had ran adjacent to the England family’s, or wasn’t left so close to the novel’s end, for it felt underserved and I ultimately desired more. However, it was enjoyable and tied in and contrasted well with the family’s story to provide such dimensions of adversity it made the climax devilishly ominous.

Mrs England feels enigmatic and oppressive yet utterly beguiling. It captures the serene landscape of wealth and family that is something idyllic, probably even enviable, but behind and underneath it all, there’s more than meets the eye and all is not as it seems. A thoroughly enjoyable piece of historical fiction I’m sure other Halls fans will adore too.

Thank you kindly to the publishers for providing me with an e-ARC in exchange for this honest review.

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