3.85 AVERAGE


Suspenseful, gothic mystery that I enjoyed!
adventurous dark hopeful sad tense slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: No
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: No
mysterious medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: No
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: No

An intriguing historical novel exploring what happens behind closed doors
mysterious sad slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Plot
adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective sad medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes
challenging dark emotional hopeful informative mysterious reflective tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Plot
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

4.5 stars

Whoever at Cosmo thought this was if the level of Hilary Mantel skimmed on their reading. It’s pretty good for what it is, but not quite successfully plotted.
dark mysterious sad slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: No
Loveable characters: No
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: N/A

It’s 1904 in West Yorkshire when Ruby May starts work as a Norland Nanny looking after the four children of Mr and Mrs England. Mr England runs the cotton mill close to their house close to woods, rocky crags streams and moorland.

Gradually, we begin to learn something of Ruby’s troubled childhood as we also begin to appreciate that there are many unanswered questions about the England family too.

I love this book. It’s my second by Stacey Halls and even better in my opinion than The Foundling which I also enjoyed enormously. This is more atmospheric and has a gothic feel to it. There is a sense of menace, tension and mystery that had me hooked. I only started this yesterday, but I was compelled to keep reading! Highly recommended!