A review by mythopoeia
The Quiet Stillness of Empty Houses by L.V. Russell

dark emotional mysterious reflective medium-paced

3.75

This was a short but fun gothic story sure to appeal fans of the Brontës and Henry James. It's difficult to summarize without giving anything away, but here goes:

Theodora has left her familial home behind to take a job as governess at Broken Oak Manor - her only shot at employment after a rough exit from her last position. Within the dark halls of Broken Oak, Theodora makes a place for herself alongside a stern-exteriored housekeeper, her sweet and precocious charge, Ottoline, and Ottoline's father, Cassias. As Theodora grows precariously closer to Cassias, it becomes clearer and clearer that Broken Oak is hiding dark secrets that hold the key to all of their futures.

Overall, the novel was a great example of the gothic genre and a fun spooky story that was building toward a reveal. I did guess the reveal early on, but it was still satisfying to get there. As a result of the form and genre, it leaned much more heavily on plot and atmosphere than character depth - not a bad thing objectively, but not as aligned with my personal tastes.

I was bothered a bit by the pacing early on, particularly surrounding Theodora's initial place of employment. (Slight early spoiler ahead)
The off-page sexual assault threw me off, given both the short attention given to those years (which I didn't even realize were years rather than weeks until it was mentioned later) of Theodora's life and the minimal exploration of its effects on her afterward. While it's established early on that Theodora grew up learning to bottle away her emotions, it never felt like those stowed emotions came to play in her character arc, which felt disappointing.


Thank you to NetGalley and Quill and Crow for providing a free digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.
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