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A review by gembookbee
The Animals at Lockwood Manor by Jane Healey
5.0
Firstly, this is such a STUNNING cover, by Neil Lang Designs, that has both obvious and subtle links to the content of this beautifully gothic and nostalgic story centred around a deteriorating manor house and a treasured museum collection of mammals & birds.
I was enraptured with this Gothic delight, it is part ghost story, part romance, part historical capturing the essence of rural life in the 1940's during World War 2. How villages used to very little change had to adapt and evolve almost overnight to evacuees and other arrivals, as well as men leaving for the war.
Jane Healey cleverly weaves in the historical changes for women that WW2 helped emerge: the aspirations of some women to do more than marry and raise children, the ability to pursue careers even within traditionally male fields, and the beginnings of sexual liberation and revolution.
This book is atmospheric, full of suspense with just teases of mysteries and secrets unknown as Hetty begins to become acquainted with the manor house and it's inhabitants. Lucy and Hetty's connection was a joy to read, I felt deeply the loneliness Lucy clearly had and hated her father (Lord Lockwood) with his entitled attitude and oblivious nature to Lucy, both her capabilities and her hurt.
With things soon going awry as Hetty's prized collection suffers losses, Hetty also struggles with recurring nightmares, visions and a sense of paranoia that threatens her position at Lockwood as well as her future.
Secrets of cruelty, betrayal, wickedness and revenge seep through the manor house and yet there is a counterbalance of passion and devotion. The delicate and endangered nature of the creatures in Hetty's collection reflect the precarious balance of secrets and appearances of life in Lockwood, and as everything begins to unravel, something dangerous and yet magical is released.
This book is an exquisite piece of storytelling that is just as impressive as its cover. It leaves you captured in its disturbing vision and breathless with what ultimately concludes.
Thank you to the author and publisher for granting me a free advanced copy of this title via Netgalley. All opinions are entirely my own.
I was enraptured with this Gothic delight, it is part ghost story, part romance, part historical capturing the essence of rural life in the 1940's during World War 2. How villages used to very little change had to adapt and evolve almost overnight to evacuees and other arrivals, as well as men leaving for the war.
Jane Healey cleverly weaves in the historical changes for women that WW2 helped emerge: the aspirations of some women to do more than marry and raise children, the ability to pursue careers even within traditionally male fields, and the beginnings of sexual liberation and revolution.
This book is atmospheric, full of suspense with just teases of mysteries and secrets unknown as Hetty begins to become acquainted with the manor house and it's inhabitants. Lucy and Hetty's connection was a joy to read, I felt deeply the loneliness Lucy clearly had and hated her father (Lord Lockwood) with his entitled attitude and oblivious nature to Lucy, both her capabilities and her hurt.
With things soon going awry as Hetty's prized collection suffers losses, Hetty also struggles with recurring nightmares, visions and a sense of paranoia that threatens her position at Lockwood as well as her future.
Secrets of cruelty, betrayal, wickedness and revenge seep through the manor house and yet there is a counterbalance of passion and devotion. The delicate and endangered nature of the creatures in Hetty's collection reflect the precarious balance of secrets and appearances of life in Lockwood, and as everything begins to unravel, something dangerous and yet magical is released.
This book is an exquisite piece of storytelling that is just as impressive as its cover. It leaves you captured in its disturbing vision and breathless with what ultimately concludes.
Thank you to the author and publisher for granting me a free advanced copy of this title via Netgalley. All opinions are entirely my own.