Scan barcode
A review by maryamorevnas
The Death of Jane Lawrence by Caitlin Starling
5.0
Thank you to the publishers and Edelweiss for the ARC in exchange for an honest review. I would say this hit at about 4.5 stars for me.
I have to say I’m not usually a horror reader but because this had a fantasy element and came recommended by an author I follow (Lyndall Clipstone) I decided to give it a shot! I had read the author’s novella Yellow Jessamine and it was decent but I didn’t love it. The Death of Jane Lawrence had been compared to Crimson Peak, Mexican Gothic, Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, Ninth House, Rebecca, Haunting of Hill House, and more, so I had high hopes for it.
The Death of Jane Lawrence follows Jane Shoringfield, a practical and logical woman who decides she must get married as her guardians are moving away and she will no longer be able to afford to live with them. She makes a list of suitors and decides the town’s doctor and trained surgeon, Augustine Lawrence, is the most fitting candidate. So she gives him a proposal: we marry, but it is a business agreement, I will work for you, I will live separate from you, and we’ll both have our freedoms. Augustine, eventually, accepts, on the one stipulation that Jane must never spend the night at his crumbling estate, Lindridge Hall.
But on the night of their wedding, as Jane is taken back to the town, Jane’s carriage is swept away in a flash flood/mudslide, and Jane is forced to make the trek back to Lindridge Hall and stay the night. But the Augustine she left at sunset is not the Augustine she finds during the storm: instead a haunted and terrified man who barely recognizes her.
The Death of Jane Lawrence turns into part haunted house story, part gothic love story, and part mystery fantasy, as Augustine is haunted by the patients he’s lost and a past he doesn’t like to speak of, Jane sees reflections of a woman with blood red eyes following her, Jane is led into a secret society of magicians, and the painful and deadly cost of magic becomes clear.
I was completely fascinated by the beginning of this book. I loved the marriage of convenience trope, that, naturally, turns into more. I related quite a bit to the main character, Jane, as a more logical person myself. I loved Jane and Augustine’s relationship as it grew, which was a match made in morbid heaven. (Wedding bands made out of human bone!) Him being a surgeon added a sort of body horror into the story, as well as the magic system.
I loved trying to decipher and figure out what direction this book could take. (Is the husband going to try to kill her? Is he a bad guy? What’s the deal with the ghosts? How much is this going to be like Crimson Peak?) and I am pleased to report that as the synopsis promises, The Death of Jane Lawrence did, in fact, completely overturn and upend all expectations. By the end of it, TDOJL was completely bonkers, in the best way possible.
I think the beginning of the book closely follows books of the genre set before it, the marriage, the spooky and decaying big house, ghost sightings, (very much Crimson Peak inspired) but it diverges and completely takes a different direction than what you’d come to expect.
I completely devoured this book, feeling as though I quite literally couldn’t turn the pages fast enough. I was compelled, a woman possessed, you could say! I read the first part of the book, stopped myself, then read the rest of the book the following night.
By the end of it I was grappling with making sure I understood the climax/ending and feeling slightly crazed, adrenaline from this book left me reeling at 5 in the morning. I will say that this book does get fairly circular/confusing, so if people prefer more clear cut and straight forward climaxes & resolutions, I’d err on the side of caution before reading this, but I found I didn’t mind it!
My oh-so-eloquent first thoughts upon finishing were probably: what in the absolute fuck. Wow.
I will also note because I quite literally never read horror, I didn’t read it expecting to be scared. And I wasn’t. It was spooky and exciting for sure, though!
I will definitely be buying this come October and can’t wait to add it to my print book collection. I absolutely LOVE the cover as well.
I have to say I’m not usually a horror reader but because this had a fantasy element and came recommended by an author I follow (Lyndall Clipstone) I decided to give it a shot! I had read the author’s novella Yellow Jessamine and it was decent but I didn’t love it. The Death of Jane Lawrence had been compared to Crimson Peak, Mexican Gothic, Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, Ninth House, Rebecca, Haunting of Hill House, and more, so I had high hopes for it.
The Death of Jane Lawrence follows Jane Shoringfield, a practical and logical woman who decides she must get married as her guardians are moving away and she will no longer be able to afford to live with them. She makes a list of suitors and decides the town’s doctor and trained surgeon, Augustine Lawrence, is the most fitting candidate. So she gives him a proposal: we marry, but it is a business agreement, I will work for you, I will live separate from you, and we’ll both have our freedoms. Augustine, eventually, accepts, on the one stipulation that Jane must never spend the night at his crumbling estate, Lindridge Hall.
But on the night of their wedding, as Jane is taken back to the town, Jane’s carriage is swept away in a flash flood/mudslide, and Jane is forced to make the trek back to Lindridge Hall and stay the night. But the Augustine she left at sunset is not the Augustine she finds during the storm: instead a haunted and terrified man who barely recognizes her.
The Death of Jane Lawrence turns into part haunted house story, part gothic love story, and part mystery fantasy, as Augustine is haunted by the patients he’s lost and a past he doesn’t like to speak of, Jane sees reflections of a woman with blood red eyes following her, Jane is led into a secret society of magicians, and the painful and deadly cost of magic becomes clear.
I was completely fascinated by the beginning of this book. I loved the marriage of convenience trope, that, naturally, turns into more. I related quite a bit to the main character, Jane, as a more logical person myself. I loved Jane and Augustine’s relationship as it grew, which was a match made in morbid heaven. (Wedding bands made out of human bone!) Him being a surgeon added a sort of body horror into the story, as well as the magic system.
I loved trying to decipher and figure out what direction this book could take. (Is the husband going to try to kill her? Is he a bad guy? What’s the deal with the ghosts? How much is this going to be like Crimson Peak?) and I am pleased to report that as the synopsis promises, The Death of Jane Lawrence did, in fact, completely overturn and upend all expectations. By the end of it, TDOJL was completely bonkers, in the best way possible.
I think the beginning of the book closely follows books of the genre set before it, the marriage, the spooky and decaying big house, ghost sightings, (very much Crimson Peak inspired) but it diverges and completely takes a different direction than what you’d come to expect.
I completely devoured this book, feeling as though I quite literally couldn’t turn the pages fast enough. I was compelled, a woman possessed, you could say! I read the first part of the book, stopped myself, then read the rest of the book the following night.
By the end of it I was grappling with making sure I understood the climax/ending and feeling slightly crazed, adrenaline from this book left me reeling at 5 in the morning. I will say that this book does get fairly circular/confusing, so if people prefer more clear cut and straight forward climaxes & resolutions, I’d err on the side of caution before reading this, but I found I didn’t mind it!
My oh-so-eloquent first thoughts upon finishing were probably: what in the absolute fuck. Wow.
I will also note because I quite literally never read horror, I didn’t read it expecting to be scared. And I wasn’t. It was spooky and exciting for sure, though!
I will definitely be buying this come October and can’t wait to add it to my print book collection. I absolutely LOVE the cover as well.