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A review by allymute
The Manor House Governess by C.A. Castle
challenging
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
I’m grateful to Alcove Press and Netgalley for the advanced copy!
The Manor House Governess is a contemporary gothic novel that is an ode to Jane Eyre and other English classics. Bron is a gender fluid main character who is hired as a tutor for a young child at a Cambridge estate. When a mysterious fire breaks out, Bron is caught in a story like the gothic novels they know and love.
Parts of this novel were strong, and other parts were puzzling. When the novel discusses LGBTQ+ analysis on literary canons, it is excellent and insightful, and Bron’s unrealistic expectations on Romantic and gothic stories merging with real life. Other than that, this story doesn’t work for me. I thought the romance was forced and at times uneasy, while the plot of this novel was anticlimactic. I would read something by C.A. Castle again, but the Manor House Governess was not quite what I expected.
The Manor House Governess is a contemporary gothic novel that is an ode to Jane Eyre and other English classics. Bron is a gender fluid main character who is hired as a tutor for a young child at a Cambridge estate. When a mysterious fire breaks out, Bron is caught in a story like the gothic novels they know and love.
Parts of this novel were strong, and other parts were puzzling. When the novel discusses LGBTQ+ analysis on literary canons, it is excellent and insightful, and Bron’s unrealistic expectations on Romantic and gothic stories merging with real life. Other than that, this story doesn’t work for me. I thought the romance was forced and at times uneasy, while the plot of this novel was anticlimactic. I would read something by C.A. Castle again, but the Manor House Governess was not quite what I expected.