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lesserjoke 's review for:
The Animals at Lockwood Manor
by Jane Healey
This 2020 novel is an exquisite piece of mid-century historical fiction, rich in gothic atmosphere and consideration of women's oppression within the family unit and the larger society. Our two heroines are the daughter of a wealthy household and the museum curator sent there to accompany a taxidermy collection being sheltered away from the London Blitz. Each young woman is haunted by the manor's past, in the respective forms of one's sharp childhood memories and the other's treatment by a cruel host and his cold, resentful staff. Adding to the mysteries within Lockwood, personal items are going missing and the animals seem to subtly move whenever no one is looking.
For all the creepiness, however, the main appeal of this narrative is probably in the tender bond between its two protagonists, which eventually blossoms into full romance. I won't give away whether the ghosts are real or not, but the complex psychological horror makes this book like a sapphic version of Daphne du Maurier's Rebecca, and marks debut author Jane Healey as a clear talent to watch.
(I do wish the audiobook had employed two different readers or even just two different accents to help distinguish between the main characters, but since their chapters alternate back-and-forth, it's generally not too difficult to keep track of which is which. And that's obviously a critique of the audio production, not necessarily of the source text itself.)
[Content warning for gaslighting, child abuse, implied homophobia, and institutionalization.]
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For all the creepiness, however, the main appeal of this narrative is probably in the tender bond between its two protagonists, which eventually blossoms into full romance. I won't give away whether the ghosts are real or not, but the complex psychological horror makes this book like a sapphic version of Daphne du Maurier's Rebecca, and marks debut author Jane Healey as a clear talent to watch.
(I do wish the audiobook had employed two different readers or even just two different accents to help distinguish between the main characters, but since their chapters alternate back-and-forth, it's generally not too difficult to keep track of which is which. And that's obviously a critique of the audio production, not necessarily of the source text itself.)
[Content warning for gaslighting, child abuse, implied homophobia, and institutionalization.]
--Subscribe at https://patreon.com/lesserjoke to support these reviews and weigh in on what I read next!--
Find me on Patreon | Goodreads | Blog | Twitter