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lyall_reads 's review for:
The Animals at Lockwood Manor
by Jane Healey
From Rebecca to the frustrating Other Typist, we have a dirth of sapphic coded atmospheric thrillers. I’m so used to the queer yearnings being subtext, that I was honestly shocked- and then very happy- when the romance in the Animals at Lockwood Manor jumped out of the subtext and into the main plotting of the story.
The story exudes an atmosphere more than a driving plot- during the Blitz, Hetty oversees the evacuation of a museum’s mammal collection from its London home into the crumbling Lockwood Manor. Lucy is the daughter of the household, haunted by the echoes of her mother and her own troubled thoughts. Lockwood Manor itself is a character- rotting, labyrinthine, and strange. Animals move in the night. Strange shapes disappear down corridors. All the while, the odious Major Lockwood lords over it all.
I love slow, intimate character driven stories, but even I wished for a little more movement, especially during the third quarter of the story. Movement can come from plot or character development, but something needs to feel like it’s unfolding to keep the reader engaged.
Still, past this lull, I loved this story. While I can’t speak to the care it shows all issues it touches, I found the book’s handling of mental illness adept, especially for this genre. Lucy is never someone to be fixed and she’s not treated as a plot device or puzzle piece, but rather a developed human who drives her own story. Her illness isn’t magicked away by love or plot contrivance, but we are able to see how healthier support systems can help people flourish. Lucy deserves only the best.
TLDR: an atmospheric sapphic thriller with nuanced inclusion of mental illness that drags in places but is saved by the strong dynamic between the two heroines and the eerie presence of Lockwood itself.
The story exudes an atmosphere more than a driving plot- during the Blitz, Hetty oversees the evacuation of a museum’s mammal collection from its London home into the crumbling Lockwood Manor. Lucy is the daughter of the household, haunted by the echoes of her mother and her own troubled thoughts. Lockwood Manor itself is a character- rotting, labyrinthine, and strange. Animals move in the night. Strange shapes disappear down corridors. All the while, the odious Major Lockwood lords over it all.
I love slow, intimate character driven stories, but even I wished for a little more movement, especially during the third quarter of the story. Movement can come from plot or character development, but something needs to feel like it’s unfolding to keep the reader engaged.
Still, past this lull, I loved this story. While I can’t speak to the care it shows all issues it touches, I found the book’s handling of mental illness adept, especially for this genre. Lucy is never someone to be fixed and she’s not treated as a plot device or puzzle piece, but rather a developed human who drives her own story. Her illness isn’t magicked away by love or plot contrivance, but we are able to see how healthier support systems can help people flourish. Lucy deserves only the best.
TLDR: an atmospheric sapphic thriller with nuanced inclusion of mental illness that drags in places but is saved by the strong dynamic between the two heroines and the eerie presence of Lockwood itself.