I wanted to love this one but unfortunately this genre was just not for me at this point in time. Whilst the writing is good I just wanted a faster pace and sadly lost interest, will try and finish at a later date when I'm in the mood to read Gothic fiction. Thanks so much!

At times I contemplated putting this book down, but I persevered and was rewarded with an answer to the story’s mystery. That said, I can now confidently say that contemporary Gothic may not be the genre for me. I think perhaps if there was a tangible crime to investigate this would have helped drive the plot forward, but instead the reader is left to float along with the main character Hannah as she paints and repairs the titular house with the intent to sell. I do, however, think that is the point.
My personal desires for a faster pace aside, this is a well-written book. The atmosphere is entirely unsettling, and it’s not too much to give away that we suspect early on that Hannah is an unreliable narrator. What follows is a guessing game as the reader tries to piece together clues from her childhood and the present to solve the puzzle of the mysterious Flint.
The isolation of the house and the creepy goings-on contribute to a sense of unease that stayed with me even after turning the last page.
I would recommend this if you want a creepy Gothic-style mystery in a modern setting - but be prepared for lots of exposition and a late reveal. My low rating is solely due to this book just not being the kind of story I enjoy, and is no reflection on the author’s writing.

“The last thing I remember is the screaming. I remember that because I wasn’t the one doing it.... It was the house. Sargasso. The house was screaming,....”

Inspired by her love of classic gothic fiction, Sargasso is an entrancing, eerie tale of mystery and passion from debut Australian novelist, Kathy George.

Upon her grandmother’s death, Hannah Prendergast inherits Sargasso, the impressive house of glass and stone designed by her late father, built on a headland just outside Shepherd Cove, a holiday town two hours’ drive down the west coast of Melbourne. It’s been twenty years since Helen last crossed the threshold of her childhood home, the family having abandoned it when she was twelve after her father’s body washed up on the beach below.

The narrative shifts smoothly between the past and the present. ‘Then’ Hannah is a bright and imaginative child who delights in the eccentric aspects of Sargasso, one of which is the inscrutable boy who becomes her best and only friend, Flint. ‘Now’, Hannah plans to rejuvenate the house while she decides what to do with it, and is stunned when Flint reappears, a grown man, as enigmatic as ever.

It is the relationship between Hannah and Flint that is at the heart of this story, an obsessive, possessive, all consuming love forged in childhood and reignited with their reunion as adults. Hannah barely hesitates before ending her three year relationship when Flint demands it, and grows ever more reluctant to even leave his side, as Flint has a habit of disappearing for hours, days, even weeks, particularly when she displeases him. The sense of uncertainty and dread steadily escalates as the secrets of Sargasso, both past and present, begins to unravel.

George develops an extraordinary atmosphere that blurs the line between what may be real and what may be imagined. The initial impression of Sargasso is one of light and strength, but slowly, particularly in the present timeline, the atmosphere of the house becomes oppressive and sinister. Rather than protect Hannah, it seems to trap her in a space between waking and sleeping.

The influence of novels such as Jane Eyre, Wuthering Heights, and Rebecca are obvious in terms of both plot and character but I think George provides her own modern Australian twist. Sargasso is an enthralling, haunting, gothic tale.

Sargasso by author Kathy George held many unexpected elements that snuck up on readers. Intriguing introduction set the scene for an authentic, sound read.
Review copy received from Harlequin MIRA via Netgalley

Sargasso is and atmospheric story with gothic undertones. Sargasso is a spectacular house perched on a windswept cliff in Victoria, Australia. It's home to sister's Hannah and Kelly. The sisters spent part of their childhood living at Sargasso before the tragic death of their father. As an adult Hannah inherits the house after her Grandmother's death. Hannah's childhood friend Flint returns after Hannah takes up residence once again at Sargasso. Kathy George has created a suspenseful and intriguing story that I couldn't put down. Thanks to NetGalley for my digital copy.

Sargasso, to me, is the epitome of a gothic novel.

Hannah was seven when her father designed Sargasso. When she was a girl she had a friend, Flint. His presence was a constant, for better or for worse, but he was a mystery. When tragedy strikes, Hannah and her family leave Sargasso and she doesn’t return until she inherits the property. She never sees, or hears from Flint, again.

Hannah has a romanticised notion of her family home, and from the get-go she feels an odd presence, but maybe it’s just the weight of time. Her boyfriend, Tristan, visits and is uneasy about her staying there on her own. She refuses to leave. She feels “something” there but can’t quite place that feeling.

Over time she withdraws from Tristan only later realising the weight she feels is the return of Flint. All of those past feelings and memories come flooding back. Hannah is again affected, influenced and dominated by him. Hannah finds it hard to determine what is actually going on.

And that is exactly what I asked myself, a lot. What is going on?

I was not immediately drawn in to this one, but it really grew on me and I couldn’t put it down because I needed to know if this was a story about a lonely girl with an overactive imagination, or if it was truly a ghost story.

The author references how she enjoyed Rebecca, and Sargasso feels like Manderley. Sargasso is a character in this story as it moves and creaks and groans it is easy to imagine it having a life of its own.

This book left me feeling unbalanced and i was questioning everything, both signs of a great gothic novel.

Thank you to Netgalley and Harlequin for the opportunity to read this one.

I’ve read some great books so far this year and this is another.

Sargasso is the name of a house designed and built by Hannah’s father. Built on the Victorian coast, a couple of hours from Melbourne, Hannah grows up at Sargasso sharing adventures with her childhood friend, Flint. After a tragedy when Hannah is around 12 though, Hannah and her family moved out to live in the city. Now in her early 30s, Hannah has returned to renovate the house to ready it for sale, and memories of the past constantly fill her thoughts.

Hannah then meets up with several people she knew when she was younger, including Flint, and when a series of suspicious events occur, Hannah starts to wonder if the house itself is the cause.

The book is told in Hannah’s first person point of view, switching between ‘then’ and ‘now’ at a nice pace and escalating tension until the climactic scenes. The book is quite addictive. Many times I thought I had the mystery plot all worked out but I was never quite sure and I found it difficult to put down at times, flicking pages to find out the truth.

It’s so difficult to write a gothic novel set in modern times but George does a brilliant job. She includes everything one would want in the genre -- an isolated and uniquely designed house which creaks and groans and loses electricity with the wind and other weather events; the hints of everything, from the birds to the house itself, seemingly watching the heroine; and the fact that Hannah is perhaps an unreliable narrator.

The missing star is pretty much due to the ending and the dissatisfaction I felt with it. I thought there were some plot points George had introduced which were never really fully explained or resolved and there were a couple of scenes with info dumps that made the ending feel too rushed. It was also a little bit ambiguous really. Additionally, there was a definite theme of domestic abuse which I thought was never really fully addressed and this made me feel a little uncomfortable.

Overall though, I liked the book a lot and would easily recommend it. 4 out of 5

Kathy George's debut novel, Sargasso, is true Australian Gothic literature, recalling such classics as Rebecca, Wuthering Heights, Jane Eyre and Agatha Christie's spooky standalone Endless Night.
After twenty years, Hannah Prendergast returns to "Sargasso", the cliffside house her father designed for the family, and where they lived up until his untimely death when she was twelve. She's been left the house by her beloved grandmother, who's recently died. The isolated Sargasso has been tenanted during the intervening years, and is badly in need of a spruce up, before Hannah decides whether to keep the house or sell. On leave from her job as an aged-care nurse, and in need of recuperation herself, Hannah moves into Sargasso, her Melbourne-based partner, Tristan, visiting on weekends.
The narrative shifts back and forth, between Hannah's childhood experiences at Sargasso and the present day. As a lonely but highly imaginative child who's grown into a troubled and anxious woman, she makes the perfect unreliable narrator. From the moment she arrives back at Sargasso, Hannah feels the mysterious pull the house has on her, but also the sense that the house is somehow alive. The more time she spends in and around the house, the more her memories of her childhood experiences in the house are piqued. She recalls her childhood friend, Flint - a boy with whom she shared an intense attachment between the ages of seven and twelve. When the now-adult Flint appears one day at Sargasso, she's thrilled to see him again.
But Flint remains an enigma, arriving at the house just as suddenly as he departs. And he's curiously possessive of Hannah, imploring her not to leave the house and disparaging any visitors who dare to interrupt their solitude. Their childish camaraderie begins to morph into an all-consuming adult passion. Inevitably, Hannah's relationship with Tristan deteriorates, as she feels torn between the two men. As Hannah gradually uncovers the truth behind her father's death and the nature of her own psychological relationship with the house, the atmosphere of spooky tension rises, the reader questions what (and who) is real, and what is the product of Hannah's fevered imagination?
Kathy George's dual-timeline narrative is well-paced and integrated, allowing the reader's insight into Hannah's personality and her complex relationship with Flint to gradually unfold over the course of the story. Supporting characters, including Hannah's partner Tristan, her older sister Kelly and several local personalities, anchor the story, providing a context for Hannah's more nebulous perspective.
The setting of Sargasso, a stunning but neglected structure in a spectacular but dangerous location, is wonderfully developed by George, very much in the tradition of Manderley (Rebecca), Bly (The Turn of the Screw) and Thornfield Hall (Jane Eyre). The house and its surrounds are central to the developing drama - there's a palpable sense of sadness, verging on menace, from the moment Hannah sets foot back inside the house.
Sargasso is an engrossing and, at times, spine-tingling read. Highly recommended for those who love slow-burn thrillers with plenty of gothic intrigue.
My thanks to the author, Kathy George, publisher Harlequin Australia, and NetGalley, for the opportunity to read and review this title.

⭐️4.5 Stars⭐️
Sargasso by Kathy George is an enthralling modern Australian gothic page turner, I found it positively simmering with suspense and hauntingly addictive.

The story is told seamlessly between Hannah’s past and present.

Sargasso is actually the name of a house, an innovative home built by architect Henry Prenergast who also lived in the home with his daughter Hannah and the rest of his family. Sargasso is also a fancy name for kelp and an area of water in the the North Atlantic Ocean.

Hannah was seven years old and an introverted child when she first lived at the isolated beachside home Sargasso, situated on a clifftop overlooking the ocean . She didn’t want any friends except for one who she kept hidden from her family, his name was Flint but she didn’t really know much about him. Hannah would spend as much time as she could playing with Flint secretly.

Hannah’s childhood ended in tragedy and the family moved alway from Sargasso.

Present - Twenty years later Hannah returns to Sargasso now looking to renovate Sargasso which was looking worn and weathered. Sargasso had previously been tenanted and Hannah has inherited the house from her late beloved grandmother.

After some strange incidents at the house her childhood friend Flint appears, he’s now a grown man but complex and somewhat tortured. Hannah’s world begins to change and she pushes her boyfriend Tristan away.

Loved this book, it was such a captivating and atmospheric read.

Reminiscent of Rebecca, I enjoyed this beach side gothic tale. Hannah inherits the family home Sargasso after her grandmother dies and goes back to get it ready for sale, only to reunite with her childhood friend Flint and start a rather troubled relationship (despite already having a boyfriend). But Not all is as it seems and despite many warnings from the local townsfolk, tragedy strikes yet again at Sargasso. Without giving too much away, I thought the twist involving Flint was good although I did see it coming. A nice moody ready, easy to visualise the setting and the house.

‘Not everything in life is meant to be shared. Some things shouldn’t be spoken about. They should be kept secret, close to your heart.’

How wonderful to add another author’s name to the Australian Gothic list. Kathy George has all the necessary ingredients in her new novel with an isolated location, a mysterious house and a visitor that you are never really sure of.

When Hannah returns to Sargasso, this isolated home her father built when she was a child, strange things begin to happen. With the loss of both parents and her grandmother, she has to decide whether to reside or sell the infamous ‘Sargasso’. This is a house that is certainly full of memories but the added mystery that accompanies will have you wondering what is real and what is not right throughout.

This clifftop home is a character within itself and provides the perfect backdrop for this Gothic style novel. Eventful weather and the ever changing sea just add to the whole feel of the story. Told from alternating timelines - then and now - Hannah shares her childhood memories with the enigmatic Flint ‘then’ and also of his return in the present day with the ‘now’ storyline. Who is Flint? What is his secret and what is this hold he has over Hannah?

Kathy will have you guessing every which way as you are unsure what is real and what isn’t. Some aspects you will begin to make educated guesses about, however, she will keep you wondering regarding the final resolution right up to the very end. If the mysterious Gothic is a genre you read, you are sure to find this a haunting and fulfilling tale.

‘Why am I always here? What draws me to this quiet, tucked-away corner of Sargasso? It’s like a puzzle - only, I’m missing a piece.’





This review is based on a complimentary copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. The quoted material may have changed in the final release.

I enjoyed this book, a gothic themed story set in Australia around a family home.
Hannah has inherited the home her father designed and built from her Grandmother. She loved this home when she was growing up and she loved Flint, the boy she made friends with during her childhood. Taking leave from her current job, she returns with the intent to restore and maybe sell the house, while hoping and wondering if Flint still lives around the area.
I found this book really easy to read, not as dark as some books I have read. Though it was really interesting delving into an aspect of mental illness. I must admit from the beginning I had an idea of the direction of the story line and I’m not sure if that actually distracted me a bit.
Overall one I would recommend and even though I found it a little predictable, I’d still recommend it for something a little different for a lot of readers.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for a copy to read.

Hannah was back at her old home, at Sargasso, the beachside house her father designed when she was seven years old. The old house nestled on the side of the cliff looked tired and worn – there had been tenants in it but now that her mother and father were both gone, it was her grandmother who had left Sargasso to Hannah after her recent death. Two hours from Melbourne and Hannah had taken three months compassionate leave from her job; her plan was to renovate the old house and decide what to do with it. Her boyfriend Tristan visited on the first weekend she was there, missing her and wanting her to return to Melbourne.

But Hannah had a visitor, and he was a blast from the past. When she had first arrived with her parents and sister, she met a boy a little older than her by the name of Flint. He was a withdrawn, private boy, but he and Hannah became good friends. She’d never been to his house – didn’t even know where it was, but now that she was an adult, when Flint turned up, she was astounded and ridiculously happy to see him again. As Flint spent more and more time with Hannah, she became obsessed with him, and his possessiveness soon overwhelmed her. What was happening to Hannah?

I don’t know quite what I was expecting, but this wasn’t it! Sargasso by Aussie author Kathy George is an intense, dark and deep novel which went from being ‘normal’ at around halfway, to strange and slightly weird. It wasn’t until I neared the ending that what I’d wondered was confirmed; the twist was a beauty. An intriguing, captivating and mysterious read, Sargasso is one I recommend highly.

With thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for my digital ARC to read in exchange for an honest review.

Thankyou to Netgalley, Better Reading and Harlequin for my copy of this novel.

As a child, Hannah lived at Sargasso, an imposing clifftop home designed by her father, a brilliant architect. A lonely, introverted child, she wanted no company but that of her mysterious friend Flint, the enigmatic boy who promised he would always be there for her.

Hannah's idyllic childhood at Sargasso ended in tragedy, but now as an adult after her parents and beloved grandmother have passed away Hannah is tasked with returning to the house to renovate it back to its former glory.

As if nothing has changed at all one day her childhood friend appears, now a grown man. Hannah didn't expect to reunite with Flint on her return but as he becomes a constant in her new life her past feelings come rushing back. As Hannah begins making friends with the local townspeople and uncovering the secrets held by Sargasso, Flint’s possessiveness over Hannah grows. Hannah’s ability to separate herself from her reality and her past memories begins to fade until she cannot tell what is real, what is imaginary, or what is from beyond the grave.

This was only the second gothic genre novel I have read and I loved it! The Australian setting was moody and atmospheric, the wildlife and the bush setting created a heavy, haunting feel and the house itself perched on a cliff overlooking a restless ocean became a mysterious entity and key character in the novel.

The story shifts easily between the past and present. The reader learns about Hannah’s childhood shared with her mysterious friend Flint whom her parents disapproved of. Flint was never around after the trouble and mischief had been caused, leaving Hannah to take all the blame for their childhood games gone wrong. In the present when Flint suddenly returns, Hannah begins to investigate who is Flint, where does he come from, and why does nobody else in town know him?

The Author does an amazing job at blurring the line between reality and imagination. What really occurred and what was imagined becomes almost indiscernible and the reader can feel Hannah struggling between her fantasy world and reality.

A perfect modern day gothic novel, I would highly recommend this novel for its amazing prose and atmospheric settings.

‘I was seven when we moved to Sargasso.’

Hannah returns to Sargasso, the isolated clifftop home where she spent much of her childhood. Her parents are dead, as is her beloved grandmother who owned the home which her father designed. Hannah has inherited the home and has returned to prepare it for sale. But the house is full of memories and mysteries.

The story shifts between past and present, between Hannah’s childhood shared with her mysterious friend Flint and the present where Flint returns, gradually increasing his hold over Hannah.

Sargasso provides a perfect setting for a Gothic novel: remote, perched high on a cliff, overlooking the relentless and restless sea. Hannah gradually withdraws from her boyfriend Tristan, and then as Flint exerts more control over her, largely withdraws from the outside world. But who is Flint, where does he come from, and why does no-one else know him?

I read this, not sure how to distinguish between what was real and what was imagined, and with a sense of dread as to how it would end. What are the secrets of Sargasso, and where does Flint fit? Will Hannah find peace?

This novel grew on me gradually and then I found I could not put it down because I needed to know how it would end. And the ending was, for me, unsettling but perfect.

‘Last night I dreamt I went to Sargasso again.’

Note: My thanks to NetGalley and Harlequin HQ Australia for providing me with a free electronic copy of this book for review purposes.

Jennifer Cameron-Smith

An empty house, a lonely shore, an enigmatic, brooding man-child waiting for her return... a trip to the dark lands of Australian Gothic.

Hannah has returned to Sargasso, the imposing clifftop home of her childhood. The house meticulously designed by her architect father and where she spent her days with her mysterious childhood friend, Flint. Her parents and beloved grandmother have passed away and Hannah finds herself back at her childhood home, tasked with bringing Sargasso back to its former glory. She didn't foresee reuniting with Flint or uncovering the secrets of the past, the secrets long held by Sargasso.

Sargasso had me holding my breath, with an unshakeable feeling of foreboding. I was immediately drawn in by the haunting atmosphere Kathy George had created with nimble pace and dexterous foreshadowing. Sargasso sits perched on a cliff, it is imposing and angular, with the backdrop of a moody and unpredictable sea it provides the ideal setting for a modern Gothic novel. At times I could almost feel the wind in my hair and whipping at my clothes, the smell of the sea pervading my senses.

Hannah has a childlike innocence and naivety, some might compare her with Daphne du Maurier’s protagonist in the classic Gothic novel, Rebecca. This book certainly echoes the broodiness found at Manderley, with its haunted halls and wild seascape. George had me guessing what was real and what was imagined, the line between reality and fantasy almost indiscernible. I did anticipate some aspects of the outcome, but that didn’t negate my enjoyment of the final chapters.

If the Gothic genre is your thing, Sargasso may just be the haunting and mesmerising book that you've been waiting for!

Thanks to NetGalley, Harlequin HQ and the Author for the opportunity to read and review this advanced reader copy.

Thanks to Netgalley for a copy of this book for an honest review.

Kathy George's debut novel, Sargasso, is entertaining and certainly keeps you guessing and turning pages. Only downside for me was the ending which was a little predictable and felt rushed. I would recommend this book for people who like a quick read.

Wow! I was hooked on this book the moment it was compared to Kate Morton and Hannah Richell and then I discovered Kathy is a Brisbane author and I had to read it. This is modern gothic literature at its best, I loved it and highly recommend.

Sargasso was a captivating read. There was a great sense of atmosphere about the tale which moved between past and present to tell its story. Certainly there were plenty of links with Wuthering Heights, though I found the Rebecca ones less obvious. I saw the twist in the story coming a mile away, so the final reveal wasn't much of a climax for me; however, that didn't stop me enjoying the book overall. This was my first time reading an Australian-set Gothic novel, but the fact it was a modern building rather than an old house/castle didn't detract from the heavy atmosphere George created in her prose. In conclusion, although parts of the story were a little more obvious than I would have liked, I found Sargasso an engaging story and I would recommend it to fans of Gothic literature.

(This review will go live on my blog at the link below on 18 January 2021, at which point I will also share on Goodreads and across social media.)