Wow! What a read! I am still reeling by how much I truly enjoyed this book. After seeing Shirley Jackson mentioned in the blurb, I'll admit I was a little nervous. Most of the time, this leads to disappointment and me wondering if the gothic genre is dying out. The Death of Jane Lawrence has given me hope once again! Caitlin Starling is not messing around. The setting, the plot, the characters... everything felt so effortless.

Jane, our main character, convinces the town doctor that the two should be married as a business transaction. It is a mutually beneficial offer with strict parameters set in place by both parties. However, soon after they are married, those rules seem to unwind and Jane finds herself wondering who she truly married. Why must Augustine sleep at Luthridge Hall, by himself, every single night? Why can't she join him? What or who is haunting him in the night?

The impossible becomes the possible and it's left to Jane to put everything back in order. There is such a perfect hush, hush tone to the gothic nature of this story. For some, it would be considered a slow burn. But I found myself instantly entranced and taken with Starling's vivid descriptions. Luthridge Hall and the perfect ending to this story will stay with me for quite some time.

The Death of Jane Lawrence is a beautifully written gothic, gory, and very scary novel. Caitlyn Starling has conjured a main character that is intelligent, quirky, and, ultimately, tragic. Jane Lawrence is a woman who enters a marriage contract with a local doctor. She chooses him based on practical reasons, not romantic inclinations. At first, Augustine Lawrence, resists her proposition, but he soon sees the advantages of marrying Jane. His one stipulation is that she can never come to Lindridge Hall, his family estate.

A storm causes an accident which forces Jane to stay her wedding night at Lindridge Hall where she experiences what Augustine was trying to shield her from: the ghosts that haunt Lindridge Hall. Soon, she begins to uncover the secrets that Augustine was desperate to keep from her.

The Death of Jane Lawrence, quite simply, gave me nightmares. It has all the touchstones of a great gothic read: a decaying manor, ghosts, and an unsettling backstory that literally haunts Jane. This story is dripping with unnerving atmosphere, scary visuals, and gruesome situations that will stay with you long after you finish.

This, and the other Caitlin Starling book I read, The Luminous Dead , are both *good*. But for me, they always drag on too long. In both this text and the other, Starling's premise is enchanting. But in both as well, the story feels like it carries on for longer than it merits. I think if Caitlin ever wrote a novella, it would be outstanding. At certain points I really was skipping whole pages, because it would just be description and description and no actual moving forward of the plot. But if you enjoyed The Luminous Dead or enjoy heavily descriptive prose, you might like it more than I did :)

I just didn't really like this. It starts out fine. But then it takes a weird turn and becomes very surreal, like a nightmare or something. It just didn't do it for me. It starts out as Gothic horror and then it was like The Yellow Wallpaper but with magic.

I do like the cover.

The title is misleading. I kept expecting her to die or to be dead. That in itself was distracting.

Caitlin Starling makes an ambitious change of direction from her 2019 debut The Luminous Dead, which was nominated for a Bram stoker Award in the First Novel Category. That novel was a fascinating and atmospheric blend of horror and science fiction, with this latest novel blending horror with historical and period drama. The Death of Jane Lawrence was one of those books I enjoyed in fits and starts, finding some parts exasperating, but others very entertaining. It certainly has the potential to find plenty of fans, but equally it will not surprise me if many readers struggle in making it to the end. However, it is worth sticking with as the first and second halves of the plot are significantly different from each other, with the pace quickening in the latter part.

The title of the novel The Death of Jane Lawrence is a slight spoiler for what lies ahead. Do not let that put you off though, much of the fun is how the plot arrives there and nothing is quite what it seems. And that includes death. When the novel opens the main character is called Jane Shoringfield and is plotting to find a husband, however, she is not looking for love and is after a marriage of convenience, so she can remain independent and carry on with her own career. Her first choice is the dashing, but reclusive doctor Augustine Lawrence who would be seen as a catch. Going back to the title of the book: you know what is going to happen; the couple click.

The plot takes its time finding its legs and true direction, which begins when Augustine tells Jane that there is a major condition to their marriage: she must never visit Lindridge Hall, his crumbling family manor outside of town. Jane agrees, but the reader knows this is not going to happen, with her realising that her husband is a very different man when he is on his own turf. Much of the novel is about uncovering secrets and Jane finding herself seriously out of her depth in the empty and unloved house. It takes a while for anything supernatural (or magical for want of a better word) to happen, which might test the patience of some readers, but Jane is an engaging main character, and she comfortably carries the novel on her shoulders, even if she does prefer numbers to people.

Various blurbs and promotional materials have namechecked Crimson Peak and this was a fair enough comparison, the underlying brooding romance was a key part of the story, with Jane on edge over the potential skeletons (romantic or otherwise) lurking in her new husband’s closet. Even though there a fair amount of gore, courtesy of several operating scenes, fans of quite sedate stuff like Jane Eyre or the atmospheric work of Shirley Jackson might enjoy this, even if the final third is very heavy on the magical, with potential madness or separation from reality not far away.

The setting was an intriguing one, but it did not truly click for me. One of the blurbs says “Set in a dark-mirror version of post-war England” to be frank, I am not too sure all readers would even notice this unless it was pointed out to them. I found this confusing and kept thinking, for some reason, it was set after the American Revolution! This location was just not defined well enough or distinguished from our own world to make any noticeable difference to the plot. BookRiot said “It’s like Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell meets Mexican Gothic meets Crimson Peak.” I have read both books and seen the film and the quote is a fair sell, however, the alternative reality where The Death of Jane Lawrence exists is not a patch on Jonathan Strange and Mrs Norrell or any of the best in fiction, such as Ishiguru’s Never Let Me Go. Interesting little tip-bits were dropped here and there, but there not enough of them to make this alternative reality intriguing enough to truly shine.

The story takes place in an alternate mirror version of Great Britain, which is called ‘Great Breltain’ whose capital, Camhurst, is struggling to recover and rebuild after suffering gas attacks from the ‘Ruzkans.’ I am not sure of the point in having a place where the location names were so similar to our own. Organized religion have become unpopular following the war, after many citizens found they were unable to combat the horrors of war and industrialization with mere faith. So, God, Christianity, and the Devil are never mentioned in the story and there were some really great scenes which illustrated this. After the marriage, there was this odd gathering of all the locals who followed and congregated around the married couple. Also, I noticed women had very good jobs, one of the secondary main characters was a surgeon, which most certainly would not be the case in the early 20th Century in our reality.

The plot swings into a standard slow-burning gothic horror story, with a few variations, with repetition setting in before the end. However, the use of mathematical inquiry and the concept of zero to make sense of death and transcendence in the second half of the novel was fascinating, but I must admit I did not understand it all. Considering the book was a fair length, it was a tough ask for Jane to carry it on her own, although her struggle with moral goodness and empathy was always engaging, it could have done with more characters or alternative perspectives. The servants were wallpaper in the background and the visiting surgeons (who practiced magic) seemed only to be a plot device in order to give Jane some magical tips. Perhaps ‘magic’ is a better word than ‘supernatural’ for what goes on in this novel, but whichever you prefer it was very well presented and thought out by the author.

The Death of Jane Lawrence was an intriguing mix of literary ideas and although it never becoming a bodice ripping romantic tale, it does in places teeter towards it. However, Jane Lawrence was an intriguing and, very much, a modern woman who embraces the magical world with both hands when the chips were down.

Listen, though. Yes, the Crimson Peak vibes are strong, but to say this is Crimson Peak plus Jonathan Strange plus the Mutter Museum plus Mexican Gothic makes it sound like a derivative mish-mash of Gothic horror tropes--and the substance of it is moooooore than that. This book is beautiful and horrifying and e n g r o s s i n g and layered. The visceral horror is relentless but it's not just there to scare you. And there's just enough steady, believable romance to cut through the gore.

If I had to compare this book to anything, honestly, it would be the Area X trilogy by Jeff VanderMeer (which, coming from me, is a high compliment). The sense of "something is very, very Wrong about this place" that becomes clearer and more dangerous but doesn't form a neat, tidy shape by the end. There's not this Big Moment of Dawning Horror where you realize the truth of whatever awful thing lies at the center of the story (looking at you, that scene in Crimson Peak), but rather a building sense of disorientation as our narrator untangles question after question about everything haunting her and her husband. The ending wasn't straight-forward, but I'd sooner reread the book than leave it at that.

Literally throwing stars at this book. Read it!!

Jane Shoringfield, a sensible, no nonsense young woman, with a head for numbers, decides that the best way for her to get on with life is to get married. With the help of her foster parents, she compiles a list of eligible bachelors and devises a plan to enter into a sort of business arrangement with the gentleman of choice that would only be a marriage contract in the strictly legal sense. The first man on her list is Dr. Augustine Lawrence, who is the town’s new doctor. Jane meets the extremely reluctant doctor and after a clumsy introduction manages to persuade him to invite her to his office so that she can get an idea of what being a bookkeeper/pseudo nurse and wife? to a doctor might actually involve and to give him a chance to make up his mind. Although the opening pages of this story make it sound like a romantic comedy or even a gothic romance, it is anything but. Jane’s introduction to medicine is a horrific, bloody case that ends in the death of the patient, but she manages to bond with Dr. Lawrence, who she finds herself strangely attracted to and vice versa. They marry, but he explains to her that he will spend his nights at his family home, Lindridge Hall, but that she will never live there. It does not take Jane long to realize that the man she has married has many dark and ultimately terrifying secrets. The story gradually unfolds as the reader follows hardheaded, ‘just the facts,’ Jane as she becomes slowly engulfed in a tangled mystery of magic, ghosts, demons and bizarre rituals. The story is well-written, and the characters are believable; however, this is definitely a novel for fans of gothic fantasy and horror.

Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for a copy of this eARC in exchange for an honest review!

As a fan of the macabre and the grotesque, this is a publication that I highly anticipated, and knew I had to get my hands on! It can only be improved upon by its release in the spookiest month of the year. Fans of Jane Eyre and The Haunting of Hillhouse will find a lot to love here.

The book follows our heroine, Jane Lawrence, née Shoringfield, an exceedingly practical woman who arranges a marriage of practicality with Mr. Augustine Lawrence. He agrees, on the condition that she spends her nights in his place of surgical practice, rather than entering his home. He clearly has a great deal to hide, and what follows is a bloody romance with all the twists and turns you would expect in a classic horror novel.

The one take away for me with this book is that it had a bit of a plot slump towards the middle of the book, and could occasionally be a bit incomprehensible in its prose. That being said, it was still a pleasure from beginning to end and I plan on recommending this book to horror fans everywhere upon release!

This book has alot of things going for it, including great atmosphere and quirky characters, but it didn't work for me and I skimmed the last 100 pages to get to the end.

I loved how this book started off. Jane's pragmatic style was fresh and very appealing. Augustine was believable and their relationship was intriguing. I liked the other world setting too. There was a nice gothic feel. That being said I was a bit disappointed, not at the ending, but at the last bit of how they got there (trying not to give spoilers here). I would be curious to hear from others what they thought.

An easy to read, albeit tame, story of loneliness, madness and grief with a confusing ending. I found the author’s use of “non-places” for locations an irksome distraction.

Masterful gothic horror novel that reminds one of Rebecca crossed with haunting go hill house , janes marries a doctor for convince finds he harbors deep terrifying secrets . Scary and thrilling this novel is unputdownable

I have to say it... I am absolutely in love with this book cover. It is just stunning to look at (and believe me I have looked at it repeatedly!). You can't judge a book by its cover but in this case the story inside this glorious cover did not let me down.

I'll admit, it was a bit of a slow start between me and "The Death of Jane Lawrence". I was initially drawn in due to the comparisons to Crimson Peak (a favorite film of mine) and the fact that the author has several well written horror stories (definitely check out the Luminous Dead if you have not). Still, I was not immediately drawn in like I expected to be but once we got to the house THAT is when I couldn't put it down. I will not be going into any kind of spoiler territory because, personally, the best thing about horror, mystery, or thriller novels is the journey without any kind of hint of what is to come.

All in all, I'm glad I got the chance to give this an early read and review and I can't wait to have it on my shelf later this year. Honestly, it's the perfect autumn read in the dark.

This book is the usual gothic haunted house scenario, but with some original elements. It’s subtly set in an alternative world, which was jarring at first as I tried to figure it out. The characters live in Great Breltain (“Was that a typo?” I wondered the first time I read it) and our undaunted protagonist, Jane, grew up in a different land, Ruzka, where she suffered through bombings and destruction from war. These slightly skewed place names with obvious counterparts begs the question as to why the author bothered with these maneuvers instead of just placing us in post-WWII London.

Jane and Augustine, the local doctor, agree to a business-like marriage arrangement: she’ll keep his accounts and he’ll continue his clinical practice. She gets room and board and he gains a reputation for normality by taking a wife. His only stipulation is that he must sleep alone at his ancestral home and Jane will remain in town, which is fine with her, as she’d like to avoid any marital obligations in that regard.
Of course, things get romantically complicated, but this is by no means a romance story. Jane’s devotion to logic and mathematics collide with the metaphysical to create a strange ghost story steeped in eerie rituals, gore, and achronological games of life and death.

Rather than summarize the plot, I’ll just tell you:
The Good:
o The use of mathematical inquiry and the concept of zero to make sense of death and transcendence
o Jane’s struggle with moral goodness and empathy
o Gruesome descriptions to accentuate the eerie atmosphere

The Not-So-Good:
o A repetitive saga near the end of the book with never-ending descriptions of Jane trapped in an ascetic ritual stupor
o Chapter Zero, which was so rife with obfuscation that I had to read it twice to parcel out information from the irrational, Twin-Peaksy imagery
o Typical horror-story tidy ending

Despite the list of not-so-good, it’s definitely worth reading, and I will be on the lookout for more from this author. Many thanks to Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for the advance copy.

Huge amount of thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for an electronic arc of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.
The Death of Jane Lawrence is best described as a gothic horror novel that had me jumpy while reading at night.
Jane is a practical girl, preferring numbers and order to almost anything. Her marriage to Dr. Augustine Lawrence is nothing more than a business arrangement, beneficial to them both. Jane soon finds out there is nothing beneficial to this arrangement and her husband is far from what he seems.
She discovers hidden things, horrible things, within the walls of Lindridge Hall, her husband’s family home. A house worthy of its own paragraph, it was wonderfully and creepily described. A perfect setting for a horror novel.
A bit of a slow burn, but the ending tied everything up neatly.

The Death of Jane Lawrence is a spooky gothic thriller, perfect for fans of Jane Eyre or Rebecca. Set on a gloomy estate in a county similar to the UK, Jane, a nerdy but sharp woman thinks she's found her way in the world when she manages to get a mysterious doctor to agree to marry her, as a partnership of sorts. But the secrets in the estate threatened to tear apart their marriage and kill her in the process.

I couldn't put this one down, but I had to dock it one star because the book contained more gore and darkness than I felt was necessary. It set the scene, but sometimes I had to skip a few paragraphs due to being grossed out.

What a delicious novel. Not what I was expecting. I absolutely loved it! Gothic horror at its best. Macabre, dark, suspenseful. The first two days of Jane’s plan were a little tedious, but that was the only fault I really found with it. I did get a little confused at the end, but I’m OK with that. It was a complex, entangled story. It is definitely one that I would read again and one that I would like to discuss with others. It leaves you thinking. I did not want to put this book down! I had this feeling of excitement the entire time I was reading it. I enjoyed it so much. My favorite read of 2021 so far! This book was carefully and skillfully written. I will read the other book and novella that is by this author.

Thank you Net galley and the publisher, St. Martin’s Press for the digital ARC in exchange for my honest review.

#NetGalley #The DeathofJaneLawrence

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

The Death of Jane Lawrence by Caitlin Starling is a masterpiece of gothic fantasy, a romance between a lady and a doctor set in an aged and antiquarian manor. When I saw the description comparing this book to Crimson Peak, I knew that I had to add it to my TBR. Crimson Peak is one of my favorite movies because of its setting. I've had daydreams of running away from a murderer in a haunted castle while my dress swirls around me. Let me tell you, The Death of Jane Lawrence delivers! So many other books try and fail to sound Victorian, but Caitlin Starling manages to do it without turning camp. The book felt like it was written in the 19th century. I put on a playlist of Victorian-inspired music while I was reading this book, and I was transported back in time.

The plot of the book revolves around a romance between the titular Jane and Augustine, a handsome doctor who may be hiding dark secrets. Jane convinces him to marry her as a "business arrangement," not for love. He agrees as long as she holds up her end of the bargain, which includes never visit him at Lindridge Hall, the manor where he spends his night. The setting of the story is important, and Starling does an stunning job describing the Gothic location. Here is a quote from Chapter Nine when Jane explores the manor:

"She drew back dusty curtains to let the watery sunlight spill inside the house, and wondered at the small things she found abandoned. An iron candlestick with a half taper of melted wax here, a sheaf of pianoforte music there . . . all of them fragments of a life that had once been lived here. "

The descriptions are done exquisitely. In addition, the book is a perfect example of Gothic horror This story is not for the squeamish. Besides for detailed descriptions of bloody and gory medical procedures, the book also includes ghostly hauntings of the type in Crimson Peak. One difference between this book and Crimson Peak is that I feel that Jane had more agency and willpower as a protagonist. From the beginning, she is a maker of her own destiny and refuses to let anyone keep her down. A second difference is that this book features magic a lot more prominently. I was reminded of the magic system in VIta Nostra, one of my favorite books. It's beyond logical explanation, and the prose evokes that mysterious, unknown quality.

Overall, I enjoyed reading this book so much that I'm going to look up the rest of Starling's books. I don't think the genius writing in this book is a one-off, so I think her other books will be just as impressive. If you liked Crimson Peak, you won't regret reading The Death of Jane Lawrence when it comes out in October.

So, that was intense. A gothic mix-up of horror, hauntings and magic, the story had the potential of being super creepy and at the same time fantastical. I found myself questioning everything I was reading to the point of exhaustion. I know it's just me and not the book, because the writing was good. I just lost patience in trying to figure out who was dead, who was alive and what was going on in that weird-ass house.

I'm sure this book appeals to many fans of the genre, it just wasn't for me. Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this one.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC of The Death of Jane Lawrence.

I had a very hard time staying interested in this book. The premise sounded great! A marriage of convenience, a spooky house, and the handsome, single, new doctor who insists on living in said house, alone! Unfortunately, it was just too painfully slow. So much of the tension you want from a gothic horror was dispelled by all the droning on about math and magic. Honestly, the whole magic storyline felt really out of place for me. Doctors are typically very science and evidence minded and the era the story was set in (I'm assuming late 1800/early 1900s?) didn't feel conducive to the seemingly wide spread use of magic. I also feel like there was never a good explanation for many of what seemed like pertinent plot points. All the odd parts Augustine removed from patients and kept? No point! What Jane was trying to accomplish with her conjuring? Never actually explained. What universe was this supposed to be set in? Practicing magic doesn't seem taboo, so I really couldn't get a grasp on the setting. I'm sure some people liked the ending, but I did not. Overall, I'm giving this 3 stars because 2 feels too mean...