Member Reviews

Oooh, what an unusual book!

There are two timelines here - 1939 and 2019. Lady Eleanor Fairfax is the main character in 1939 and Megan Taylor the main character in 2019.

Lady Eleanor (or Ellie, as she is known mostly), is engaged to David, a pilot. As the stormclouds gather for WWII, Ellie becomes more and more concerned that she is going to lose David. Ellie lives in Foxfield Hall, a stately home with its own maze. Her father does something secret in government, something that she is told not to worry her pretty little head about, in effect. Ellie, however, has a mathematics degree and isn't the type of young woman who just sits at home and does needlework.

Megan is a gardener, who is contracted to tidy up the grounds of Foxfield Hall. In the intervening years since Ellie lived there as a young woman, the house has been turned into a hotel, which Megan's best friend runs.

I don't want to give away the plot, but Ellie and Megan's lives collide and there are myths and supernatural happenings for both of them, which take a sinister turn. Neither woman knows who to trust in their own time and things come to an explosive head.

You need to suspend belief, of course, because this is a magical book with strong supernatural themes. Quite dark at times but there is some romance as well.

All in all, I really enjoyed this book.

4.5 stars from me.

Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture.

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Oh my goodness. I've never read a book containing the supernatural before and hadnt realized this was one. I found it fascinating, enthralling and kept me engaged to the very end. Lots of unexpected twists and turns. It was great.

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This story has dual timelines. One timeline is set in the second world war and another timeline is in 2019.

I wasn't expecting a modern ghost story with magic thrown it. I was pleasantly surprised.

The characters and storyline were intriguing and kept you interested to carry on reading.

It was a spellbinding and magical read and I will read more from this author.

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Two days. Two *weekdays*. That is how long it took me to inhale every word of this novel. To some that might not seem like an accomplishment, but to a mother with a full time job, I can assure you that it is. I am typically more of a straight up fantasy reader, but lately I have binge watched a few mystery tv shows (I'm looking at you Locke and Key), and that put me on a mystery kick. This was the first mystery that I chose to dive into and.... wow. Whenever a book is told from two perspectives, you usually have a favorite and suffer through the other one (or is that just me?) but honestly I loved both Ellie and Megan's perspectives. What they were going through was so different, yet in so many ways they were tied together. I will admit that I guessed the outcome of the mystery after the second night in the maze, but I *had* to keep reading to know if I would be right, and to see exactly how it would play out. The mixture of Arthurian lore within the story was super interesting as well and at times had me pulling my phone out to google if any of those legends were real or if they all just came from Jessica Thorne's brilliant mind. The only issue I had with the book (since I read an advanced copy provided by NetGalley, this may have been fixed in the final draft), there were a few times that the chapter was supposed to be from one of the girls perspectives and it would sort of cross over which got confusing. All in all though, I thoroughly enjoyed this book and have already recommended it to some family members.

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Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture for an egalley of The Lost Girls of Foxfield Hall.!

This book is perfect for fans of Kate Morton - set in a picturesque town in England, Megan has signed on to renovate the gardens and the maze at Foxfield Hall. The historic home is now a boutique hotel and the maze would be the ideal wedding location. However, one night Megan sees green glowing orbs floating outside the maze. After journeying to the middle, she finds that she is now in 1939, on the cusp of WWII. While there, she meets Ellie, Lady Eleanor Fairfax, who is the current owner of the estate.

From there, they strive to uncover the local mystery of the Green Lady, her origins, and why the maze seems determined to ruin both of their lives.

I loved this book - it has just enough of a mystical element that was tied into local history/legends to keep the reader engaged. Megan and Ellie had wonderful story lines, and both characters were developed well.

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I really enjoyed The Lost Girls of Foxfield Hall. Told through a dual story line and perspective, I thought both characters were really interesting and I liked how they came together. The story is a bit of a wild ride, definitely kept my attention and there were some surprises along the way. I liked all of the folklore and ghost stories told within in the book.

I found both Eleanor and Megan to be such interesting and unique characters. Usually I automatically have a favourite but these two both won me over. So much happened and these two were so intertwined I find it difficult to share much more without giving away any spoilers! I would definitely recommend The Lost Girls of Foxfield Hall to anyone who enjoys a historical fiction mystery tied in with ghost stories and a romantic element.

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This is the first book I have read by Jessica Thorne and I enjoyed it. I’m a fan of time-slip novels and this one did not disappoint.

Megan Taylor is anxious to take a new job at Foxfield Hall in order to escape her grief. Her younger brother is fighting in the war and is Missing In Action. Megan is hired to take care of and re-design the gardens at the house. She loves to garden and this is the perfect job for her to “get lost” in. Megan soon gets drawn into the history of the house and Lady Eleanor Fairfax. Eleanor Fairfax was a resident at Foxfield Hall, and the villagers say she disappeared without a trace leaving behind both her father and her fiancé. Megan pursues the history of Eleanor’s disappearance. The magic and the mystery of this tale is a great escape. Will Megan be the one who solves the mystery surrounding Foxfield Hall or will the legends continue on?

I really like the authors writing style and the characters were well developed. I highly recommend this book and I will read more books by this author. Thank you Jessica Thorne for this great read.

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Landscape gardener Megan Taylor is commissioned to revamp the gardens of Foxfield Hall, now a hotel. In 1939, Eleanor, daughter of the owner went missing one September evening and was never seen again. Two stories set in two timelines destined to cross when Megan accidentally meets Eleanor (Ellie) in the centre of the garden's mysterious maze.
This story is so many things. It's a timeslip, it involves the supernatural and local folk law plus an unusual twist on the Arthurian legend. It's an intense read with twists you don't see coming. At times I found it a little scary but at the same time gripping. I could not put it down. Well written, it's a compulsive read and is worth every one of the five stars I have given it.

My thanks to Netgalley and Bookouture for an ARC of The Lost Girls of Foxfield Hall in exchange for an honest review.

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Similar to Kate Morton's books, The Lost Girls of Foxfield Hall splits it's time between two eras. There's a mystery, a long story, war, ghosts....it's all there.

I love Kate Morton and I think Jessica Throne is well on her way to that level of storytelling.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the opportunity to read and review this story.

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Talk about a splendid surprise! This starts as a dual time line between present day and 1939. The setting is a small village in England. Meg is rejuvenating a garden maze and encounters Ellie, the lady of the manor from the WWII era. They become fast friends and unearth dark forces at play. Here's where the surprise happens. There are three ancient Vala (witches) that have been battling for centuries and it's all about to come to a head, with Meg and Ellie caught right in the center.. I can't encourage you enough to read this book. I couldn't put it down, it has everything, romance, magic, good vs. evil, and history. Loved it!!

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The first thing that caught my eye for this book was the wonderful cover. Then I read the premise and I was even more intrigued. I love mystery, time travel and history, this book promised all and more.

The book follows Megan Taylor, a garden restorer who is grieving her (MIA) brother. She impulsively takes a job restoring the gardens at Foxfield Hall, a manor house turned hotel that is run by her best friend. One night on a run she follows some green glowing lights into a maze on the grounds and all the way to 1939, where she encounters Eleanor Fairfax,, the daughter of the owner of Foxfield Hall. Not only is time travel crazy enough, but Eleanor herself went missing in 1939 and was never seen again. Eleanor was trying to photograph the Green Lady, a famous local ghost in the maze when she disappeared. Who is the Green Lady and what connection does she have between Megan and Eleanor and their respective time periods? Can Megan assist Eleanor and prevent her disappearance, how will this affect the currect timeline?

What a great read this was. I really enjoyed the mystery and supernatural parts of the book. I was more partial to Eleanor and her storyline than Megan’s, but this was a fun read. I highly recommend this for someone who wants a great escape.

Thanks to Netgalley, Jessica Thorne and the publisher Bookoutoure for the chance to read and review this book

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I loved this book! I requested an ARC on a whim in an attempt to expand my reading list into other genres, and I found that the historical/fantasy combo was just what I needed. It included familiar fantastical elements I love, all with a historical twist. Magic, witches, and ghosts? Local legends and folklore? A sapphic twist on Arthur and Guinevere? This book has it all.

The Lost Girls of Foxfield Hall alternates between two POVs of women who reside there – Ellie in 1939, and Megan in 2019. Both have ties to war and loss and are struggling with recent changes in their lives. Shortly after starting her new job at the manor, Megan follows the mysterious green lights in the garden and finds herself transported back to 1939, where she becomes friends with Ellie. As the women get to know one another, they decide they must solve the mystery of Ellie’s disappearance before that fateful day comes to pass again. All of it seems tied to local legends surrounding the house’s connection to Arthurian legend and three witches of old.

Megan and Ellie both had distinct POVs with unique internal conflicts and lovable personalities. Their friendship and the subsequent effects they had on each other’s lives were heartwarming and at times more emotional than either of their romantic subplots. Their romances, however, were equally as easy to root for, from Ellie’s fighter pilot fiance David to Megan’s crush on Nora, one of the hall’s trustees with family ties to the property.

I loved the magic and folklore surrounding Foxfield Hall and how it ultimately wove the characters and legend together. As you read, you unravel the secrets behind the magic alongside the characters that gave the story, on top of everything else it successfully delivers, a delightful mystery vibe. By the end I could not put the book down because I had to see how it ended and whether my predictions were correct!

If you’re looking for a unique story that successfully combines elements of other genres and will leave you with a happy heart and smiling face, look no further than The Lost Girls of Foxfield Hall. It definitely will be a book I return to again and again, and I can’t wait to see what else Jessica Thorne has in store!

Thank you to Bookouture via Netgalley for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions expressed are my own.

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A truly wonderful heartwarming, yet heartbreaking novel filled with mystery. I absolutely loved it and could not put it down. I can't wait to read more from Jessica Thorne.

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Grief-stricken gardener Megan Taylor, tries to put thoughts of her missing in action brother out of her mind by taking a job at Foxfield Hall, restoring the maze in the overgrown gardens. She soon becomes interested in the mystery of the hall’s most famous resident, Lady Eleanor Fairfax, who disappeared in 1939 during the harvest festival. Although no body was ever found, Megan begins to wonder if she could have been murdered. There is also the possibility that she ran away in order to avoid a marriage to someone she didn’t love or could it even have something to do with her father’s war work? Megan finds the maze drawing her in, feeling that the truth could lie inside. Will she discover what happened to Eleanor or will she become the next woman to simply disappear without a trace?

If you had the opportunity to prevent a past tragedy from happening, not knowing how your actions would affect the future, would you do it? This is the dilemma faced by Megan when she is somehow transported back to 1939, days before the disappearance of Lady Eleanor Fairfax. Ellie, as she is known, is about to find her world turned upside down due to the outbreak of World War Two, her fiancé’s involvement in the armed services and her father’s secret war work meaning that she is left in the care of Ava Seaborne, her father’s new secretary. Ava was a mysterious character, this feeling of forebording becoming stronger when Megan encountered a Dr Faye Seaborne. A familial connection or something else entirely?

The Lost Girls of Foxfield Hall packs in an awful lot, switching genres effectively throughout. Part mystery, science-fiction, history and romance, it was the time travel element that fascinated me the most. The two lead characters, Megan and Ellie, were both strong women, Ellie in particular showing great tenacity when faced with her future. Knowing the fate that was about to befall her, yet not knowing exactly how it was to happen, I admired Ellie’s determination to get to the truth, not letting the aforementioned Ava Seaborne stop her in her tracks.

Jessica Thorne managed to blindside me numerous times, leaving me wondering which characters were on the side of Ellie and Megan and which ones were not. This definitely kept me on my toes throughout! In such a complex plot, I was pleased that there were no loose ends left at the end, the story reaching a satisfying conclusion.

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This is a fantastic emotional read, it is full of twists and turns which had me gripped from the start.
I'm looking forward to reading more by Jessica

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The Lost Girls of Foxfield Hall by Jessica Thorne is a modern spin on the ghost story. Not the horror kind, more the fantasy, let’s try to figure out what the hell happened and free that poor soul type. I was intrigued by the blurb promising “A spellbinding, magical and addictive tale about the mysterious and ancient legends at the heart of the English countryside, and how to find those who are lost.”
The book starts pretty well, I liked that the main character is a landscaper specialising in restoring historical gardens. That’s sure an unusual and fascinating job! Megan has her family trouble and love at first sight moment with Nora. But apart from that she didn’t seem to have much of a personality. I didn’t associate any voice to her and can’t think of anything she would like or not. Megan seemed to be missing something and sadly I can’t say I cared much for her.
The plot was very well thought out, with twists and intrigues and everything was explained and justified. But everything was foreshadowed a bit too heavily, everything was over explained and nothing ever surprised me. And it’s a real shame because the ideas are good, and it could really have made for a fantastic story, truthfully I really wanted to like it, the premise was intriguing, everything fit well into place, Thorne really plotted her book fantastically, but her characters were disappointing. We have a good visual picture of them with physical trait description, but no internal turmoil really. We don’t feel for any of them and I was distant the whole time I was reading. It’s a real shame, the story could have been gripping and really pulled at the heartstrings but there was no real talk about the emotions of the characters, their inner dialogue and stuff just kept happening.
We all have different styles of writing that call to us, and this one was not quite for me. The writing is clear and easy, but I never could quite plunge into the book. I never forgot it was words on paper, I usually like more emotive language, it calls me in. In this case I would say it is a bit of a missed opportunity. The plot was all there, different enough with enough wonder and mystery to grab people, but I think more work on character depth would have made the book shine.

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I picked this book up purely for the English countryside setting & the manor setting (I love gorgeous old manors). I really wanted to love this book as the premise greatly interested me. But the the way the different timelines were written completely affected my reading experience and made me unable to get into the story. The premise was intriguing and the characters were interesting enough,but there was something about the writing that made me unable to get into the story the way I wanted to. If your interested in the book and intrigued by it I recommend you try it out it just wasn't for me.

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Lady Eleanor struggles with the rigidity of her time - the late 1930's. As an Oxford mathematician graduate, Ellie wants to study, find the secrets science can share. As World War II begins, her fiancé, David, joins as a pilot. Her beloved father joins as an information officer, leaving his assistant to look over Ellie. Miss Seaborne places some serious restrictions.
Megan comes to Foxfield Hall to revive the gardens - and the sinister maze. She goes on a run in the maze, only to find green lights - and Ellie, in 1939.
Together Megan and Ellie try to figure how and why they've been brought together.
Ashleigh has a long history - Ellie's family going back hundreds of years, tied to the land. The first Lady of Foxfield, rumored to be the elusive Guinevere.
Legends. Folk tales. Vengeance. Family. Heritage.
Great story.

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*I was given a free eARC of this book in exchange for a review. All opinions are my own.

Part ghost story, part WWII intrigue, part time travel, part Arthurian legend, part love story.

The Lost Girls of Foxfield Hall is a bit out of my typical reading habits, because time travel is too fraught for me. I liked this book and think that anyone who like time travel or historical fiction would probably love this even more than I do.

Megan Taylor is having a rough time, because her brother is missing in action. To distract herself from her own grief and her parents' inability to cope with the situation, she takes a job renovating and design the old garden at the manor-house-turned-hotel that her best friend manages.

There, Megan meets a pretty hotel trustee who leaves her tonge-tied, but because of Megan's grief over her brother's situation, she thinks she's not in the right mental space find a new girlfriend. While Megan is out for a night run, she sees green lights in the garden that lead her to the heart of a maze . . . and 1939.

Megan encounters Eleanor Foxfield, the daughter of the previous owner of Foxfield Hall. Local history shows that Eleanor went missing just a few nights later than the night in 1939 that Megan first visits. Eleanor gives Megan a corn dollie as proof to them both that neither was a dream.

Megan makes a second visit to 1939 and warns Eleanor about her limited future, and Eleanor, in turn, gives Megan a book to help her figure out the green lights, the local myth or ghost story of the Green Lady, and, possibly, the nature of Eleanor's disappearance.

All of this is set against Michaelmas and the Harvest Festival in the English countryside.

Any more details, and we're into spoiler territory, but I will say I loved the characters, their interactions, and the story resolution.

If you like a little magic with your history or a little romance in your WWII intrigue, I think this is a great a book for you!

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When Megan Taylor is called in to by her best friend to help restore a hedge maze at the historic Foxfield Hall, a new hotel in the English countryside, she jumps at the chance to get away from her life for while. While on a run one night she encounters glowing green lights which lead her to the center of the maze. Inside the maze she comes face to face with Lady Eleanore Fairfax who in 1939 has just said goodbye to her fiancé as she sends him off to fight in World War II. The two women quickly form a bond in the maze trying to figure out how they've come together 80 years apart. Only when she leaves the maze does Megan discover that Ellie will mysteriously vanish in a few days in 1939 and never be seen again. As Megan tries to uncover the secrets, ghosts, and legends of Foxfield she tries to undo Ellie's disappearance. But will trying to save a woman 80 years in the past cost Megan her future?

This book jumps between 2019 with Megan and 1939 with Ellie. It beautifully marries the legend of Arthur and Guinevere with witches, time travel, and mystery. A lot of reviews I read seemed to not like Megan's romance with Nora, but I didn't care that the blurb about the book didn't mention it. It's established within the first few pages that this romance is a possibility, plus their relationship is extremely important to the plot.

Overall, I think this book was engaging and the mystery really kept me turning the pages.

*I was provided an ARC from Netgalley and the publisher for my honest review.

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