I wanted to read this book because I enjoyed the authors previous book, the witchfinders sister , so much. This book has the same sort of atmosphere about it but the story is quite different. The strength of this author is in the ability to make the narrators voice strong and convincing, engaging the reader almost immediately and carrying them along with the story. Definitely within the gothic genre, and a good read.

The opening sentence should have forewarned me that we were in the realm of the gothic novel, referencing Rebecca and even Jane Eyre. The novel does not disappoint, with unexplained fires, dodgy master/servant affairs, loveless matches and to top it all the tragedy of war. Added to that, and despite constant changes of decades, it’s always Christmas. Though the season to be merry is not what this exudes. Having said that I was gripped by the momentum of the storyline, although not a little irritated by the jumping timeline. I feel it is a device to thwart the impatient reader, if so it works.

I really wanted to like this book but it did not hold my attention. I found myself 'wandering off' before being drawn back to the story. Ivy's son was killed in the war and through her grief reflects on the feelings of another mother who lost her child in a fire 30 years earlier. The story is told over these two time lines.
Thank you to Netgalley and Penguin General UK for the advance copy.

First line comparison:
Last night I dreamt I went to Manderlay again. (Rebecca)
I still dream, every night, of Polneath on fire. (The Key in the Lock)
And I thought: “Oh no, don’t let this be a “Rebecca” re-hash.”
I needn’t have worried. Told in neatly divided timelines, 1888 and 1913 by Ivy Cardew, a village doctor’s daughter, following the death of the manor house’s young son in a house fire. In 1913, she is mourning the death of her own son in the war and tending to her husband, crippled by a haemorrhage.
Ivy’s voice is so delicate, so measured and full of thought, that I read the book very slowly. It was like savouring single pieces of delicious chocolate rather than scoffing the whole box.

The Key In The Lock - Beth Underdown

‘ 𝙄 𝙠𝙣𝙤𝙬 𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙛𝙚𝙘𝙩𝙡𝙮 𝙬𝙚𝙡𝙡 𝙬𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙞𝙩 𝙗𝙚𝙜𝙖𝙣; 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙩𝙤𝙥𝙥𝙚𝙙 𝙢𝙞𝙡𝙡𝙨 𝙖𝙢𝙤𝙣𝙜𝙨𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙙𝙖𝙢𝙥 𝙩𝙧𝙚𝙚𝙨, 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙞𝙡𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙨𝙚, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙙𝙚𝙖𝙩𝙝 𝙤𝙛 𝙖 𝙘𝙝𝙞𝙡𝙙. 𝙎𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙗𝙤𝙙𝙮 𝙚𝙡𝙨𝙚’𝙨 𝙨𝙤𝙣.’

By day, Ivy Boscawen mourns the loss of her son Tim in the Great War. But by night she mourns another boy - one whose death decades ago haunts her still.

For Ivy is sure that there is more to what happened all those years ago: the fire at the Great House, and the terrible events that came after. A truth she must uncover, if she is ever to be free.

But once you open a door to the past, can you ever truly close it again?

It is the loss that you feel reading this book that first caught me, an unbearable feeling pressing heavily on your chest, perfectly captured in this novel. Ivy has lost her son, Tim in The Great War. She sleeps in his room and imagines him under her bed each night, hiding, trying to stay safe. She dreams of years before with a fire and the loss of a different boy.

This story moves between Ivy’s present in 1918-9 and 1888. We find out about the circumstances of the boy William Tremain’s death in the big house attached to the powder mills - the night when the fire happens, why William died and who was thought to be to blame.

There are so many questions thrown up reading this and the author so cleverly leads us along as we follow Ivy’s thought processes and memories of what happened in 1888 as she unravels the truth. In 1918 she is coping with the grief of losing her son and the infirmity of her husband but a death notice leads her back to Edward Tremain, Williams father, who she loved and still loves. As it unfolds what may have happened to the boy, it is shockingly sad, my heart ached for him and the fear he must have felt.
There is a dawning awareness of Ivy’s, of knowledge that no one else has and what should she do.

‘𝙈𝙮 𝙨𝙤𝙪𝙡 𝙝𝙖𝙨 𝙜𝙧𝙤𝙬𝙣 𝙙𝙖𝙧𝙠 𝙩𝙤 𝙞𝙩𝙨𝙚𝙡𝙛, 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚 𝙖𝙣 𝙤𝙡𝙙 𝙨𝙩𝙤𝙫𝙚, 𝙩𝙤𝙤 𝙨𝙢𝙤𝙠𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙤 𝙨𝙚𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙡𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩 𝙞𝙣𝙨𝙞𝙙𝙚.’

This is really well written, and although I sometimes feel one part of a dual timeline is stronger, this time they felt equal, it did feel like I was reading about the same people at different life stages rather than entirely different people which can sometimes be the case.

It really tugs at the heart strings, my emotions and framing of the characters were altered during the course of my reading. There are so many secrets, deceptions, lies and sadness at the heart of this novel. The cruelty of the story made my heart break. It is a fantastic story and one that will stay with me for quite a while.

✩✩✩✩✩

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Many thanks to @vikingbooksuk @bethunderdown @ellieehud for my copy of this ebook and spot on the tour

Gah, wrote a review and my iPad lost it.

In 1888 Ivy is a young woman in a small town in Cornwall. In 1919 as a mother she reflects on the tragic events of Christmas 1888 and how they have shaped her life.

The reader only gradually discovers what Ivy did, sadly none of the plot ‘twists’ were particularly original and were signalled so well in advance that I was almost perpetually unsurprised.

I found Ivy an unsympathetic character and that may have coloured my view of the book.

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in return for an honest review.

What first draw me into the book was the title. So many twist and turns, so beautifully written. The secrets and the lies told by the characters really hook you in and you jus t can't put this terrifying gothic novel down. So many emotions felt while reading from complete sadness and grief to desire. Definitely a future classic.

“I still dream, every night, of Polneath on fire. Smoke unfurling out of an upper window and a hectic orange light cascading across the terrace...”

In 1918 Ivy Boscawen has received the tragic news, her son will not be returning from the trenches. She never wanted him to go for fear of losing her only child, and now she is left devastated. Too much tragedy has happened over the years as Ivy is not only left mourning the loss of her son, she is also haunted by a tragic death of a young boy in 1888. She feels alone in her little part of Cornwall. Her husband didn’t take the news well either, as his health is now failing leaving him bedridden.

Ivy is lost in the world. She is haunted by tragedies, but the one which happened all those years ago, she feels in her instincts that there is more to the story than she initially thought. There are parts of the story that just don’t add up and she sets it upon herself to get to the bottom of it in order to finally let it rest and set her free.

I had a slow start to this book, but I think it was down to lack of time to fully immerse myself into the story. By the time I was 50% of the way through, I finally had an afternoon to sit down and read without interruptions and I read the remaining 50% in one sitting. I was finally hooked! Switching between the two timelines but mostly going back to that horrendous night when St Rumon house caught fire taking a young life, I just didn't know who to trust or who to believe and boy was this story full of twists! It's brilliantly written and full of atmosphere and mystery and I’m sure if I started it on a day when I had nothing else to do, I would have devoured it in one sitting!

This atmospheric Gothic novel is set in Cornwall and flits between December 1888 and 1919. As Ivy mourns her only son killed in the First World War, the action is interspersed with her time as a young woman helping at a country house. Amid the common tropes of the genre, Beth Underdown delves into a mother’s grief while slowly revealing what happened in a local tragedy which involved the titular key in the lock. While bits of the novel felt anachronistic, this is a page turner, with several twists of varying predictability, and makes a great winter read.

This book is set in Cornwall 1888 and 1918 and the story is told by Ivy. Ivy mourns her only son's death during WWI but is also haunted by the death of young William Tremaine 30 years prior. Ivy is looking for answers for both tragic deaths and boy, will she find them.

This story is emotional, gripping and incredibly well written. I'm sorry to say though that at times I found my thoughts wandering off. It didn't take long to get my attention back again with a whole lot of revelations, so much so that I had to pick my jaw off the floor.

This is a really well constructed novel, the dual timelines device works well, and never becomes confusing, rather it serves to uncover characters motivations in both and present. This is an excellent gothic mystery that keeps you hooked with plot twists and revealings throughout. A great book!

Excellent gothic/historical thriller set both in the late nineteenth century and during the Second World War. With themes of love, loss and grief it's the tale of Ivy Boscowan who we first meet as a spirited teenager and then as a embittered middle aged woman with much to mourn. Switching between the two timelines we discover the incident that changed the course of her life and find out if she can ever take back control.

Although I guessed the final twist, this was an enjoyable period read with echoes of Daphne du Maurier.

Flitting between two timelines Ivy is mourning her son's death during WWI and also remembering the death of William the young son at nearby Polneath House during a fire. The subsequent inquest and fallout playing on Ivy's mind and conscience. Her own difficult marriage makes her grieving and guilt more difficult. Looking into the past she puts the pieces of memory together and realises she could have been living a lie.
Not a bad book but it didn't really grip me. I wanted to like it more than I did

I was totally gripped by this story and it has possibly the most twists and turns and plot reveals than any other book I've read before. 100% kept me guessing until the end!

The story is told by Ivy who has recently lost her son Tim in the Great War. His death causes her to reminisce on another death, that of young William who tragically lost his life in a fire in 1888. The narrative flips between Ivy's account of the events of 1888 and what happens to her in 1918 as she chases the reasons for Tim's death.

Each page seemed to throw up more questions in my head. It is a beautifully told, atmospherically wriitten gothic tale and I would highly recommend it!

**Thanks to NetGalley, the publisher and author for the opportunity to read an advanced e-copy of this book. All opinions are my own **

A beautifully constructed, classically gothic tale, told via a time shift narrative which was eerily compelling.

To write too much about the plot would be to risk spoilers. Instead I'll say that anyone who appreciated a finely crafted story with elements of mystery alongside a intricately woven emotional journey, all placed firmly in a richly painted landscape should DEFINITELY read this book!

Slow burning gothic mystery with more twists and turns and creepy encounters that I could ever hope for. Who is telling the truth? Where is the missing key? What on earth happened that night in that dark and old manor house? Will the house ever recover from that tragedy? What about those who have lived there and darkened its doors?

Gothic and immersive

I was totally gripped by this dark and gothic tale of, secrets kept, keys turned, abuse, fire and danger. The tone is kept perfectly as a straight account by Ivy, daughter of the doctor, of events that happened 30 years ago and then again events unfolding in the present day (1918). Ivy has her own secrets and only reveals them slowly but the account reveals twists and turns and our sympathies change as the story progresses. This is a very satisfying tale that draws in loose ends, reaches surprising conclusions, doesn't falter from the morals of the day, and vividly describes how it was to have a son in the Great War. I thought it was tremendous.

I did not vibe with this at all. The dual timelines were confusing for me and I'm not sure it's something I generally enjoy in historical fiction, I don't think. I wasn't a fan of the main character or of the relationships, which is unfortunate. I wish I'd enjoyed it, but sadly it wasn't for me!

Thanks to netgalley, Beth Underdown and Penguin for providing me with an e-copy in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions expressed are my own.

Truly brilliant and compelling writing. A dark and poignant Cornish tale of grief, love and the unpicking of long-buried secrets. Set in 1888 and 1918 with shades of Du Maurier and Sarah Waters.