I enjoyed this historical fiction but do have some issues with it... I thought the characterisation of Ivy was great, very authentic and real, a flawed, emotional woman who made bad decisions or assumptions based on her situation/feelings - like all of us. So I really identified with her and went with her story, but of course because she did make some unwise decisions I felt a little let down by her at the end and sad for how her story panned out.

There was an interesting story here, quite involved with good to and fro between the two timelines, however it did feel a little convoluted at times and almost too complicated for what the narrative required, a lot of the text could have been cut and I felt a little exhausted running through the same scenarios and questions over and over and in such detail. If you take a step back from all of the internal wrangling the plot was actually quite domestic, despite containing overtones - like the ghostly elements / war story - trying to make it more than it was.

Also, and I hate this in books, Ivy kept alluding to an absolutely dreadful secret or deed done in the past, that it was obvious was only going to be revealed at the end, and of course it was something quite small and inconsequential. This device really annoys me because you get all excited for a major twist and really the bit with the key at the end was nothing compared to the reveal about who the real baddie was...
Because I really liked realising that we had been duped along with Ivy and had been rooting for the wrong relationship for her all along!

So the ending was a little sad but I'm glad she knew by the end, but the satisfaction was a little reduced by the lack of a real ending, I felt it all kind of petered out, like the author was unsure how to finish definitively.

Having said all of that, I enjoyed picking this up at the end of the day, even if I did kind of skim over the most overwritten passages...

A story told in two time frames: late 19 century when the class system reigned supreme, everyone knew their place and servants were an accepted part of professional and wealthy families daily life. The doctors daughter smitten with the son of the wealthy businessman and landowner finds herself embroiled in the circumstances surrounding the death of a young child and wealthy landowner. Fast forward to the end of the First World War and the same protagonists, now with adult children experience the loss and tragedies caused by death and casualties from the war. Revealed in slow excruciating detail , the story unfolds of lies, deceit and murder compounded by decent folk who do not believe it to be their place , or even to be believed if they speak up against the upper class. The secrets and lies hidden for three decades is revealed to give a conclusion in keeping with the period of the story and reveals the mores and accepted behaviour of previous generations just prior to the huge changes in the structure of society as a result of the First World War. A thoroughly enjoyable well written mystery demonstrating an excellent feel and understanding of the era. Many thanks to author, publisher and NetGalley for the ARC.

This is a wonderful book to read on a dark night.It has two parallel storylines which merge and blend together to come to a satisfying and unexpected conclusion. Set before, as well as during World War 1, it tells the tale of a woman ,Ivy Boscawen, who mourns the death of her son .in private she also mourns the death of another child in a fire in the large house Polneath several years before.Ivy needs to discover what happened in that fire to lay all her ghosts to rest.
This is a book for dark nights and for fans of Daphne Du Maurier.

I could not wait to read each chapter of this novel, neither could I work out the clever plots unexpected twists and turns. It alternates between two time frames.

Ivy lives in a remote area of Cornwall. A doctor's daughter she cares for others, often to the detriment of herself. When a tragic fire destroys the local manor house,family and industry she defends the innocent staff members from being framed.

Excellent.

A really memorable book.

A wonderfully written, gothic thriller. I was drawn into the depths of its dual time line instantly and absolutely fell under its spell. Beautifully atmospheric with definite shades of Du Maurier. Outstanding.

I enjoyed this book and was completely drawn into the story. I found the characters rather difficult to warm to, however,. I was also irritated by a character saying "different than" - not a typical English upper class usage at the start of the 20th century. Calling curtains "drapes" was also off-putting. In general though I would recommend this book.

I enjoyed this book. Told across two timelines, our main character is Ivy. A girl of 19 in our earlier timeline, she is now 50 and mourning her son, lost to the war, In coming to terms with what happened to her son, Ivy also uncovers the truth about happened all those years ago when fire tore through the Manor House.

It’s not a particularly pacey book but it trundles along nicely and I liked the last few chapters very much. I wasn’t by overly fond of Ivy to begin with, but she grew on me! I didn’t see all of the twists coming, either!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for my copy of this book
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Having read Beth Underdown’s ‘The Witchfinders Sister’, I was excited to read her latest offering.

Cornwall 1918, and Ivy Boscawen is mourning the death of her son Tim, in the Great War. She’s also thinking about William, a boy who lost his life in a fire thirty years ago. Ivy has always felt guilt about his death, and believes she could have done more at the time to get justice for him, and it haunts her to this day, believing that the boy was murdered. She wonders if her son’s death is payment for her part in that tragic event. The events of the fire that day in 1888, are slowly revealed, and what we first thought to be the truth, isn’t necessarily so.

Told in dual timelines, we are introduced to a host of characters, from the master of the Great House, and his son and heir, to his servants, the local doctor and his daughter, all of whom appear to have plenty of secrets, as the characters slowly reveal their ability to deceive.

There was a haunting Gothic feel right the way through, in this great piece of historical fiction, together with well expressed emotional content for the two boys who had lost their lives. The grief was handled in a sensitive manner, and were very poignant to read. The author captures the many faces of a country community, from the rich and privileged to the servants below stairs. Very enjoyable!

An interesting tale but a bit depressing. I enjoyed the dual time line and the twists.
I didn’t really warm to Ivy but it was still a good read.

Thank you Net Galley for an advance copy of this book. I previously enjoyed the writer's debut novel "The Witchfinder's Sister" and this most recent offering did not disappoint. This novel was set in Cornwall in two distinct years, 1918 and 1888. This book has gothic elements with a distinct "Rebecca" feel to it. The writer is a natural storyteller and developed the characters well, so overall a captivating read. A good old fashioned style mystery, that kept me turning the pages and and I looked forward to opening this each evening. So, if you like to be lured in by abandoned manor homes with secrets and mysteries then this could work for you. Already looking forward to her next offering..

I really enjoyed this piece of historical fiction, narrated by Ivy and switching between a terrible event in 1888 and the present day as Ivy mourns the loss of her son in 1918.

This is a creepy and atmospheric novel with a good few twists and turns to keep it interesting. The pacing was really good and I found it hard to put down. The characters are interesting and not always what they seem ....

Definitely a superior piece of historical fiction.

Brilliantly twisty, dripping with mystery, and utterly heartbreaking. It gave me exactly what I want from a thriller - not only to be compelled to keep turning the pages, but to feel a strong emotional connection with the characters.

This was a book that I could not put down and couldn't stop thinking about when I did have to stop reading. The mystery is so tantalizing plotted that the reader so urgently wants to turn the page and find out what is happening. Then, once you think the narrator has revealed all, yet another twist, and another, and another are revealed. None of these surprises is out of keeping with any of the story or characters and worked so well to provide truly intimate portraits of the characters and Polneath, which itself became a character, a truly physical entity, in the story (much like houses do in Daphne du Maurier's work).

I also loved the dual timeline - the time of the telling of the story as well as the time in which the story took place. The author has created parallel narratives: the 1888 story, which we later learn why the narrator has chosen to write down, and the present day, when the narrator is writing. Often a first person narrative will provide a frame for narrating a past event without really giving much meaning to the present circumstances in which the narrator is writing or telling their tale, but here the two narratives align quite nicely and events are skillfully woven together so that one supports the unfolding of the other.

A highly recommended Gothic mystery with a bit of a ghost story mixed in. Perfect for those dark winter nights.

Set in Cornwall and told in two time lines, 1888 and 1918, Ivy Boscowan is seen as a naive 19 year old and then as a 50 year old woman. She has lost her son Tim to WWI and is convinced it’s because of her actions years ago, when a young child died in a fire.

This focuses on grief, regret and what ifs. The tragedies in the book are depicted with great sensitivity and understanding. It also shows how grief shapes lives for decades, and choices made have great consequences. It is well written and paced, with an unexpected ending. The only thing for me is that I couldn’t take to Ivy. A good read.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this book.

Satisfyingly dark, twisty, psychological thriller set in 1888 and 1919, with antiheroes!

I hoped I would enjoy this, then I was not quite sure I would, but then definitely surrendered as this slowly progressed

In the late 1880’s Doctor’s daughter Ivy helps her ailing father with some patient nursing duties. Ivy also has a young girl’s adoration for a man a few years older, with a young son. When a tragedy, and a mysterious death strikes that family, Ivy becomes involved, as a witness, in the coroner’s investigation. This higher status Cornish landowning family have several skeletons in their cupboards, but the tragic death and the unbearable grief which ensues, obscures some skeletons, and reveals others.

Forward 20 years, Ivy is now a married woman in deep mourning, as her only child has died in somewhat questionable circumstances, one of the many casualties of the Great War. Grief and recrimination has sundered her relationship with her husband. They have different ways of dealing with this loss

Ivy, the central character, is complex, both moral and morally compromised. In fact, like many – even most of the characters in this book, easy pigeonholing fails. The reader may not quite be able to decide whether they like specific characters or not

I loved the ambiguity of this book, the absorbing wrong-footing the reader plot, and the craft of the writer. Yes, there are certainly some du Maurier style echoes, not least in the setting, and I found that having responded to the ‘if you liked/for fans of…marketing placing specific Sarah Waters and Diane Setterfield titles, comparisons made sense, and were as much to do with quality as subject matter.

All that drew me back from the final star, was a sense that I wasn’t quite believing the 1888 period Ivy; she seemed a little bit modern

Gratitude to the publisher, via NetGalley, for this one, requested as a Digital ARC

Victorian Gothic story told with a light touch and all the ingredients for a novel of this genre. Ivy looks back on her life and the mistakes she made and is still making, in the context of a private estate with a doomed mansion, deep, dark woods and plenty of atmosphere. Characters are not what they seem and the plot pulls together into a resonating ending.

A fine Gothic tale of family, secrets and betrayal.

It's Cornwall, 1918 and Ivy Boscawen is still mourning the death of her son Tim in the Great War. She also cares for her sick, bed-ridden husband. But she also mourns another boy who died thirty years ago and whom she feels guilty about failing. She knows his death was not an accident and that she could have done more to give him justice.

And so begins a tale that, were she still alive, Daphne du Maurier would probably wish she had written. The story unfolds piece by piece, over two time periods (as seems to be the norm these days and of which I'm not a fan) as we learn more about Ivy's past and that of her father, and the family whose fate she seems tangled up with. We have the full clutch of characters; squire, his son, a maid, a country doctor and his daughter, all woven into a web of deceit, desire and blame.

The prose is fine, and the characterisation is good, and for someone like me who's not a huge Du Maurier fan (sorry, but inevitably this book will be compared to her works) it flows well. Slightly slow in places, but well plotted and the last 75 pages or so are wonderful. The relationships between the characters are nicely disclosed, bit by bit and their intertwined fates are nicely landscaped.

I'm sure the book will appeal to fans of Sarah Waters, Diane Setterfield's and Stacey Halls. I was lucky enough to score a NetGalley ARC, but I'm sure I'll be picking up a real copy upon publication.

The description of this book really gripped me. However, as I read it, I realised how much I underestimated the plot and how clever the narrative turned out to be. Like the main character, I was intrigued by turn of events. I bought into Ivy’s journey of discovering the truth, and I also fell for the same red herrings. As I read further I appreciated how the structure worked to reveal details just at the right time so the reader can understand and empathise with Ivy. With lots of turns and complex characters, I would really recommend this book for lovers of historical fiction and thrillers.

I read this whilst on holiday in Cornwall, on a rainy day, which felt quite atmospheric. I found I compelling and also confusing, but I got the gist well enough to follow the story. The dual timeline worked well, the mystery of the fire, the maid and who locked the door not being completely solved until twenty years after the events. The characters did not really come to life for me, however, and the comparison to DuMaurier is ludicrous.

The Key In The Lock, Beth Underdown

Review from Jeannie Zelos book reviews

Genre: General Fiction, Historical Fiction

That summary has echoes of Rebecca, but its a very different story. Its sad. Full of twists and turns and at the end all I could think of what what a lots of lives destroyed one way or another. Partly through wicked people. Partly through trying to get past the strictures of the time on women, and those without long pockets.
I loved The Witch-finders Sister, but this one didn't have that magic for me. Its very well written, I think maybe its the characters I just didn't connect with in the same way. For me I need to like – or at last feel something – for the main characters and here somehow I just couldn't feel empathy, sympathy, and kind of deep emotion for them. They acted in ways I found hard to accept even as I understood why. And of course there's that time period, it is hard now to understand just how much more flawed the law was then, how women and the poor could lose everything through actions they had little control over. Maybe I'm being a bit too harsh on some of them.
The story is full of tragedy, a mystery of a child's death, the sadness of young lives lost during the great War. Ivy is grieving and it brings back memories she'd pushed aside, and makes her determined to find the truth. Will the truth set her mind at rest as she thinks, or will it bring forth more sadness?

Stars: Three, its a beautifully written story but for me the characters made it difficult to enjoy.

ARC supplied by Netgalley and publishers