3.5*
Hannah and her 9-year-old son Nicky leave the U.S. to help Hannah’s honorary uncle who lives at Ashton Hall in Cambridge, England. The uncle is very ill and Hannah is the closest thing to family, so she agrees to help out. Ashton Hall is a former manor house that has been converted into apartments. An atmosphere of mystery hangs over the castle-like building with its hidden passages and gothic feeling.

Nicky is a gifted and unusual boy. He is neurodivergent and his actions can range from delightful and remarkable to dangerous and confrontational. Hannah is particularly protective of her son and loves him with a marked fierceness. When Nicky discovers a corpse in a hidden part of the house, both he and his mother get caught up in the mystery.

Despite being a contemporary story, the medieval world of Protestant England and the persecution of Catholics is key to the mystery. Hannah becomes immersed in discovering the reason why a girl died in a virtual prison within the walls of the house. Unusual details emerge as Hannah learns the identity of the body and the world in which she lived.

The history is fascinating but Belfer got a little carried away with Hannah’s imaginings as details emerge about the dead girl. Hannah’s relationship with her son and also with her husband are the best part of the book. Motherly devotion is taken to new heights. As for the husband, his behavior is unsurprising; he expects his wife to let him dictate the parameters of their relationship. The family is strained and Hannah will be forced to decide about her and her son’s future.

Religious fervor is central to the historical part of the book. For many readers, the details may reveal new aspects of the turmoil between the Catholics and the Protestants in English history. Women had few choices and for a few, the extreme measures to remain faithful to their beliefs will be shown.

I enjoyed this book and found the characters interesting and the plot engaging. The Hannah character was a bit boring at times, but I loved Nicky and his interactions with the other kids. The historical mystery piece held my attention and the subplot of Hannah's relationship falling apart was also interesting.

A good story but off in too many directions. I appreciate the early read but can’t go beyond 3 stars.

What a great book to read in the fall, specifically around Halloween! This book had just enough mystery and atmosphere to be a tad bit creepy/haunting without being scary or filled with horror. At the core, this book had a past/present divide - the modern day story centered around Hannah and her son Nicky, as well as her husband Kevin and her "father" Christopher. Hannah and Nicky entered the past as they stayed with Christopher at Ashton Hall in England, and discovered more about the past than they expected. This book was layered, and while I truly enjoyed the past mystery/drama, I was less captivated by Hannah's story in the present. The writing was great and the sense of place was strong, so I really enjoyed that. This wasn't my favorite book but I am glad I read it and had a hard time putting it down. I will be thinking about the themes of family, faith (specifically the Catholic vs. Protestant division in the Tudor era), and women's roles in the coming days.

Thank you to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for the eARC. All opinions are my own.

A promising synopsis that grabbed me, but honestly I could not get into the story or with the characters. It felt a bit misleading and was disappointed when trying to get into the book. The story felt like it would be atmospheric but it just wasn't for me.

This is a very very slow atmospheric read. There were times that I thought the plot would never pick up and I would be stuck but it picked up at the end.

Perfect for a slow winter evening but not a beach read

I have read and enjoyed Lauren Belfer books before, and this one was no different. I thought it was a great mystery. I also liked the dual timeline aspect. A good book!

I loved this book! Really, a setting in a British Manor house, a centuries dead body, a story told through historical documents found in an abandoned library— count me in! I enjoyed the historical research that went into the book and the weaving of stories in different centuries of two women and the choices they have available to them.

Although well written with an intriguing main character, this novel did not hold my interest enough to finish reading it . The strongest part was the relationship of the mother , child and his grandfather. I may go back to it.

Ashton Hall sucked me in and kept me reading past my bedtime!

Hannah and her son Nicky have come to England to live with her honorary uncle, Christopher, as he is dying of cancer. Christopher has an apartment at Ashton Hall, a historic home which is open to the public. Several apartments are kept to be rented out so the home stays a home, while still offering tours of the public spaces and having a wonderful library and archive open for scholars.

Nicky has autism, ADHD, Oppositional Defiance Disorder, and Tourette's. He is a sweet and brilliant child, but also struggles with uncontrollable rage and cursing, among other deficits which makes life more difficult. Being curious, Nicky explores the Hall and finds a hidden passageway, which leads to a room with a skeleton.

The archaeologist assigned to the case is Matthew, and Hannah is attracted to him. Her marriage is going through a really rough spell, so this summer away from home is giving her time to figure out what is best for her future. She and Matthew become friends and investigators, trying to piece together the life of the person from the hidden room. They believe her name was Isabella, and that someone (maybe herself) walled her inside with her Catholic prayer book.

The story and the mystery were fascinating, and I loved her inclusion of neurodiverse children. She didn't candy-coat what it is like to live with someone with ODD and autism, but she also focused on the incredible strengths of neurodiverse children. Nicky and his friend Isabella excel at maths, puzzles, and other pursuits, even though they might struggle with appropriate emotional and social responses. Nicky's episodes of anger are really well written.

This is an excellent mystery. Thanks to Netgalley for the advance copy.

Full disclosure I only read 50% of the book. It just wasn’t for me. I was disappointed because it has great potential. But I couldn’t connect with the main character and her struggles over what to do about her husband. I felt like some things were dragging he storyline down. I am sure there are others who will really enjoy this book as it is a mix of historical fiction mystery and modern day realistic fiction. Thank you to Netgalley for the opportunity to read this book.

I loved this Gothic novel with the British setting!!!!! This is definitely one to read at night safe under the covers cause it will keep you up all night reading!!!!!

One of the best books I've read in a long time. And I read a lot of books. The mystery here is not a crime story in the usual sense, but the twists and turns of the relationships between our heroine, the dead woman discovered by her autistic son, and the husband who thinks it s not cheating if he sleeps with another man--add onto that the oh so interesting history of England in turmoil over religion and you have what could be a mess, but instead is a carefully constructed maze, like the meditative mazes of the renaissance era--leading us to a conclusion that is a prize indeed. I particularly liked the way the author handled the relationship of the mother and autistic son and the new friend and his autistic daughter. I loved the little teaser elements about her uncle and her mother, the way the young librarian in the old house opens up new paths for her research answering questions for her and for us about the daily life of Elizabethans. I was very taken by the book registries--I never knew of their existence in that era!
One could call this an adult coming of age novel because the heroine , Hannah comes to learns lot about herself as she investigates the death of the woman in the walled off room in the castle, Isabella, including a new way to define her relationship with her husband. Benton is a superb writer--her descriptions of the places, the emotions, the dialog, all have a reality that brings us to the place and then wraps that description in poetic language that seems as natural as the daylight that finally shines on Isabella's story.
There is a lagniappe chapter at the end that allows us , the reader a peek back into time--we learn thigns that Hannah has not yet discovered!
I loved this book. I highly recommend it for anyone who likes historical mysteries, historical fiction in general , woman's fiction, anyone who wants a good read.. Warning--if you are like me you will find it hard to put this down once you start reading it.

I loved the initial set-up and story with all the elements I fall for (i.e. a woman in an old castle with an interesting background), but despite everything going for it, I was expecting more from this. I believe it was done in by the details. There were so many that it lost its story and the story got lost in the (extremely) detailed sauce.

Every single character was only explored for a moment with not anything to really connect us to them, other than the main character. No answers about anything seemed definitive which left me unsatisfied, even until the end.

It started SO strong then just became a family drama mixed with lots of inner turmoil. I could've easily cut 100 pages. Like you found a BODY IN A WALL let's just go with that and cut some of the tangents that detracted from the momentum being built. Speaking of which, it never really hit a climax, but it did feel like it had a long denouement.

I think my biggest thing was that it wasn't really a mystery or thriller: It's a historical fiction drama. I appreciate the historical details, but that's kind of all it was. Overall I enjoyed it, but was a little disappointed.

I love a good dual timeline historical mystery! This book gave me tons of Possession vibes with a great investigation into a dead Elizabethan woman's past life in an English manor house, Ashton Hall. Staying at Ashton Hall for the summer, American mother Hannah Larson and her son Nicky get wrapped up in the history of the house when Nicky discovers a dead body hidden in the walls. I loved how Hannah and Nicky both get drawn into figuring out what the dead woman's life was like and the focus on what mothering a child with special needs is like through Hannah's eyes. Her son has an undiagnosed condition (somewhere along the lines of ADHD or Autism, with a unique violent tendency). Great on audio and perfect for fans of Kate Morton or AS Byatt, I got sucked into this story right from the start and didn't want it to end. Much thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early digital copy in exchange for my honest review!

I received this book as an ARC and this is my review. This is a great book and I wanted to read it non-stop but life intervened. Ashton Hall is a grand manor house in England - the characters who visit or reside there are flawed and so interesting. The back story is a major part of the book and surrounds the history of the building. I totally recommend this book to readers who enjoy psychological thrillers with twists and turns along the way.

This was a very atmospheric story, rich in historical detail and filled with family secrets.
Many thanks to Random House Publishing and to NetGalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

This book is full of atmosphere. A mother and her child visit a sick relative at Ashton Hall. Soon after they arrive, the son finds the remains of a women walled up in a forgotten part of the home. The story takes on the search to try and find out who the woman was and why she was there. It is an enjoyable gothic tale. I could see this as a book club book.

At its simplest, it is a mesmerizing mystery. A mother and son teamwork to solve a mystery. It kept me drawn in wanting to know the ending. Great read.

Ashton Hall is a beautifully written and thought-provoking novel about a woman trying to figure out a way forward in her life, while slowly looking into a centuries-old mystery. The novel explores the many ways that women over time have been restrained or held back from achieving their potential. I liked the heroine, and sympathized with her feelings of inadequacy for personal and professional reasons, her struggle with her imploding marriage, and the challenges of raising her extremely difficult son.

The modern-day setting in an ancient English manor house was well-drawn. There was a heavy emphasis on library research and studying manuscripts and old records, which--being a writer of historical fiction myself and no stranger to research-- I found interesting, although it slowed down the narrative at times. The question of why a woman’s skeleton had been bricked up for centuries inside a long-forgotten chamber was intriguing, although to my disappointment it was handled like a backdrop to the story rather than a pressing mystery, presented no threat to the heroine, and moved at a very leisurely pace; the answer when it finally came at the end was fascinating, however.

Thanks to Random House for the privilege to read an advance copy of this book. Although I’m more of a fan of historical fiction than modern day fiction I enjoyed this book and recommend it to readers who appreciate extensive library research and a look at a modern-day woman coming to terms with herself and finding a new way forward.