So, really committing to clearing my backlog of brilliant reads I’ve not got around to telling you all about that’s been going since spring, today I want to focus on The Secrets of Hartwood Hall by @katiejlumsden which I’ve had in my Kindle since it came out in February 23 (!) but only got round to last month. It’s a brilliant gothic read you need to add to your TBR asap if you, like me, thing a historical novel set in a big crumbling country house where the family (and in this case also the governess) have sinister secrets that rapidly start to unravel. It’s very much got Mrs England’s and Fyneshade vibes, and has me rather excited for Katie Lumbsden’s next read The Trouble with Mrs Montgomery Hurst which came out this summer.

I’d highly recommend this book if you enjoy dark gothic tales. I am excited for future books by this author.

I took me forever to get through this one. The beginning was interesting and the plot seemed to be appealing . Sadly at about 40% the book it slowed down and started to dragged!

a personal 3.5 that i'm rounding up. genuinely wonderful atmosphere, the strongest part of a book that is itself pretty good

I wound up listening to THE SECRETS OF HARDWOOD HALL on audio and while it is not a new favorite, I thoroughly enjoyed it.

I was drawn to this book initially because I love gothic mysteries. This did not disappoint in delivering the atmospheric, tension-filled vibes you would expect. This is a slow burn, but I found that the short length of the book balanced the timing out nicely. I found the unraveling of the mystery to be satisfying and loved or loved-to-hate every single one of the characters.

I would absolutely read a similar book from Lumsden!

Thanks to the publisher for the gifted eARC!

This was a very fast-paced book that had mystery, horror, and suspense! The only thing that I didn’t not like about it was that I thought the heroine was very weak! Nevertheless, this is a must-read for fans of gothic horror set in the Victorian era! I recommend this for fans of Hester Fox!

Perfect for fans of Jane Eyre, THE SECRETS OF HARTWOOD HALL is the perfect modern gothic novel with a nod to tradition and a contemporary twist.

Things are not quite what they seem at Hartwood Hall. Margaret Lennox can already sense that when she arrives, recently widowed, to fill a position as governess to the young boy who lives there. There are whispers in the small village about the isolated family that lives at the Hall - a widow and her son, with very few servants. That’s how we are introduced to the setting of the book as readers, and everything after that is full of that strange blend of romance and dread.

This is one of those books where almost everything feels like a spoiler of sorts, and it feels unfair to give readers too many hints. What I will say is that Katie Lumsden creates the kind of atmospheric scenery in her novel that any lover of the Brontes will recognize. The reader feels very much there in the book, sitting at the dinner table with Margaret and the family; wandering the Hall by candlelight; exploring the grounds of the enormous estate. That’s what makes the book, really. It’s an homage to the authors and stories that came before it but doesn’t feel stuffy or overdone. Simply put, it’s fun.

Lumsden is on my must read list from here on out, and I look forward to what’s to come from her. THE SECRETS OF HARTWOOD HALL is a book to be read in a few nights, staying up later than you intended, and disappointed when it ends. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advance copy of this book.

I loved The Secrets of Hartwood Hall. It is a Gothic Mystery that is inspired by, but not based on Jane Eyre. It has all of the intrigue and suspense you would expect from a Gothic Mystery while maintaining some modern sensibilities.  I was truly invested in Margaret's life, and the plot kept me intrigued throughout. 

*I received a review copy from the publisher through Netgalley

I love a Gothic novel, so took a chance on requesting The Secrets of Hartwood Hall, and am glad that I did. It had all the elements I enjoy in this genre, with its purportedly haunted estate, protagonist with a secret, and scheming servants.

Margaret Lennox is a newly widowed preacher's wife who takes on a position of governess at Hartwood Hall for only child Louis. Her mistress, Mrs. Eversham, is also a widow, but the townspeople fear her, and her house, saying that it is cursed. When conniving maid Susan intercepts a letter that reveals details from Margaret's past, she has to come to grips with the things she has done, and attempt to keep this information hidden lest she lose her position. She also embarks on a clandestine relationship with the gardener, Paul, despite how inappropriate it would appear for a new widow, desperate for someone to confide in and trust. When a sickness overcomes the house that threatens them all, Margaret discovers that the ghosts haunting the house may not be the dead after all.

I’ve seen some comparisons of this book to Jane Eyre and although it’s been awhile since I read Jane Eyre, I definitely saw the similarities. The mood and the atmosphere of this novel gave off Jane Eyre vibes.

This was an enjoyable read. Although I saw some of the plot points coming, this novel took some twist and turns that I wasn’t expecting.

The only issue I had was with some of the decisions that Margaret made, she was so easily swayed by others that it didn’t make sense at times.

I think this book was given a disservice by being published earlier this year, it should have come out in September when more readers are in the mood for a gothic novel.

If you like Jane Eyre and Rebecca, pick this one up.

This book is moody and atmospheric gothic tale. I felt the slow build up to something entertaining in the beginning. By the halfway point I lost interest. The characters weren't that interesting to hold my attention. The ending through me for a loop and felt disingenuous to the story.

There's nothing I love better than gothic Victorian mysteries, particularly of the "governess arrives at a haunted house" variety, and I've been awaiting this one since I started following Katie Lumsden on social media. It is suitably atmospheric and spooky and gave me all the autumnal feels from the cover to the final page. It felt very realistic for the time period and its social norms and mannerisms, with no glaring anachronisms to rip me out of the 1800s and into the modern world, which is not always the case in these types of books.

The Secrets of Hartwood Hall is an atmospheric gothic romance for readers who like Jane Eyre or dare I say Poe. The setting was eerie and dark. The characters were well developed. The mystery was a lot of fun but the ending was almost too much for me. Although this was the case for my experience, I still find that this book was incredibly well written and I would recommend.

Thank you to Netgalley and the author for an arc of this book in exchange of an honest review.

The Secrets of Hartwood Hall follows a woman named Margaret, a widow who agrees to be a governess at the isolated and mysterious Hartwood Hall as she attempts to escape from her dark past. Although she loves the child she teaches she quickly figures out that there’s something strange going on at the house. She often feels like there’s a ghost in the house. She’s strictly forbidden from entering the east wing of the house. The servants all seem to be hiding something from her. And the village avoids the residents of Hartwood Hall. Margaret investigates what’s happening in the house while hoping that the secrets from her own past will never be revealed to her employer.

This book is forgettable. At first I thought I loved it. It has all the classic features of a gothic novel, and I was eager to learn more about why there was so much tension and negativity surrounding Hartwood Hall. I loved the descriptions of the house and the tension among the servants. But in the end I thought every reveal and all of the resolutions to the different plotlines were… boring. I try to avoid using that word in my reviews, but I really do think the book was boring. Once I got about 2/3 into it I couldn’t wait for it to be over. I thought all of the secrets were anticlimactic. As this a genre of book that revolves around solving mysteries and revealing secrets and as it’s literally called “The Secrets of Hartwood Hall” I think it was pretty important for it to deliver some interesting secrets.
I gave it a second star because I will always love gothic vibes in books. But I don’t recommend The Secrets of Hartwood Hall

I had anticipated a captivating gothic mystery with a historical backdrop, but unfortunately, this book didn't deliver. I found it hard to connect with Margaret, the main character and spent a considerable amount of time disliking her. The author seemed to have overemphasized with the independent woman theme.

This book presents starts as a bit of a horror mystery but if a ghost story is what you're looking for you're going to be disappointed. In the authors own words this was inspired by her love for Jane Eyre and so the "ghost" is more human than spirit.

I was very interested right off the bat but the story soon slowed down and became boring, I wish this was shorter. I often didn't care for the decisions made by the main character, she acts a bit childish when it comes to the blackmail plotline. I did really enjoy the ending.

Recommended for someone who wants to read a modern version of a gothic novel like Jane Eyre or someone who likes period dramas in book form.

An admirable debut historical fiction. While I wish that the dark, gothic atmosphere was more pronounced, I was still highly invested in the mystery. Will definitely be checking out whatever Katie puts out next!

Margaret Lennox, newly widowed although only in her late twenties, goes to Hartwood Hall in Somerset to take up the post as governess to Louis Eversham, a lonely ten-year-old boy. The house is isolated, the staff numbers are small, and Margaret Lennox’s employer is herself a widow and a novelist, often absent from the Hall with the demands of her profession. The locals in the adjacent village of Hartbridge are suspicious of the Hall and its inhabitants with bucolic mutterings of dark secrets, and indeed she soon is aware of some unusual and unaccounted presences around the neglected property. The new governess also has some arcane mysteries in her background, which are intimated at the outset and subsequently unfolded. We thus have all the classic ingredients for a gothic and romantic mystery, set in the latter half of the 19th century and which also compasses seemingly unaccounted apparitions and the evil of blackmail.
The governess held an unusual and ambiguous position in households in England – definitely not part of the family, but also more than a mere servant. Katie Lumsden competently illustrates the difficulties facing Margaret Lennox as a penniless widow, dependent upon her position for survival whilst retaining an element of genteel dignity in Victorian Britain. Full marks for the narrative drive and absorbing plot, but perhaps not so terribly an original subject. The historical context is mostly well researched, particularly how an outbreak of measles was medically responded to in Victorian Britain. There are a few oddities in the story – a Sunday Church of England church service in the afternoon rather than the morning seems strange, and other issues which, to be fair, are resolved as the plot unfolds. In all, a veryry capable and entertaining debut.

I loved the gothic setting that the author created here. The old, dilapidated house; a deep, dark wood; ghostly sightings in the night; whisperings about strange goings-on at the house by the local villagers; and an overall feeling of things being not quite what they seem. However, this cast of characters really wasn’t my favorite. Quality character building is vital in gothic novels, so going to give this 3.5 stars

The Secrets of Hartwood Hall is a gothic mystery with more twists and turns than a labyrinth. Margaret Lennox has been recently widowed, a death which her mother-in-law accuses her of causing. When she takes the job of governess to Louis, she is hopeful she can escape the haunting accusation. But things are as they first seem at Hartwood. Fearful of having her secret revealed, Margaret plays into the hands of a conniving servant who is blackmailing her to keep her secret. Further, Margaret is unsettled by the unfriendly behavior of the distrustful village residents, the glimpses of a spirit on Hartwood grounds, and the hints of a troubled past in the Eversham family. Engrossing.