I liked this book but I didn't love it. I felt for Ruth growing up under the critical eye of her mother, felt glad she had her brother to lean on and felt annoyed at how weedy her Dad was in standing up for her. I enjoyed the story up until her affair started. From then on in it descended into farce and became completely unbelievable. Vanessa's motives for her rather-more-than-just-eccentric behaviour and her ultimate fate were simply unrealistic, as were the reasons given for Ruth's mother's treatment of Ruth throughout her life. Having previously liked Ruth throughout the book, the fact that she didn't question Vanessa's disappearance or the driver's incredibly odd behaviour more closely - it seems it's ok for him to walk in on her in bed with a man and say absolutely nothing to him at the time or afterwards - resulted in my losing all respect for her. I'll rate it a solid three stars because I did enjoy the plot for three quarters of the book but it went seriously downhill for me from then on. Many thanks to Hera and NetGalley for the ARC.

A gothic dark and interesting tale.
Family secrets and something just under the layers, if we could just get to it.
CE Rose knows how to weave the ends together and to keep you picking until you get to the answers you want. Loved it.

An interesting read with a gothic undertone, full of complicated relationships and the real world impact of childhood traumas. Something about The Attic at Wilton Place has stuck with me, but I can't quite place my finger on what.

Ruth has grown up having a difficult relationship with her mother. When she goes to university in London she begins to spend time with her mother's old friend, Vanessa, who introduces Ruth to her luxurious home, Wilton Place. However it soon becomes clear that all is not as it seems when Ruth makes a discovery in the attic of the grand house that reveals secrets from her mother's past.

A brilliantly immersive story that will get to your very core.

The Attic at Wilton Place has a gripping plot that you won't be able to stop thinking about. I am a massive fan of books with dark secrets and I absolutely loved tearing through this to find out the hidden truth.

The best thing about this book is the characters. They are well-written and give the story so much depth. Ruth in particular came across as genuine and relatable. There are some serious topics covered and I found that CE Rose handled them really well. I always find it amazing when an author can make a building or place feel like a character, and the house in The Attic at Wilton Place is no exception.

I highly recommend this if you enjoy shocking twists that keep you on the edge of your seat!

Thank you NetGalley and Hera Books for sending this book for review consideration. All opinions are my own.

Do you know about CE Rose? Gothic tinged suspense written with an absolute precision.

Ruth is a shy, introspective child, the cello and the piano her only friends.

Vanessa, 'Aunt' Vanessa is a successful, glamorous actress, absent for months at a time, whisked away to exotic locations. Vanessa is an old friend of Joy, Ruth's mother.

When Vanessa shows an interest in Ruth, the spotlight of her attention is dazzling. When Ruth escapes her dull home life to study in London, Vanessa is on hand to show her an extravagant carefree lifestyle.

What dark secrets are hiding behind Vanessa's glitz and the glamour?

I don't know of any other authors who write books like this. The Attic At Wilton Place is an introspective slow burning tale of suspense, creeping up slowly and steadily with a real depth and detail.

You know it's all going to come crashing down with dark and devastating twists.

I know this book won't be for everyone. The anticipation is a big part of this thrill ride, and the twists, secrets and big reveals are worth the wait, and truly shocking in their intensity.

Highly recommended if you want something a bit different, that will keep you hanging in suspense before knocking you clean off your feet.

Thanks to Netgalley, Hera Books and Caroline England

A good thriller full of twists that surprised me till the end and kept me on the edge.
Well plotted, gripping and highly entertaining.
Recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this arc, all opinions are mine

I think the only thing that makes sense about The Attic at Wilton Place is the title. I enjoyed it until about two thirds of the way, when something takes place that turned me off the story completely. I found the turn to be unrealistic and cringy, with more cringey turns to come. Still, the author provides just enough red herrings to keeping you engaged. I liked Ruth, until I didn't. I'm still confused as to what really happened to ruth's mom, was she alpha, or omega??

P. S. Thanks to #netgalley for the ARC.

Ruth Parker has never felt loved by her mother, a woman who has always put her down and never encouraged or nurtured her.

When her mum’s best friend, actress Vanessa, takes an interest in Ruth, she finds an escape from her mum’s disapproval.

We follow Ruth from a young age through to university as she learns about life and dabbles in drugs. Can Vanessa steer her in to the right path?

There are secrets that have been kept hidden over the years and Ruth wants to know them.

This author is great at writing stories that have layers that need to be peeled away. A story full of mystery and secrets that kept me hooked.

Great characters, even though I found some of them were unlikable, they did eventually grow on me.

My thanks to Hera Books and NetGalley for a copy in exchange for my honest review.

Ruth is the daughter of Joy and Clive and the sister of Tim. She felt unloved by her mother and although loved by her father thought him to be spineless. When it came to her mom‘s best friend Vanessa however Ruth felt seen and appreciated and Ruth was obsessed. It didn’t hurt that Vanessa was rich glamorous and an actress Ruth would live for Vanessa‘s visits but one summer when she was 14 she was going to be the bridesmaid at her glamorous aunts wedding to Sergio but thanks to a family tragedy it would never happen. Not only that but the family tragedy would cause her mom to say ugly things that Ruth would never forget. For the most part Ruth just kept her head down and waited till it was her turn to go to UNI because she knew want to move to London she wouldn’t be the weird girl or the cast out but just another fresher starting UNI in the big city. Unfortunately Ruth‘s college days didn’t bring the change she anticipated but it did bring her closer to Vanessa who won they were together seem just as obsessed with Ruth as Ruth was with her, But when Vanessa missed a weekend with the Ruth it’s in her into a tailspin her every happiness depended on Vanessa‘s attention and not getting it turned her from her aunts special perfect girl to who? The only problem is Ruth would find out why Vanessa was so keen to spend time with her and a whole lot more. Her mom treated her as if she was an inconvenience in a problem but that was so much about her mom and aunt Vanessa that she didn’t know. Let me just say this book is very long and dare I say it too long! There were times I was so tempted to skip chapters and I thought is if while she was at Uni we were just rehashing the same old same old whether it was with Gus or Herman or she was with Vanessa or on her own I thought they were many things in the book that we could’ve done without and had the boat been much shorter I think I would’ve enjoyed it more. I found the ending very mysterious and satisfying but the truck to get there was daunting. It is rare I give a book 3 stars but I’m giving it to the attic at Wilton Place because it was entirely too long and had too much my Noosha the book could’ve done without. I received this book from NetGalley and the publisher but I am leaving this review voluntarily please forgive any mistakes as I am blind and dictate my review.

Thanks net galley for giving me an early copy of this amazing book, loved it so much could not put it down.
Ruth is a quit overweight girl, she had a brother who was her mothers favourite and Ruth wanted to just vanish and be invisible.
Until her mothers friend, Vanessa befriended her,
Vanessa was called Ruth’s aunt but that she was not, but she was beautiful and wealthy and an actress everything that Ruth was not.
Vanessa groomed her gave her clothes and money and freedom to use her beautiful house, until one day she vanished and Ruth then wanted to know who Vanessa was and why she had picked her to groom.
Yes this really was an amazing book sorry it’s finished.

This was not what I would call a psychological thriller and I was a bit confused at the actual genre when I went into this book. I did love the writing and thought the characters were well written and engaging, I especially felt for Ruth and her emotional and familial issues. However I did think this was a bit slow with a lot of the same things repeating and not much that actually goes towards the main plot; the bulk of the story happened in the last part and I liked the pacing of that as it sped up and was incredibly interesting as secrets were revealed. I think if you don't mind reading a slow burn with a lot of filler this would be the book for you but if you're looking for a psychological thriller I don't think this is the one.

I really wouldn’t call this a physiological thriller. It isn’t until the last few percent of the book that any type of mystery comes out. The book dragged on for way too long and it didn’t amount to much. I was really excited by this one because of the reviews but I was really let down.

Thank you for NetGalley for providing me with this book for review. Absolutely loved this book, read in a couple of sittings. On the look-out for more books by this author.

When I first seen the cover and read the title of The Attic at Wilton Place, I thought it might be a scary or spooky type read, but it definitely was not! The story is about Ruth, a young girl heading towards adulthood. She has very low self-esteem all because of the way her mother treats her. She has always felt inferior to her brother, her mother’s obvious favorite. It’s her mother’s childhood friend Vanessa that makes her feel loved and wanted and so Ruth ends up spending as much time as possible with her. While attending university, she even sneaks off on the weekends to be with Vanessa. But Vanessa is secretly grooming Ruth for her own selfish reasons. While at Vanessa’s, Ruth finds a locked hidden attic room that piques her curiosity. This is when you start to learn of the secrets that Vanessa and Joy (Ruth’s mother) have been keeping. They as children had both lived pretty awful childhoods and as a result they both together did an awful thing for revenge. That itself had an impact on the way they lived their adult years. This is a story of secrets and the more you read, you learn about them and understand why the women act like they do. I’d like to thank Hera Books for accepting my request and NetGalley for the arc to read and review. This was an enjoyable read and I’m giving it a 4 star rating. It was my first time reading a book by C.E. Rose and I’d be interested in reading more of her work in the future.

The Attic at Wilton Place is a relatively quick, easy read but I found myself trudging through it. This one wasn’t for me. The plot was a little disturbing and I disliked several of the characters. However, I was invested enough to persevere to the end to find out how things wrapped up.
Thank You to NetGalley and Hera Books for the opportunity to read this ARC.

This story centers on the development of a young woman named Ruth. Ruth is a shy, chubby girl who is victimized by her mother's cruel criticisms and clear favoritism of her brother Tim. Her father Clive is more kindly, but doesn't stand up for her in front of her mother. Her mother's glamorous actress friend Vanessa gives her validation and makes her feel interesting. When Ruth goes off to university she starts changing from moth to butterfly and Vanessa invites her to spend weekends in her glamorous Wilton Place home. Vanessa is sometimes off traveling and Ruth discovers a locked attic and once inside she discovers some surprising secrets about her mother. The story is mildly suspenseful/mysterious, but really for me was more about Ruth's journey toward self-confidence. She was a very likeable, easy to root for character.

Ruth is a homely girl who is always being left out and seemingly ignored. A kindly aunt takes an interest in her and events progress over a number of years.

I guess you would categorise this as a thriller, it’s a slow burner and although I spent a long time wondering where it was going, I found that I was absolutely fascinated.

This is modern, covers relevant issues, particularly amongst the younger community and is written with a light hand.

Brilliant characterisations that brought the book alive, I loved Ruth, Joy & Bernard, all multi-layered characters that I took great pleasure in trying to work out.

The first CE Rose novel that I have written, I very much hope to read future work.

I also loved the notes for book clubs at the end of the novel, this would be perfect material.

Thanks to NetGalley and Hera Books for providing me with an Advance Reader's Copy in exchange for an honest, unbiased review.

I was completely wow’d by this book’ like holy twists and turns batman. It had me glued to my seat the whole time!

This is the second book that I've read by this author and it's brilliant. It draws you in from the first page!

The Attic at Wilton Place by CE Rose

This is the books blurb

A perfect life in a perfect home – but what secrets lie beneath?

Ruth Parker is desperate for love and attention. Overlooked as a child by her cold and hostile mother, Joy, in favour of her older brother, her pain manifests in loneliness and a crippling lack of self-esteem. When her mother’s close childhood friend, glamorous actress Vanessa, shows an interest in her, Ruth basks in the blinding light of her attention – to her mother’s disapproval.

When Ruth escapes to university in London, Vanessa invites her into her stunning home in Belgravia, Wilton Place. Slowly, she begins to blossom under Vanessa’s guidance, living a perfect life in a perfect home. As Vanessa begins to mould Ruth in her own image, Ruth finds herself seduced by the hypnotic, luxurious confines of Wilton Place.

But when Ruth finds a locked attic in her new home, she discover that Vanessa and Joy are hiding the darkest of secrets from their childhood, secrets that threaten everything Ruth knew about her mother. How far will Ruth go to find the truth - and how much does she really want to know?"The Attic at Wilton Place" by CE Rose is a gripping and emotional journey through the life of Ruth Parker, a young woman desperate for love and attention. This book explores the themes of family, identity, and trauma in a thought-provoking way that will leave you reflecting on your own experiences.

Here's what I thought!

The author's writing style is beautiful and captivating, which adds to the tension and suspense of the plot. The story is expertly crafted, with unexpected twists and turns that kept me engaged from start to finish. The discovery of the locked attic and the dark secrets it holds only adds to the mystery and intrigue of the book.

The characters are vividly drawn and realistic, with Ruth being a particularly compelling protagonist. Her journey from a lonely and insecure young woman to a confident and empowered one is inspiring and heartwarming. Vanessa and Joy are equally fascinating characters, each with their own flaws and strengths that make them feel like real people.

Overall, "The Attic at Wilton Place" is a book that will stay with you long after you've turned the last page. It is a tale of secrets, betrayal, and ultimately, redemption. I highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a well-crafted mystery novel that delves into the complexities of the human experience.