A tragic and haunting gothic thriller that exposes the truth behind the inheritance of a dead Hollywood star’s dark secrets.

Vivian Yin was an 80s starlet who eventually loses touch with reality and her daughters. In an attempt to right many wrongs, her life and legacy is left to the mercy of a house she desperately tried to make home.

Vivian Yin, an oscar winning actress captured the heart and married one of Hollywood’s leading men. Moving into her husband’s historical family manor, Vivian tries her best to raise her family and hold on to her declining fame. After tragedy strikes, she slowly disappears into the buried secrets that haunt the halls of the Lowell mansion. At the time of her death, ownership is contested when her daughters find out she willed the house to someone else. Eventually, the darkness that filled the walls of their childhood home comes crumbling down, bringing to light multiple tragic endings.

Written from the perspective of two Chinese American families and multiple POVs, The Manor of Dreams is packed with great storytelling. I especially enjoyed the dual timeline, because it gave us access to all of the challenges Vivian faced and how it ended up causing generational trauma for her daughters. Li covers abuse, LGTBQ+ relationships, identity and the intersection of expectations placed on the American born children of immigrant families. Throw all that under the roof of a colonial built house with a story of its own and you have yourself a tale that’s layered, complex and haunting. For me, Vivian is everything. I really felt for her and the hardships she had to endure, specifically because she was a product of her time, a Woman of Colour who was expected to bend a knee to her husband, motherhood and cultural expectations. And that plot twist, chef’s kiss.

The only thing I wish there could have been more of was background on Lowell and his family's history and legacy. I feel like there was so much history we didn’t have access to (including the history of Chinese railroad workers) and it would have filled out the story a bit more in understanding the genesis of the manor.

If you liked Mexican Gothic, I think you’ll love The Manor of Dreams

Thank you Simon & Schuster Canada and Netgalley for this eARC in exchange for my honest review

5/5 stars! I absolutely loved this book. I was very intrigued from the synopsis and was so excited to be selected for an arc of this book. I was hooked from the very first chapter and I couldn’t put this book down. I did not want this book to end. This book is releasing May 6, 2025. Thank you so much to Simon & Schuster Canada, Christina Li and Netgalley for the opportunity to read an advanced copy of this book.

The Manor of Dreams by Christina Li is a gothic story about the price of fame and the haunting secrets of a Chinese American family whose lives become entangled in a dark history that has threatened their family for generations.

The story follows Vivian Yin, the first Chinese American actress to win an Oscar and her tragic life as a once famous star, wife, and mother only to lose everything in the end, including her life. Her mysterious death and strange house in California beckons her family and friends back to the manor where unnatural things begin to occur. Soon, the family realizes that they have stepped back into a nightmare, built on the dreams of Vivian Yin and her troubled life.

The Manor of Dreams is a haunting story about family secrets and the immigrant experience that pulled me into its pages. It is very much a Gothic with a psychological horror aspect to it, with the explanations of what was really gone, never fully resolved. The juxtapositions between Hollywood glamour and Chinese culture was interesting and helped to highlight the challenges and bravery of Vivian Yin as she navigated the dark world of the entertainment industry. The story was a little slow paced at times but it helped to increase the tension and suspense, with the mystery deepening the further the story went along.

If you like Gothic stories involving generational trauma, I would recommend The Manor of Dreams by Christina Li.