"When seventeen-year-old Phoebe Turner visits Wilton's Music Hall to watch her Aunt Cissy performing on stage, she risks the wrath of her mother Maud who marches with the Hallelujah Army, campaigning for all London theatres to close. While there, Phoebe is drawn to a stranger, the enigmatic Nathaniel Samuels, who heralds dramatic changes in the lives of all three women.
When offered the position of companion to Nathaniel's reclusive wife, Phoebe leaves her life in London's East End for Dinwood Court in Herefordshire - a house that may well be haunted and which holds the darkest of truths..."
Essie Fox offers the reader a glimpse of gothic Victorian London in this gripping novel. She paints a picture of gritty urban streets to the luxury of a sprawling estate in Hertfordshire as we glimpse into the life of Phoebe Turner. Essie Fox is very passionate and knowledgeable about this era and that certainly shows in the details that she writes as it transports you back with all the sights, smells and tastes.
I did think that this would be more gothic then it is and maybe follow some of the sinister characters that were around at the time but as it was I worked out the plot twists way before they happened. Although she does delve a little into an incestuous relationship that is as dark as it gets really and I for one could have done with a more sinister plot line.
Saying that I did enjoy the book and would look out for any others written by Essie Fox. All in all a good book club book as there are loads of discussion topics.
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