Welcome to Litsy!

This started off so well, a realy atmospheric setting and sense of Victorian Gothic tension with a mysterious asylum and enigmatic characters. It tracks the main characters descent into madness but feels a bit unresolved in places and felt it should have been twice as long in order to follow through on so many other interesting aspects that piqued my interest but fizzled out.

I'm still not sure what I just read. The first 1/2 was shaping up to be an interesting gothic historical fiction with some supernatural elements, but it all went pear-shaped. The MC spent most of his time mooning around after Mrs Harleston, & interesting aspects, such as the murder Mrs Harleston accused her husband of, ultimately went nowhere, & led to the strangest conclusion I have ever read. It is a shame as it could have been so good. 1⭐

I got just over half way and had no motivation to continue. I couldn‘t get over the whole “she‘s so beautiful but she‘s a lunatic” thing and the continued reminder that the main female character belongs to everyone but herself. I love books set in this time so I get that was how society worked but this book just didn‘t do it for me.

There's something about October weather that brings on a hankering for Victorian gothic! This has been compared to "The Woman in White" but reminded me more of du Maurier's "My Cousin Rachel". The setting and atmosphere are great, allowing the intriguing beginning to draw me in. Unfortunately, several interesting storylines were introduced but not developed and the main plot took a turn which, by the end, was a bit silly. Starts well: ends meh. 3*