Library Journal Review

Starred Review. In her pregnant and unmarried state, Alice is considered a disgrace and burden on her family, so she leaves bustling London for the lonely, quiet estate of Fiercombe Manor. It is 1933, and on her own, Alice is left to perform light housework and walk through the wild and (mostly) abandoned gardens. However, there is an undercurrent within the house, an echo of the past that Alice can feel pressing on her, begging to be revealed. She finds diaries from the former lady of the house, Elizabeth Stanton, which skirt around tragedies from 30 years ago and reveal that Elizabeth was also pregnant. Alice feels a kinship despite the foreboding that history may try to repeat itself. VERDICT Heavily borrowing from gothic literature staples Daphne du Maurier's Rebecca and Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre, Riordan (Birdcage Walk) creates a visceral and lively narrative that seizes the reader's attention. Readers of the Victorian/gothic genre who have also enjoyed Diane Setterfield's The Thirteenth Tale and other contemporary gothics will applaud and welcome this addition.-Jennifer Funk, McKendree Univ. Lib., Lebanon, IL (c) Copyright 2014. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.