1937. When her young protégé is killed in suspicious circumstances, celebrated photojournalist Hettie Turner is wracked with guilt. Desperate to escape her grief, she travels to the distant Hill House to help with an unusual request.
Arriving at the ancestral home of the Mandevilles, Hettie finds a family struggling to accept the passing of the head of the household, Sir Charles Mandeville. Hettie is enlisted to catalogue the eclectic collection of antiquities amassed by Sir Charles when he explored the world as a young man. Independent by nature, Hettie is surprised to find herself turning to the family’s groom, the handsome ex-soldier Rhys Lewis, for help.
The longer she stays at Hill House, the more it gets under Hettie’s skin. From the graceful sweep of the central staircase to the soft rustle of pages in the old library – Hettie becomes fascinated by the history of the Mandevilles. Sir Charles was secretive about parts of his collection but, ever the pragmatist, Hettie dismisses the legend that a cursed object is responsible for the many tragedies that have befallen the family.
But as Hettie delves deeper into her work, increasingly unsettling experiences occur around her, causing secrets formed in the frozen wilderness of Canada six decades earlier to unravel.
I haven’t read the first three, but I am wondering if I should and then try this one again. As, I don’t know how I feel about this work, overall. I enjoyed the two timelines, but I didn’t really connect with the characters, especially Hettie. Grief hits people in different ways, but she was just so “plain”. It felt like she was spending more time lamenting a lost love than the death of a friend.
I didn’t really understand why she was scared of the cottage as nothing really dramatic happened there. Maybe if the descriptions were more in-depth? I don’t know, it just seemed like the power of suggestion and overreaction.
Overall, I rate this novel 3 out of 5 stars.
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