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The Secrets of Hartwood Hall

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The Secrets of Hartwood Hall

By: Katie Lumsden
Narrated by: Olivia Vinall
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About this listen

Brought to you by Penguin.

It's 1852 and Margaret Lennox, a young widow, is offered a position as governess at Hartwood Hall. She quickly accepts, hoping this isolated country house will allow her to leave her past behind.

Cut off from the village, Margaret soon starts to feel there's something odd about her new home, despite her growing fondness for her bright, affectionate pupil, Louis. There are strange figures in the dark, tensions between servants and an abandoned east wing. Even stranger is the local gossip surrounding Mrs Eversham, Louis's widowed mother, who is deeply distrusted in the village.

Margaret finds distraction in a forbidden relationship with the gardener, Paul. But despite his efforts to reassure her, Margaret is certain that everyone here has something hide. And as Margaret's own past threatens to catch up with her, she must learn to trust her instincts before it's too late...

The Secrets of Hartwood Hall is a chilling gothic mystery, and an authentic and atmospheric love letter to Victorian fiction.

©2023 Katie Lumsden (P)2023 Penguin Audio Genre Fiction Historical Historical Fiction Romance Small Town & Rural Suspense Thriller & Suspense Victorian Fiction Mystery Exciting

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Critic reviews

"I loved this fresh take on the gothic genre. Vivid, haunting, surprising." (Stacey Halls, author of Sunday Times bestsellers The Familiars, The Foundling and Mrs England)

"A full-blooded gothic mystery with bite, great characterisation and heaps of atmosphere." (Emma Stonex, author of Sunday Times bestseller The Lamplighters)

"A brilliantly creepy and utterly compelling read, which put me in mind of Laura Purcell, Stacey Halls and Michelle Paver: it's up there with the most wonderfully engrossing and twisty gothic historical fiction." (Caroline Lea)
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I loved this so much. it's rare a book grabs me so much I have to listen to the whole thing in ONE DAY! Beautifully crafted characters, edge-of-your-seat twists and turns - just a fantastically written novel. If you like Sarah Waters, this is a MUST!! I'm so looking forward to reading/listening to more from this author. What a wonderful debut! More, please!!

Absolutely Haunting and Utterly Brilliant Writing!

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Listening to this story I could picture the house and all the characters. Good storyline and I found myself looking forward to listening to it. I hope there is a sequel! Fabulous narration

Very atmospheric!

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Margaret: She’s been through so much yet acts like a silly mouse. I only wish she’d had even a slither of gumption! Narration is beautiful, house and landscape descriptions are beautifully atmospheric.

Mrs Lennox is INFURIATING

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What a great storyline, I can honestly say it was not was I was expecting which is such a breath of fresh air.
It kept me absorbed so much that I didn’t want it to end. The narration was first class, I really feel it can make or break an audible book. Thank you for an excellent listen and looking forward to your next book. X

Brilliant, one to lose yourself in.

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EXCELLENT NOVEL. LOTS OF TWISTS AND TURNS AS WELL WELL WRITTEN. DEFINITELY WORTH A READ.

GRIPPING

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Absolutely brilliant book, will definitely be looking for more from this author. Narrator was perfect too.

Great story

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Really loving this novel so far, about half way through. Beautifully written and narrated. Love the story and the pace - very typical of the genre. Feels like it was actually written in the 1800s! Wonderful.

One for the Austen/Bronte fans out there!

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The writing is beautiful & I love how authentic it feels - I really feel like I'm reading a book from the 1900s. The story is a bit of a letdown, though. The best gothic novels always leave the question of 'is there something supernatural' unresolved, so I was really disappointed to see that the author chose to answer it definitively in the final part of the novel. I think maybe I would have liked the book more if the marketing hadn't been so misleading - if you just want a mystery story I would say it's worth reading it. I would describe this book as a mystery novel with a setting that feels Gothic but isn't really.
I also didn't really like the romance arc at all - I actually ended up skipping most of it because it just felt quite superfluous to the story.
The narrator did a brilliant job, though - she is just like what I imagined a governess would sound like!

ok

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Loved every page & sad when I had finished. Will be looking out for more books by this author

Great book

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The story was engaging overall, but I found the main character less and less likeable and understandable as the story progressed. So much so, that by the end of the book I had lost almost all sympathy for her because of her unkind and selfish treatment of one of the other, most likeable characters in the book.
A main theme of the book is bad marriages and the cruel treatment of women by their former husbands, but then the main female character turns out to be equally as heartless as the man she has escaped!
I can’t understand the authors decision to end the book the way she did. There are so many other possible options for endings that would have maintained real sympathy for the main character.

Although the story was quite good overall, the ending absolutely ruined the book for me and left me feeling sad and annoyed. I won’t be rushing to read another book by this author unfortunately.

Disappointing ending to an otherwise promising story

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