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"Consumption has ravaged Louise Pinecroft's family, leaving her and her father alone and heartbroken. But Dr. Pinecroft has plans for a revolutionary experiment: convinced that sea air will prove to be the cure his wife and children needed, he arranges to house a group of prisoners suffering from the disease in the caves beneath his new Cornish home. While he devotes himself to his controversial medical trials, Louise finds herself increasingly discomfited by the strange tales her new maid tells of the fairies that hunt the land, searching for those they can steal away to their realm. Forty years later, Hester arrives at Morvoren House to take up a position as nurse to the now partially paralyzed and mute Miss Pinecroft. Hester has fled to Cornwall to try to escape her past, but surrounded by superstitious staff enacting bizarre rituals, she soon discovers her new home may be just as dangerous as her last."--Publisher.… (plus d'informations)
This is the first book by Laura Purcell that I have read and I have to say I really want to read other books by her now. This is a historical novel with a gothic feel. The descriptions are atmospheric and at times outright creepy. It is the story of Hester Why who has run away from her previous life and changed her name to start her new one as a maid to the owner of Morvoren House in Cornwall. Quickly we discover things are not as they seem and is there something supernatural taking place ( in this instance fairies). The story unfolds both at Morvoren House and in flashback at Hanover Square Hester’s previous employment. I highly recommend this book if you like well written gothic historical novels. Thanks to Pigeonhole for the opportunity to read this. ( )
A gothic novel that includes everything you'd expect *and* the kitchen sink. A woman with secrets, an addiction, and an alias. Consumption, convicts, and caves. Folklore, malevolent fairies, and haunted China. Superstitions and spells... It was highly readable and yet it was all a bit much and not macabre enough for me. ( )
This is my first book by this author and I did enjoy this gothic novel although I did t find it that spooky. It was tragic and full of Cornish superstition and atmosphere. Set in a Cornish mansion on top of cliffs with pounding seas below, the scene is set for a wonderful read….. ( )
I quite enjoyed this gothic historical mystery set during the early 1800s in a creepy house that overlooks the wintry Cornwall coast. The story takes place in two different timelines, one narrated by an alcoholic lady's maid who has assumed the name Hester Why and taken a position in the remote location to escape the tragedies that have befallen her previous mistresses. Hester finds the house's occupants quite unusual. Her elderly mistress spends all her time in an icy cold room staring at china. There is a young woman who seems to have the mind of a child and who is kept confined to her room. And there is another elderly maid who pours salt into doorways and talks of protective charms. As the mystery unfolds, the story goes back in time to when Hester's new mistress was a young woman assisting her father, a doctor, with a radical treatment for tuberculosis after the loss of the rest of their family members to the disease. And perhaps the supernatural is at work--the mischievous little people that Cornwall is known for--or is it just madness? Creepy and atmospheric, this novel reminded me a lot of Purcell's first novel, The Silent Companions, which introduced me to her and made me a fan. ( )
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No voice divine the storm allay'd, No light propitious shone; When, snatch'd from all effectual aid, We perish'd, each alone: But I beneath a rougher sea, And whelm'd deeper gulfs than he.
From " Castaway" by William Cowper, 1799
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Love is fragile, my mother once said.
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"Consumption has ravaged Louise Pinecroft's family, leaving her and her father alone and heartbroken. But Dr. Pinecroft has plans for a revolutionary experiment: convinced that sea air will prove to be the cure his wife and children needed, he arranges to house a group of prisoners suffering from the disease in the caves beneath his new Cornish home. While he devotes himself to his controversial medical trials, Louise finds herself increasingly discomfited by the strange tales her new maid tells of the fairies that hunt the land, searching for those they can steal away to their realm. Forty years later, Hester arrives at Morvoren House to take up a position as nurse to the now partially paralyzed and mute Miss Pinecroft. Hester has fled to Cornwall to try to escape her past, but surrounded by superstitious staff enacting bizarre rituals, she soon discovers her new home may be just as dangerous as her last."--Publisher.
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