The Lake of Dead Languages

 

The Lake of Dead Languages / Carol Goodman
NY: Ballantine, c2002.
390 p.

This is one I first read many years ago; it started my habit of reading all of Goodman's books as soon as they were released. But since I've been in a bit of a mystery/thriller mood, I decided to reread it. I still liked it a lot - all those elements, gothic storyline, academia, murders, secrets and silence that show up in most of Goodman's subsequent books start here. It's a first novel, though, so not as strong as the following ones, for me. 

Jane Hudson has returned to the girls school she graduated from twenty years earlier; she's now the Latin teacher. She is newly single and has a young daughter, so thinks that this change may give them their own new beginning. But Jane is forgetting that her last year at the school was fraught with terrible things; three suicides and Jane left behind to go on with her life without her friends. And now that she is back, secrets are threatening to burst out of the past and disrupt her longing for a peaceful, ordinary routine. 

The story flashes between the past and Jane's present, slowly building up a clearer picture of what happened back then, and why it might be resurfacing now. I like this technique and found it gave lots of chances to create suspense. Jane herself is a bit meh as a character this time around and that ending! It's so melodramatic! I recall being a bit sceptical of it the first time and it was definitely OTT on rereading ;) 

As a debut novel, though, it's well done, entertaining and atmospheric, which is why I became a fan and have read all of her work since. I'm not sure it was as good this time around as my memories of first reading it over twenty years ago, but that so often happens with an old favourite. And now that I've read so many of her other books I guess the comparisons can change perceptions of a story. Still, I think it's a good read, if you haven't read her yet, you'll probably want to go back to it once you get hooked on her more recent titles!

The Bewitching

 

The Bewitching / Silvia Moreno-Garcia
NY: Del Rey, c2025.
356 p.

A perfect book to share on this haunting date, The Bewitching is all about witchcraft in a family line and how it has travelled from Mexico to Massachusetts, starting with Nana Alba in small town Mexico and following her granddaughter Minerva to university in the US. There are three storylines here; the third follows Beatrice Tremblay, the writer who Minerva is researching. The story intertwines the three threads, and slowly comes together the further you get into it. 

Because there are such distinct storylines, I did find it started slowly, and it took me a good quarter of the way to get into it. But once I began connecting the stories and getting in to the plot, it sped by. I do like an academic gothic!

I found this book fascinating for many reasons. The story of Alba, discovering black magic in Mexico, was eerie and almost fairytale-like in some ways (the dark kind). A lot of the folklore was new to me and so really intriguing. Minerva was a good contemporary character - intelligent, courageous, curious, and tough; a poor scholarship student who was also working to keep herself going. Lots of grit. And that helps her in the circumstances she has to face as the book develops. 

Meanwhile Beatrice Tremblay's story feels a bit like a story within a story, one that Minerva is uncovering as we go. It's intimately connected to Minerva's family history, but she doesn't know that in the beginning. There are a few male characters who play foil to Minerva in a couple of different ways but it's really Minerva and all the women, past and present, who are the focus of this book. And that was something else I appreciated about the story. 

There is a little bit of gore and some creepy elements that I found a bit disturbing, especially in Alba's storyline. You can always skim a bit though! As a whole, I thought it was a good read with unexpected elements and connections between the characters. A bit tricky for the reader, in the best ways. 

Return to Wyldcliffe Heights

 

Return to Wyldcliffe Heights / Carol Goodman
NY: William Morrow, c2024.
320 p.

A perfect choice for a Halloween read, Goodman's latest book returns to her academic, writerly themes for a shivery story. 

Agnes Corey is a young woman working in a small publishing house - a dream, really, as this is the publisher of her favourite book, "The Secret of Wyldcliffe Heights", a book many young women were drawn to over the years. It came to her through her mother's obsession with it, a mother with psychiatric issues whose relationship with Agnes is troubled and mostly estranged. 

But Agnes finds herself in an unexpected role - the author, Veronica St. Clair, has always refused to write a sequel, but suddenly decides she needs an assistant to take dictation on that long stalled sequel. Agnes gets the nod. 

St. Clair needs a secretary, as she's blind, following a fire at the real Wyldcliffe Heights, which also killed her father. The house used to be an asylum for troubled girls, complete with a chilling legend about Red Bess, a mass murderer said to haunt the house and grounds. But now it's just Veronica and her staff, keeping both her and this sprawling pile going. 

Agnes arrives to find a gothic manse on a hill with locked gates, groundman with gun, dark and cold hallways with strange passageways and a spooky attic, a surly housekeeper, and a promise of confidentiality made to Veronica. But she also has a secretive laptop and phone provided by her publisher, to keep them updated on any progress with their only money-making author. The past and the present collide as Agnes learns more about what really happened at Wyldcliffe Heights all those years ago and how much of the book was based in reality or imagination. And it has a strange connection to Agnes, too, the narrative of the sequel tunneling into her dreams. 

This is a real gothic, with all the mystery and danger you'd expect - there is also the town and townspeople, who have a whole festival celebrating Red Bess and the dangerous legend, which comes to life on Halloween. There are a couple of townspeople who help Agnes but many more who seem prickly and suspicious. And Agnes is wondering if she is really as stable as she pretends to be, after all. 

With the action of this book all based in a novel and its sequel, with tawdry New York life colouring the past, and so much riding on a publishing house, it's a very bookish book. Women's lives and their autonomy is also a huge theme in the story, both past and present. This is a dense mystery that bears deeper examination - you might find yourself flipping back to check on a story that's being told differently a few chapters later. I found it engrossing - loved the characters, whether they were 'likeable' or not - the setting was fantastic, both New York and Wyldcliffe Heights, and I really enjoyed the way that all the stories eventually interlock and connect the varied characters. Even many of the side characters were fully drawn and interesting on their own. Lots of great thematic content for discussion here, as well as being a great read for Halloween season. 

The Disinvited Guest

The Disinvited Guest / Carol Goodman 
NY: William Morrow, c2022.
304 p.

I usually grab any book by Goodman as soon as it appears; but this 2022 novel was one I skipped. Mostly because it's set during a pandemic, and I just wasn't in the mood for it in 2022. But I went back to it this month to catch up before reading Goodman's newest.

The story takes place in a returning pandemic, a few years after our shared 2020. Lucy Harper is our heroine; she still has recurring trauma and health issues after the original pandemic. But now she's married to Reed, her rich friend from college, and as another pandemic looms he is taking her to his family's private island for safety. They are quarantining with a handful of others, including Reed's sister and her girlfriend, and their college bestie Ada and her stuffy husband Crosby. There's also Mac, a local and good friend of Reed's, who will be joining them. It seems perfect, what could go wrong? 

This is another book with Agatha Christie vibes; everyone stuck on an island and strange things beginning to happen. Supplies are going missing, creepy historical things about the island are coming to light, and people are not always what they seem. An interesting element added the main story is the backstory of the island as a location for sick immigrants to be quarantined in the past. And the ghastly fate of many of them shows up in family documents that Lucy finds and begins to read. As things ramp up the reader starts to wonder, is this all for real or is Lucy loosing her grip a little bit? 

While I was hesitant about reading another pandemic novel, this one was weirdly ridiculous in the best way. Creepy woods and past events, people who are all under great stress, isolation and grave danger. This was a little more focused on contemporary characters and a remote setting than some of Goodman's often academic settings but I found it had good pacing and really kept me reading. The ending was bonkers, although I had been suspecting one of the characters for a while before it all came out. Definitely an atmospheric and chilling read for this time of year. Goodman is, as usual, reliable with her suspense. 

 

 

Medusa by Martine Desjardins

 

Medusa / Martine Desjardins
trans. from the French by Oana Avasilchioaei
Vancouver, BC: Talon Books, 2022, c2020.
208 p.

This is another story of a girl with unusual powers, but this time it's the power to kill men just by looking them in the eyes. It's written by Martine Desjardins, a Quebecois writer I really like; I've read all of her work which has been translated into English so far. 

Some I've liked more than others; this is one of the darker ones. They are all slightly off-kilter, which is what I appreciate about her work. In this one, our main character is a rejected daughter, the youngest of three, who has been called Medusa for so long she can't recall what her actual name is. Her family keeps her locked away, where she never looks up beyond her veil of hair -- her oracular deformities can kill. 

And then her family decides to commit her to the Atheneum, an Institute for young girls with various "malformations" -- an isolated institution on the shores of a deep lake filled with jellyfish. Medusa is so terrifying, however, that she doesn't even become a student, instead being assigned to housekeeping. She is clever, though, and befriends other students even while the school's Benefactors play their twisted games with the girls. 

There is plenty of misogyny and body shame going on in this book, with women's bodies pathologized and most of the men ridiculous and petty. Medusa hasn't even seen her own eyes, being too terrifying to examine. But when she runs away and meets a minor crook who takes her in and isn't afraid of her at all, she begins to feel more agency over her own life and body. And we finally find out what exactly the nature of her oracular abominations is. 

The language in this book is elaborate, intricate, almost Victorian but in a macabre way. We have a very eloquent narrator, who describes her surroundings and the quirks of those around her frankly, sparing no-one. It's a strange story, with ornate cruelties and everyday sadism. But if you like this style of dark gothic with feminist overtones, written in curliqued prose, you'll definitely want to give this a go! 

Starling House

Starling House / Alix E. Harrow
NY: Tor, c2023.
320 p.

If you are looking for a dark, enchanted, gothic fairy tale set in a depressing Kentuckian coal mining town ironically named Eden, look no further. The story of Opal, her little brother Jasper, and the mysteries of Starling House and it's last inhabitant, Arthur Starling, will be what you need. (and what a beautiful cover!)

Opal struggles on her own to support herself and her brother once her mother dies in a car accident. They've been on their own, living in a motel, for years now. Opal sees that Jasper has potential, that he should get out of Eden and make something of himself. But to do this, she doesn't talk to Jasper at all, rather she secretly applies to get him into a fancy school full of rich white people. It's vital to her that she find the money for this project so she'll do any crummy job necessary. When her temper gets her fired from her convenience store job, she's desperate for any income. 

She's been dreaming of Starling House for years - it's decrepit, avoided by locals, left to go to ruin in its own spooky grounds. But now she's drawn to it, in a way she can't explain. She enters the gates and knocks on the door...she's met by the gruff and strange Arthur, who finds himself hiring her as a housekeeper against his own wishes. And she loves it - she loves cleaning up the rooms, finding her way around the house, feeling like it is responding to her care. She also loves the excellent salary Arthur pays her, and finds that despite his odd behaviour and (at first) off-putting looks, they are starting to get along in their own way. 

There are so many tropes in the story - an orphaned girl, a 'godmother' of sorts, a prickly prince, monsters and an Underworld. A haunted house. Dreams and myths and women facing difficult obstacles. And true love to solve it all. At one point, Beauty & the Beast is mentioned, and it's a bit of a hint to the structure of the story, but this is much more. It's a magical invention of misty, dream monsters who cause havoc in the real world, and imprison the Warden of Starling House in their responsibilities to guard the house. Until they don't. 

It's beautifully imagined, with a detailed backstory that brings up class, misogyny, abandonment, trauma, anger and more. The writing style is a mix of earthy and florid, depending on what's going on and who's in the forefront, which I really liked. 

There are some flaws for me; the relationship between Opal and Jasper didn't feel quite right, with Jasper not getting much airtime at all. And Opal's obsessive need to find him a place at a prestigious university, without even asking him, was a bit strange - it felt controlling, not necessarily wholly altruistic. If she wanted him to leave that bad, why didn't they leave together? This is explained in part, in the story, but it didn't convince me. 

Otherwise, I really enjoyed this one. There were some side characters like the motel owner and the local librarian, who I loved, and some scummy locals too, who felt real. I'd describe this as eerie, spooky fantasy, with many influences of dark fantasy in it. It's not horror, despite the few moments of bloody encounters found here and there. But it's just right for my level of 'horror' tolerance, and it's the perfect read for a Halloween night. 

Bones of the Story

 

The Bones of the Story / Carol Goodman
NY: William Morrow, c2023.
326 p.

If you like academic gothic, I’d dare to suggest that Carol Goodman might be an author for you! Most of her novels take place in and around schools and academia, and I’ve really enjoyed most of her works. The latest, The Bones of the Story, is set during a wintery school reunion. A group of high achievers is coming back to Briarwood Academy, where they all belonged to an elite writer’s group led by a charismatic professor, after 25 years away.

But during their last weeks of their final year, a girl went missing, followed by a faculty death. This group has been keeping dark secrets for many years, and it’s all about to shatter around them. 

There are a variety of characters here; as always in Goodman’s books, we’re viewing the story from the vantage point of an outsider. In this case, it’s Nell Portman, now a dean at Briarwood. She started there as a scholarship student, scrabbling her way into this dazzling world of rich and privileged students. She’s still there, and still haunted. When all her fellow students return for the fancy event that had been planned, they end up being the only ones left on campus as a winter storm rolls in & cancels the shindig – all you need now is Poirot. 

They start to reminisce, trying to avoid all the prickly things they know but don’t want to discuss. The only ones still on campus, besides these entangled writers, are Ruth, the efficient departmental secretary, and Nina, a student who strongly reminds Nell of herself years before. Eventually one of them, who didn’t come to the gathering, arrives: he’s the local police chief. 

And the only student missing is their shining star, the centre of all their high school lives, the glorious and promising Laine, who had cut off contact with everyone after graduation but who still manages to shape all their interactions. 

Then one by one they begin to die, in the same gruesome ways they’d described in a long-ago writing assignment about their deepest fears. Who will be left to tell the tale? 

This is spooky, atmospheric, and well-plotted. I enjoyed the writing and all of these annoyingly self-absorbed, self-important characters. Goodman is able to create characters who are appallingly selfish and petty, but who also make you feel like you know them. There are ‘types’ among the characters but the story moves quickly and uses these elements well, and you don’t really know what’s going to happen as the story begins. I’d guessed by about ¾ through the book what was actually going on, but the descriptions and revelations are so well handled that it was an exciting read. Dark academia indeed! Great pick for timely seasonal reading. 

The Last Heir to Blackwood Library

The Last Heir to Blackwood Library / Hester Fox
TO: Graydon House, c2023.
316 p.

I picked this one up because of it's beautiful cover, and it's promise of bookish intrigue. It was another one that was just okay, with some really good bits but underwhelming as a whole. 

In 1929 England, Ivy Ratcliffe inherits Blackwood Abbey and becomes Lady Haywood overnight. She is a very distant relative of the last Haywood, which comes as news to her. At 23, she's at loose ends and desperate for a place to live, so jumps on the bequest despite its conditions. She must live alone at Blackwood Abbey, a place very distant from London and everything she knows. 

She arrives, finding a dour housekeeper and a handsome though brooding caretaker (named Ralph). She first encounters him as her chauffeur, then realizes he does just about everything around the estate. And somehow, Ralph feels so familiar to Ivy as the weeks go on...

The plot started out promising - a crumbling pile, probably haunted, mysterious servants, and a massive and amazing library. There's the ingratiating neighbour who quickly becomes a fiance although Ivy can't quite recall how it happened. And there are strange episodes of amnesia that Ivy slowly comes to realize are stealing away her memories of things that others recall clearly. 

The amnesia bits were a narrative pain, actually. The story jumps suddenly because of them, and because of the writing style it doesn't work as smoothly as simply as having an unreliable narrator. Fox also goes back to the same moments of forgotten drama numerous times, which starts to feel repetitive. However, the story concludes with a bit of a bang -- and with a rather over-the-top ritual intended to raise a demonic monk from the dead that once stopped, kind of just fizzles out. 

It's an uneven story, with potential. I really liked the servants and their story, and felt that the mystery about them as well as the Haywood family history was lots to include. The dusty library with mysterious presences felt a bit like M.R. James' The Tractate Middoth, which was atmospheric and enjoyable. But it didn't hang together for me, and so it's only a middling read. I hope that her next book will have a tighter plot alongside all the atmospheric settings and characterizations.  
 

Mexican Gothic

Mexican Gothic / Silvia Moreno-Garcia

NY: Del Rey, c2020

301 p.

All of the early hype about this book intrigued me, and the idea of a new gothic also appealed -- I do love a good modern gothic. However, be warned that this book is a shade more horror than gothic. I'm not a horror fan, but this was 'horror-lite' so I survived ;) 

Noemi is a modern young woman in Mexico City in the 1950s. But she gets called away from her socialite life by a desperate letter from her cousin Catalina, who'd married the year before and moved to her husband's estate, High Place, far off in the countryside. 

When Noemi arrives to this dark and foreboding, English-style manor house built by Catalina's inlaws -- a family once massively rich due to silver mining but now fading -- she finds that things are suspiciously unsettled, from the rude and unfriendly family to the silent and secretive servants. But from this standard gothic beginning things get even weirder...we have bioluminescent fungus, visions and waking dreams, odd behaviour from everyone in the house, and maybe a ghost? Noemi isn't sure what's happening but it's definitely not what she expected to find. Only her strength of character and indomitable will can save her now. 

I appreciated the unusual setting, and the focus on a different society than usual in these kind of books. The description of Noemi made her not the usual kind of gothic heroine, either. She had far too much gumption and common sense to be a victim. Her cousin was definitely more of the naive and delicate gothic heroine type. Noemi and Catalina recalled Marian and Laura from The Woman in White in rheir respective roles, and like Marian, Noemi pulls them out of the fire. 

I didn't quite love it, as the horror and weirdness was a bit out of my taste range, but I did like a lot of it, and definitely appreciated this take on a classic genre. Worth reading, full of intriguing details and a fresh approach to gothic themes. 

The Sea of Lost Girls

The Sea of Lost Girls / Carol Goodman
NY: William Morrow, c2020
320 p.

It took me a little while to feel in the mood to read a suspenseful gothic tale, after bringing this one home just before my library closed down due to the pandemic. I finally opened it a couple of weeks ago, and read it pretty quickly. 

This is a classic Carol Goodman story. Set in an elite boarding school with shady beginnings, it follows the drama of a murder investigation that starts in the opening pages of the book and puts the main character's son and husband under suspicion. 

Academia and inappropriate teacher-student relationships play a huge role in the life story of our main character, Tess, who was a scholarship student at the Haywood School and is now a teacher there. Her 17 year old son Rudy is a troubled boy, and his actions make him a suspect in the death of his close friend Lila Zeller. But as Tess and Rudy's past comes to light, there is more lurking in her inner circle than she anticipated. 

Like most of Goodman's books, this one moves from the present to the history of the school and all the wrongdoings of its founders that were hidden for decades. People who are thought to be upright are proven to have dark secrets; those that are denigrated in the beginning have stronger characters than were guessed at. Lots of academic intrigue alongside unreliable personal relationships and a main character with a troubled backstory = classic Goodman. 

I found this novel was much more akin to her earlier works than the last two I read; there is a return to the boarding school setting (so ripe for intrigue) and to secrets of the past. I enjoyed this one, even if it was slightly predictable. The inclusion of a legend of girls who have disappeared from the school and been turned into standing stones in the sea was rich and gave a folkloric richness to the story, something found in some of her earlier works with a thematic thread of fairy tales or legends. A student performance of The Crucible given shortly after Lila's death is chilling and brings in power dynamics and past lessons, as well.

This combination usually works very well for me. I liked it here, but didn't quite love it as much as some earlier titles by Goodman. Still worth picking this one up if you like domestic suspense with a thread of academia and the gothic. 

Footsteps in the Dark

Footsteps in the Dark / Georgette Heyer
BBC Audio, 2008, c1932.

During this strange work at home time, I have discovered that I like audio books after all. They've never worked all that well for me in the past, but if I listen while sewing I find that I can do it. And what do I love most? Mostly classics and old mysteries, things I don't have to concentrate too hard on. 

I came across this Georgette Heyer mystery in my library's collection and despite the ridiculous cover, it was quite entertaining. Of course, Heyer is much better known for her Regency romances (which are wonderful). But she also wrote some more contemporary mysteries, of which this is one. 

Like a proper gothic influenced mystery, there is a big old house, presumptive hauntings, and women in danger. The Priory at Framley village has been inherited by siblings Peter, Celia and Margaret. Along with Celia's husband Charles, they head to the Priory to check it all out and see what they should do about it. For some reason, their old aunt comes with them -- she's the best kind of older English woman who is indomitable and generally fearless. 

Once they arrive, they realize that they aren't all too welcome in the village, and that people are afraid of The Priory. They dismiss this as nonsense, being modern urbanites. But then they actually see the apparition known as The Monk, and find a skeleton tumbling out of the priest hole at the top of the stairs. 

There are many suspicious townsfolk - from a harmless seeming entomologist, to a drunken French painter, to a man who skulks around their grounds and is actually known by the name of Michael Strange. Charles is urbane and witty, never taking much seriously, and Peter is slightly more stolid: together they approach the police and try to solve the mystery of what's happening. Celia is rather weak and helpless, and Margaret is a little less so although she conducts a rather secret affair with one of the suspects who she has immediately fallen for despite knowing nothing about him (although he does turn out to be a hero, which the reader can predict early on). 

There are ghosts, betrayals, money, criminals, history, deaths, romances, hidden passages, misunderstandings, melodrama, and more. This story is much of its time, and Heyer brightens up the melodrama with her usual wit and interplay between characters. Unfortunately, it is an adequate book at most; compared to her shining Regencies it does not stand out. There were so very many mysteries being written by English women in the 30s. This one is about middle of the pack, not brilliant but still readable, unlike some other lesser names I've tried in the past. If you are looking for a quick entertainment and not expecting anything too grand, this is worth a try. 

The audio version that I listened to is narrated by Maureen O'Brien, who does a fine job with only a couple of stumbles in voices for different characters. It was entertaining, and a fun one to listen to and try to puzzle out (not too hard to guess the villian before the ending, fyi). 

House of Glass

House of Glass / Susan Fletcher
London: Virago, c2018.
360 p.

Another thrilling tale, this is an Edwardian gothic. Clara Waterfield, a young woman who suffers from a rare brittle bone disease, finds work and satisfaction at Kew Gardens, helping in the greenhouses. Due to her growing knowledge, she is summoned to the countryside estate of Shadowbrook, to help the reclusive owner fill his shiny new glasshouse with exotic plants. 

Not sure why he's asked for her, Clara finds that she is entering a house full of dark secrets. The maids are skittish, the housekeeper is exhausted to the point of breakdown, all because they believe that the ghost of a doomed ancestress haunts the house. Clara, ever scientific, pooh-poohs this idea until one night when she experiences a terrifying episode. She is determined to discover the truth about what is happening at Shadowbrook, and goes about it in her regular stubborn way. 

But there are three men at Shadowbrook who are all hiding things from her, no matter how much they seem to want to help her. And as always, men and their secrets put Clara into great physical danger. 

This book was truly creepy -- the sudden terror of the ghost was so well done, despite the fact that reading from Clara's point of view means you know that there is going to be an explanation for everything. Her determination to put facts above all, and not to be swayed by the possibility of the supernatural, lies partly in her scientific bent, and partly because her mother has recently died and she doesn't want to let herself believe in an afterlife. 

And what about the father she never knew? She will find out more than she ever expected while at Shadowbrook.

While sometimes the story was a little bit wordy or went off on a bit of an aimless paragraph or two, overall it was quite tightly written. The characters were all interesting, with varied motivations and unexpected behaviours. Clara was a wonderful focus, with her unusual malady and resultant strength of character. The descriptions of Shadowbrook and its grounds were also thorough and evocative -- I can still feel the gardens after reading this weeks ago.

I could see the plot twist earlier than the author revealed it, and it was a little bit predictable for this kind of book. But it was still an engaging read, and the resolution of some of the minor characters' storylines was also quite satisfying. 

Set in 1914, it also has shades of war looming over it, giving it an even more fragile atmosphere. If you like stories of old houses and ghosts and intrepid female leads, set in the sepia toned nostalgia of the Edwardian age, you might want to pick this one up. 

Purcell's Poison Thread

The Poison Thread / Laura Purcell
NY: Penguin, c2018
351 p.

This chilling book was a captivating read -- set in Victorian England it features seamstresses, gothic terror, poverty, phrenology, single daughters trying to break out of their bounds, and everything Victorian that I love. 

Dorothea Truelove is a young woman who is wealthy, lovely, single, and obsessed with phrenology.  She is convinced that the shape of one's head will predict characteristics, particularly criminal tendencies. (I feel like Dorothea would be a true crime podcast fan in our own days) She's not much interested in the men that her father keeps inviting to dinner in order to meet her, being far more focused on her own research. 

Ruth Butterham is poor; her father is an artist and her mother takes in sewing. Ruth helps her with sewing, since she seems to have an unnaturally precocious talent for embroidery. In Ruth's exhaustion and bitterness, she focuses on her detail work with great emotional turmoil. And because of this, she comes to believe that her needlework can affect the person wearing it -- that she can injure and even kill from a distance, stitching her intentions into the item she is creating. This kind of sympathetic magic is believable in this Victorian setting, and is unsettling and creepy. 

Ruth's life is a miserable one; after her father dies (early on in the book) she is apprenticed out to a dressmaker who turns out to be totally off her rocker. The abuse and terror in this household takes up much of Ruth's story, and is quite visceral and violent -- beware of that if you are not keen on situations of abuse. 

But when Ruth ends up in Oakgate Prison, her case interests Dorothea, and their stories begin to converge. Dorothea adds Ruth to the roster of female criminals she is interviewing and examining for head shape. Is Ruth delusional, mad? Or is there something to her story? And do Dorothea's criminal theories hold up? Or are they each simply saying what the other one wants to hear?

For sewists, this story will fascinate for its details on the stitching, embroidering and dressmaking. Ruth makes herself a protective corset (the English title of this book is actually The Corset), and then makes another for her nemesis later on in the book, which is not intended to be protective at all, quite the opposite. The sewing and the precision of description is strong in this book, and the way that Purcell weaves together all the stories is convincing, and creepingly evil. 

If you are in the mood for a Victorian gothic replete with fabric and thread, featuring women, betrayal, and mystery, this is the book for you. You should have a higher tolerance for terrible events, though. Definitely a terrifyingly dark read! 

Goodman's Night Visitors

The Night Visitors / Carol Goodman
New York: William Morrow, c2019
290 p.

On a hot summer's day what is better than reading a gothic thriller set in the dead of winter, with howling winds and blizzards, dark nights and ghosts, to give you the chills?

This is a great book for that purpose! Goodman's latest is a strong entry in her oeuvre. It features Alice and Owen, on the run from an abusive situation. They are met at a bus station by Mattie, who works for a shelter organization, but due to the weather and against all the usual rules, she takes them home with her. 

But who is more dangerous? Or in more danger? And who is telling the truth about their past -- Alice or Mattie? This is a twisty story, with facts slowly revealed, and many of them surprising and unexpected (though it is fun for the reader when you figure something out before it's made clear). 

Added to the chills that domestic abuse and murders far in the past can cause, in this story there is also a supernatural element; a small one but it's clear that the ghosts and spirits are real in this story. Owen is an odd child who seems to know things, and to find things, before he should. It's a bit spooky, but when he's questioned he just says that someone told him -- in his home situation and in this new location, he's tuned in to the local spirits. 

There are a lot of layers here, and while some elements feel over the top, it all fits together and creates a strong story. There's a lot of creeping suspense, some really bad men, and sudden violence that overtakes Alice, Owen & Mattie in the end. We're not quite sure where the danger is going to come from or how, and I was taken by surprise by some of the final reveals. 

But the characters and the setting work well together to create that sense of dread that Goodman does so well, and I thought the story held together well. Definitely a quick and entertaining read, one that gave me chills in more ways than one. 

Patrick McGrath's Wardrobe Mistress

The Wardrobe Mistress / Patrick McGrath
London: Windmill Books, c2017.
314 p.

I recently finished this unsettling story by a master of the gothic/grotesque. Actually this book was much less grotesque than his early books, and I was most drawn to it by the wardrobe part of it. So I was pleased to find that it had a lot more theatre, sewing, and women's lives in it than simply gothic gore.

Joan Grice is a wardrobe mistress at a small London theatre. It's 1947, it's the coldest winter in memory, and post-war rations are still making life miserable. On top of this comes the sudden death of Charlie Grice, 'Gricey', Joan's husband and a generally beloved star actor.

Joan and her troubled daughter Vera (who is married to a much older theatre producer) suffer though Gricey's funeral together, but then Joan is rather on her own in her small flat. And there she begins to discover that Gricey was not entirely what he told her he was. She feels unmoored as she begins to uncover more and more about his inexplicable, hateful hidden life.

There's also a new man stirring things up -- a younger actor who had stepped in to Gricey's role as his understudy -- and whom Joan can't seem to separate from his role. Then Vera gets cast alongside him...

Added to all this literal drama there's an overtone of the supernatural, and this is where McGrath's love of the gothic shines. Joan and Vera's mental stability is challenged, their security in normal everyday life is challenged, and when it all shakes out it wasn't at all what I'd expected, culminating in a shocking conclusion. Dark, creepy, and yet fascinating, this story incorporates Joan's knowledge of sewing as she remakes some of her husband's fine clothes for the young and impecunious actor taking over Gricey's role(s) in multiple ways.

She regarded him critically, and in her mind's eye she saw him as he'd look when it fitted him properly; and, yes, for just a second she closed her eyes and Gricey was there.

Then she was all business. Out with the tailor's chalk for it was too broad in the shoulder, too deep in the chest. A pin here, a pin there, tighten up the trousers at the back, take it in a touch at the seat, and give him an inch of trouser cuff. She knew what she was doing when a man stood before her in a costume requiring alterations...

Then she was done. She left him to get dressed, and when he emerged he was a scarecrow once more. The suit lay on the bed, pinned and chalked and ready for the tailor, herself.

If you like an unsettling post-war England setting, with a dash of marital upset and dark developments, alongside political commentary that is still relevant to today's happenings, this is a book for you. It has a literary style, with a chorus commenting on the narrative; if it is confusing at first just keep going, you'll figure it out. It adds to the sense of dislocation and unreality that underpins the plot. And if you are also a sewist, well, you'll appreciate some of the details too. But don't expect sunshine and light from this one!

(this review first appeared at FollowingTheThread.ca)