Do these characters or plot add anything to the iconic story we know so well? Not in my opinion.
Atmosphere is not bad, but could be better; most of tDo these characters or plot add anything to the iconic story we know so well? Not in my opinion.
Atmosphere is not bad, but could be better; most of the “horror” is at the end. There was one late scene I found that approached the feeling I had hoped for (when Nisa is singing alone and feels at one with the house because of the acoustics), but otherwise I didn't get much out of this. I am indifferent to the plot and ultimately didn’t find any of the characters compelling or nuanced, and frankly disliked most of them. Overall serviceable, but underwhelming.
Audio Notes: I really disliked the choices made for the audiobook. The haunted house noises added to the atmosphere for the most part, but making a big production of ordinary auto noises and such is annoying and distracting. The singing was fine the first couple of times, but the songs kept coming again and again and again, each more irritating and repetitive than the last. But most of all, I don’t know why Carol Monda was chosen as narrator, both her cigarette voice and the way she interpreted the text felt wrong for the character’s age and experience and modernity, and certainly didn’t lull me into the kind of spell Hill House is capable of casting....more
This book is gothic Victorian catnip, and I am a blissed-out kitty rubbing my entire body ecstatically against it.
I did think for a time this rating This book is gothic Victorian catnip, and I am a blissed-out kitty rubbing my entire body ecstatically against it.
I did think for a time this rating would be even higher, in part because Olivia Vinall’s narration is perfection, but I wasn’t entirely convinced by the resolution, and I thought I would be a little more swept away by the romance. Still, so very enjoyable on audio....more
Taken as a traditional mystery, The Secret of Hartwood Hall has many elements that recall many of the very best stories in the gothic genre without beTaken as a traditional mystery, The Secret of Hartwood Hall has many elements that recall many of the very best stories in the gothic genre without being too referential. I loved listening to the story, which unfolds slowly as Margaret Lennox arrives at Hartwood Hall to serve as governess to a lonely young boy. She's forbidden to enter the west wing, notices that there are very few servants for a house of this size, and is disturbed by her employer's refusal to let her young charge leave the grounds. But Margaret is also hiding secrets of her own.
This is one of those instances where I loved the narration by Olivia Vinall so much that I have to try to separate it from how I feel about the book. Overall, it's very engrossing, kept my interest throughout, has a lovely (and unexpectedly sensual) romance, and is well-written, especially in the sense that it feels like a story about a woman in the 1800s, without jarring anachronistic actions or thoughts. Margaret has a strong sense of self and questions much of what is dictated by society, but she doesn't behave in a cursory 21st-century-rebel kind of way.
Eventually, there were so many plot points and characters that quite a few of them didn't get developed enough, however. I wished we had felt Margaret's (and other characters') chafing at societal constraints more, that the overbearing and scheming villain(s) were more complex, that the mysteries of the house had been more detailed and even more emotionally laden, and that the themes of independence and autonomy were more unequivocally emphasized. This would have made the choice Margaret makes at the end something to celebrate even more; as it was, I admit that I applauded it in theory if not so wholly and unreservedly in my heart.
Still, such a wonderful listening experience and a beauty of a debut. I very much look forward to Katie Lumsden's next book....more
3.5 stars I’m as surprised as you are that I don’t love this as much as everyone else seems to.
I am a fan of gothics, atmospheric horror, thrillers, 3.5 stars I’m as surprised as you are that I don’t love this as much as everyone else seems to.
I am a fan of gothics, atmospheric horror, thrillers, stories about women in peril, and interested in cults, so this seem tailor-made for my reading taste. If you separate out each one of those categories, however, I don’t think this book quite hit the mark for me on any of them; I didn’t find the writing or characterization as creepy or immersive as I’d hoped, and I found myself questioning why a lot of the cult stuff was happening. (I did appreciate how we experience that part through the narrators, though—in that the word “cult” is never used, for example, and we just gradually learn the circumstances in which these women are living.)
I also don’t think the story commits deeply enough to the subjects it explores—there is surface level (and needlessly repeated and explicit, if brief) animal cruelty and child abuse of all kinds, as well as a good amount of mostly off-screen violence. The problem is I didn’t feel anything other than detached interest and passing sympathy for the situations, partly because of the glancing way these things are described and partly because you don’t really get to know anyone, despite multiple narrators. In keeping the story so deliberately obscure to further the thriller aspect, it sacrifices a deeper connection to the characters. While I was very interested in finding out what happened, I never really got much of a grasp on most of the characters’ motivations.
In the end, as a thriller, it also didn’t quite wow me in that the big reveal seemed somewhat…inevitable? I hesitate to even put my “major plot twist” tag on it, because it seems like the most obvious answer since the beginning. It’s not really a twist if all signs are leading this way.
Meh. I’m still very interested in trying out this author’s other books, though. They seem like very me books as well, but hopefully they’ll be a better match than this one.
Audio Notes: I think the audio book added to some of my middling feelings as well. The narrator is pleasant enough, but her style was so unhurried and even that the most awful things could be happening and she still would appear to be unruffled and unmoved by the words she was reading. While as a general rule I do prefer less excitable narrators, I do want to feel something....more
Finally got around to this after all these years and I am stunned at the impact of this story.
In a few dozen pages, the power of the imagery and writFinally got around to this after all these years and I am stunned at the impact of this story.
In a few dozen pages, the power of the imagery and writing was overwhelming—I felt my skin crawling along with our unnamed narrator’s and my heart aching for her plight. Modern readers can look at this and easily recognize symptoms of postpartum depression, anxiety, gaslighting, etc, but it moves me unbearably to know this was written during the height of the Victorian era and imagine the woman who wrote it rebelling against the oppressive and abusive diagnoses and treatments she was given. (The fraught word “hysteria” is used at one point.) An important, incredible early work of feminist literature that I’m ashamed I haven’t experienced until now.
Audio notes: There were two versions available through my library and I ended up going with the one from Dreamscape Media. (I usually take pains to find the correct edition on GoodReads, but with literally thousands of versions, it wasn’t possible this time.) I really enjoyed Erin Yuen’s narration—it was clear and calm, and just dramatic enough but not too dramatic, as befits an unreliable narrator and my personal taste. And while the text is exactly as it appears in the 1892 story as far as I can tell, her narration also sounded somehow modern without being anachronistic. I much preferred this version to the other one I sampled from Redfield—that narration was fine and I liked some of the music, but the sound effect running through it during the story was just too distracting....more
I loved so so much about this book. It starts out with Beth and Ryan stuck in a snowstorm, then moves to an isolated house called Witchwood,4.5 stars
I loved so so much about this book. It starts out with Beth and Ryan stuck in a snowstorm, then moves to an isolated house called Witchwood, where the heroine goes to meet her grandfather for the first time. He’s her only living relative, so it’s something that means a great deal to her.
I love the snowy survival parts in the beginning, I love her growing relationship with her grandfather and soon-to-be grandmother (though more of the grandfather stuff would’ve been welcome), and I adore the setting and the story of how the house got its name: it refers to a young woman with the gift of sight who disappeared one day, and her young lover who faithfully waited—in vain—for her return. It has moments of being deliciously, unexpectedly spooky in the way you might get a fine shiver down your spine when you’re alone. There is just a touch of the supernatural which is done in such a lovely way—the haunting scene reminds me of a pivotal moment in L.M. Montgomery’s Emily Climbs (and another, during Emily’s Quest) when an unearthly event makes Emily realize who her heart belongs to.
The things I didn’t love are really difficult to stomach. There’s a borderline cartoonishly rapey idiot nephew in the house, and Beth’s fluctuating behaviors in how she deals with Ryan are hard to follow at times. Ryan himself is supremely awful in the beginning and throughout much of the book—he insults her and berates her repeatedly, mocks her helpless response to him, and manhandles her. And while she stands up to the rapey nephew, and she isn’t a mouse with Ryan either (she argues with him with spirit and definitely stands up for and thinks for herself), Ryan gets too much of a pass for his behavior. I hated how he acted towards her, even after his suspicions about her motivations apparently went away.
I say apparently because there’s no “oh hey, I was wrong about thinking you’re a scammer” or even a big confession of his feelings, per se. But the way they do come together (his illness is the beginning of it, when his defenses are down) is really touching and I loved their meeting in the woods, which echoed lovers past.
So…huge caveats on this one. It’s full of problematic shit, but because it was 1979 and it seems generally accepted that you could be abusive towards women, the other stuff is good enough to be a mainstream gothic. I loved it, despite its troubling flaws....more
Great atmosphere, but lost a little bit of steam and punch towards the end, and I think the plot would have been much stronger without the (v3.5 stars
Great atmosphere, but lost a little bit of steam and punch towards the end, and I think the plot would have been much stronger without the (view spoiler)[reincarnation (hide spoiler)] aspects.
This feels surprisingly dated with the plethora of exclamation points present in the narrative, but I still enjoyed it. I'd hoped it be a bit3.5 stars
This feels surprisingly dated with the plethora of exclamation points present in the narrative, but I still enjoyed it. I'd hoped it be a bit creepier, but there's no denying the appeal of the setting and set-up, even though as a whole the plot and characters felt a bit underdeveloped.
Also side-eying the fact that after Louisa is annoyed by sexist comments by the love interest when she first meets him, they're never referred to again after they fall in love, and he doesn't appear to have any change of heart. Boo....more
Wendy Darling
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