- Happy Humpday all! Hope you’re having a wonderful month! I am so ready for it to cool down it is supposed to be in the 90s all week, apparently mother nature didn’t get the memo that it’s fall in California too!This book published yesterday and I’m excited to share my review with you, it was a slow burn domestic drama with a creepy vibe! Perfect for October.🌫
My Thoughts
Jane Cockram’s debut was hauntingly atmospheric a perfect fall read. Her descriptive writing style will completely transport you too the creepy Barnsley House. I would not classify this as a thriller it was more of a slow burn suspenseful family drama a little reminiscent of a Kate Morton Book. The beauty of the story was not twists and turns but rather immersive incredible storytelling. Miranda’s life has hit a bit of a bump and she is looking to reinvent herself. When she receives a mysterious letter from a cousin she’s never met Miranda believes it is the perfect time to leave Australia and fly to the UK to find a piece of her pass. Miranda’s mother Tessa was a famous author who died when she was young. Tessa had fled the UK for reasons unknown to Miranda so she ensconces herself in the family as the new nanny. What follows is the unraveling of a web of family secrets and lies.
A creepy house full of creepy characters with a creepy past. The story really drew me in these characters were so vividly drawn, so real to me. I wanted nothing to happen to these children, I wanted to know where their mother Daphne had gone? I needed to know what was up with Max and scary Mrs. Mim. What was Elizabith really up to out on that island? Miranda was a great character and I was right there with her trying to piece all of this together. The ending to this story really surprise me, however there was an abruptness to it that didn’t flow with the rest of the book. All in all this was a captivating debut and I am looking forward to what’s next from Miss Cockram.
This book in emojis: 🌫 📖 🛥 ✍🏻 🏚
*** Big thanks to Harper Collins for my copy of this book ***
About the Book
Miranda’s life and career has been a roller-coaster ride. Her successful rise to the top of the booming lifestyle industry as a social media influencer led to a humiliating fall after a controversial product she endorsed flopped. Desperate to get away from the hate-spewing trolls shaming her on the internet, she receives a mysterious letter from a young cousin in England that plunges her into a dark family mystery.
Miranda’s mother Tessa Summer, a famous author, died when Miranda was a child. The young woman’s only connection to the Summer family is through Tessa’s famous book The House of Brides – a chronicle of the generations of women who married into the infamous Summer family and made their home in the rambling Barnsley House, the family’s estate. From Gertrude Summer, a famed crime novelist, to Miranda’s grandmother Beatrice, who killed herself after setting fire to Barnsley while her children slept, each woman in The House of Brides is more notorious than the next. The house’s current “bride” is the beautiful, effervescent Daphne, her Uncle Max’s wife – a famed celebrity chef who saved Barnsley from ruin turning the estate into an exclusive culinary destination and hotel.
Curious about this legendary family she has never met, Miranda arrives at Barnsley posing as a prospective nanny answering an advertisement. She’s greeted by the compelling yet cold housekeeper Mrs. Mins, and meets the children and her Uncle Max – none of whom know her true identity. But Barnsley is not what Miranda expected. The luxury destination and award-winning restaurant is gone, and Daphne is nowhere to be found. Most disturbing, one of the children is in a wheelchair after a mysterious accident. What happened in this house? Where is Daphne? What darkness lies hidden in Barnsley?
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