#HalloweenTakeover The Lost Ones by Anita Frank

Welcome to the #HalloweenTakeover for The Lost Ones by Anita Frank. You don’t want to miss this brilliant ghost story!

About the Author

Anita Frank was born in Shropshire and studied English and American History at the University of East Anglia. She lives in Berkshire with her husband and three children and is now a full-time carer for her disabled son. This is her first novel.

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About the book

England 1917

Reeling from the death of her fiance, Stella Marcham welcomes the opportunity to stay with her pregnant sister, Madeleine, at her imposing country mansion Greyswick – but she arrives to discover a house of unease and her sister gripped by gear and suspicion.

Before long strange incidents begin to trouble Stella – sobbing in the night, little footsteps on the stairs – and as events escalate, she finds herself drawn to the tragic history of the house.

Aided by a wounded war veteran, Stella sets about uncovering Greyswick’s dark and terrible secrets – secrets the dead whisper from the other side…

Review

This is how you write a good ol’ ghost story.

Set in 1917 in England, during one of the most devastating periods the world has gone through – the era of the Lost Generation. Husbands, sons, brothers and fathers struck down, whilst protecting their country. In an era where PTSD, shellshock were not recognised as genuine health conditions and trauma considered a weak personality trait, it’s no surprise that grief is waved away as inconsiderate and inconsequential nonsense.

This is where the story starts with Stella. A brave young woman who has served her country and is drowning in grief since the loss of her childhood sweetheart. Grief that has driven her to attempt the last resort and in doing so has placed her firmly in the bracket of unstable.

To escape the prying eyes of her parents and the local head shrink she volunteers to keep her pregnant sister Madeleine company in Greyswick, the ancestral home of Madeleine’s husband. She brings a maid called Annie with her – a young woman who has her own secrets.

The two of them find a distraught Madeleine, who is convinced she is being taunted or haunted by someone, which her mother-in-law and her companion find ridiculous. Is the hysteria catching or is there really something wrong at Greyswick?

That’s as much information as I am willing to give, because readers should experience the read for themselves, both the creepy, the insidious and the moments that are guaranteed to make you angry at certain characters.

The story is set around the First World War, which plays a pivotal part in the characters lives and the storytelling, but for me it was also the only element of the book that was off-key in a way. Why, because it is written with the spellbinding magic of a slightly older era. The skirt-swishing Victorian era, the gothic atmosphere and sense of being taken back into time. I had to remind myself of the year it was actually set in.

It’s an absolutely captivating ghost story, it’s historical fiction, a plot written with a Christie crime vibe and executed with the same kind of precision. I very much hope this is the first of many stories by Frank – she is an excellent writer.

Buy The Lost Ones at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer. Publisher: HQ; pub date  31 Oct. 2019. Hardback £12.99 – eBook £9.99 – Audio Download £12.99. Buy at Amazon com. Buy at Waterstones.

#BlogTour The Woman in the Mirror by Rebecca James

Welcome to the BlogTour for The Woman in the Mirror by Rebecca James. It has a real feel of the old classics. Echoes of Rebecca and Jane Eyre can be heard in the hallways. Enjoy this Gothic Horror come Ghost story featuring a vengeful woman, who influences the lives of her enemy for years after her demise.

About the Author

Rebecca James was born in 1983. She worked in publishing for several years before leaving to write full-time, and is now the author of eight previous novels written under a pseudonym. Her favourite things are autumn walks, Argentinean red wine and curling up in the winter with a good old-fashioned ghost story. She lives in Bristol with her husband and two daughters.

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About the book

‘You’ll be the woman of this house, next, miss. And you’ll like it.’

1947 – Governess Alice Miller loves Winterbourne the moment she sees it. Towering over the Cornish cliffs, its dark corners and tall turrets promise that, if Alice can hide from her ghosts anywhere, it’s here. And who better to play hide and seek with than twins Constance and Edmund? Angelic and motherless, they are perfect little companions.

2018 – Adopted at birth, Rachel’s roots are a mystery. So, when a letter brings news of the death of an unknown relative, Constance de Grey, Rachel travels to Cornwall, vowing to uncover her past.

With each new arrival, something in Winterbourne stirs. It’s hiding in the paintings. It’s sitting on the stairs. – It’s waiting in a mirror, behind a locked door.

Review

The story has echoes of the classics, it has a distinct feel of Rebecca and Jane Eyre, which is especially evident in the writing and the first few chapters.

The story ventures into three periods in time beginning with the woman who goes on to influence the paths of quite a few women in Winterbourne, and not in a good way. Her presence is felt in the area and in the house. A nefarious essence lurking in every corner, every swirl of mist and each drop of water in the cold murky sea.

Rachel inherits the decrepit old mansion, and finds herself drawn into the mysteries of the past during her attempts to trace her real parentage. She also wants to know why her mother gave her up for adoption. The answers she finds are completely unexpected, and she is really surprised by how drawn she is to the house and the local people.

She finds evidence of a governess called Alice, who used to live there in the late 40s. She left under a cloud of mystery and scandal. It seems as though she was one in a series of women with a tragic connection to Winterbourne and the family de Grey.

It has a haunting gothic vibe and is infused with a creepy sense of foreboding. James pulls the readers, and some of the characters, along on kind of a red herring trail with the majority believing Laura is controlling the house. The truth is far more sinister.

The author creates an eery atmosphere which seeps through the characters, the house and the surrounding area, almost like a dark cloud of evil. Even when it seems as if the characters are finally getting the upper-hand or moving on, something or someone puts them back in their place. Once a Winterbourner always a Winterbourner.

James has created a ghostly read with a vengeful presence controlling the narrative, it is a dark and compelling read.

Buy The Woman in the Mirror at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer.

Kindle pub date 14 June 2018  Paperback pub date 14 June 2018

Publisher: HQ – Harper Collins UK

The Moment Collector by Jodi Lynn Anderson

A haunting tale of a past life revisiting the path she once trod and how the life ended in the first place. At first glance it appears to be a story of three young people, who are connected via place and time.

The actual spirit seems almost menacing and is centred around the house Maggie and her parents have moved into. It is a family property passed down through the ages. The presence thinks it belongs somewhere deep below in the cellar. It is unaware of its identity, has no inkling of how or when it came to be there.

What it does know is that something bad is coming, something is going to happen to Maggie, Pauline or Liam. Is it there to help them, save them or is it there to harm them?

The ghost tries to connect with other apparitions, but comes to the conclusion that they are not from within the same time frame or era. They just float and wander by without responding to her cries. She watches the three of them, sometimes from afar and often up close.

She sees them grow close, splinter and break apart. Love is fickle, relationships come and go, but friendships are supposed to be able to withstand the test of time.

I really loved the overall feel of this story. Never too dramatic or teeny. Subtle with just enough action or emotional turmoil to keep a nice flow to the it. The most memorable element for me was the layer of sorrow and the haunting ache left behind by her memories.
I received a copy of this book via NetGalley.

Frost Hollow Hall by Emma Carroll

On a cold frosty day, the events of the past take the opportunity to reach out into the future to touch the present.
A young girl connects with a young boy deep under the water, when she breaches the realms of the dead.
At first Tilly is confused by the connection and struggles to understand what Kit wants. Tilly knows that somehow it must all be linked to Frost Hall, so where better than to start her investigation.
As she struggles to overcome her personal loss, emotional burden and the financial worries her family faces, she decides to conquer two birds with one stone. Make money and find out what is going on at Frost Hall, all at the same time. Brilliant idea, right?
Tilly soon finds herself in way deeper than she expected. Things that go bump in the night and pinch people in the dark, and that is without all the flying pottery.She is soon questioning her her great idea and then she meets the owners of the Hall. That is when sees the devastation left behind in the wake of the tragedy and how important it is to set the past free, so both ghosts and the living can move on.
I found the actual solution or ending a little anti-climatic, but in hindsight that might just have been what made this book so good. There doesn’t always have to be a huge gory, scary or sad ending. The simplicity of the solution was realistic. Kit doesn’t need or want big gestures and neither does the other ghost.
They just want what is owed to them by the people who loved them the most but also disappointed and betrayed them in a way no other person could.
A wonderful story for both younger and older readers.
I received a copy of this book via Netgalley.