#BookReview ‘The Whispering House’ by Elizabeth Brooks

About the book…

Freya Lyell is struggling to move on from her sister Stella’s suicide five years ago. Visiting the bewitching Byrne Hall, only a few miles from the scene of the tragedy, she discovers a portrait of Stella – a portrait she had no idea existed, in a house Stella never set foot in. Or so she thought.

Driven to find out more about her sister’s secrets, Freya is drawn into the world of Byrne Hall and its owners: charismatic artist Cory and his sinister, watchful mother. But as Freya’s relationship with Cory crosses the line into obsession, the darkness behind the locked doors of Byrne Hall threatens to spill out…

Hugest thanks to Isabella at Penguin Random House and Amber from Midas pr for my gifted review copy of ‘The Whispering House’, which is out now from Doubleday

This is a mesmerising,darkly gothic tale of a young woman stepping out of the shadow of her sister, and her mysterious death,by becoming her own person.

Her fleeting experience at a family wedding in the grounds of Byrne House leads to an obsession with discovering why there was a portrait of her sister -which subsequently vanished-and what the events leading up to her death really meant.

Freya has been living her life on pause since Stella died, stuck in a job she doesn’t really enjoy, unrequitwd love for Tom,a family friend,burns at her insides. Her guilt over the last words she said to Stella have never left her and, as she acknowledges herself, she remains stuck at being a teenager and never moved on from this.

Her emotional stopped clock collides with a house stuck in time,ruled by a tyrant who died in mysterious circumstances, presided over by a woman,Diana, obsessively protective of her son, Cory.

It is his idea to rent the grounds out for weddings and occasions when they ran out of antiques to sell, and how Cory and Freya meet.

A woman stuck in time, a man looking to create waves in the art world and the daughter of a respected art critic move in ever decreasing and more tightly wound circles towards a devastating climax at Byrne House,where Cory exhibits his life work.

Love, obsession and a darkly gothic sensibility informs every page of this twisting,turning novel and it is hard not to be consumed by the dark and pulsating need to be loved which emanates from each character.

About the author…

ELIZABETH BROOKS grew up in Chester, and read Classics at Cambridge. Her debut novel ‘Call Of The Curlew’ was shortlisted for the Waverton Good Reads award. The setting for her new novel,‘The Whispering House’, is a manor house named Byrne Hall and is inspired by the home of Agatha Christie. It is full of dark corners and old portraits that carry untold stories of their subjects. Elizabeth Brooks lives on the Isle of Man with her husband and children.

Twitter @ManxWriter @midas_pr @DoubledayUK