Review: Black Rabbit Hall by Eve Chase

Title: Black Rabbit Hall
Author: Eve Chase
Pages: 384
Genre: Literary Fiction
Source: Free ARC from G.P. Putnam’s Sons via NetGalley

Rating: A+

Note: As stated under the Source (above), I received this book for free from G.P. Putam’s Sons via NetGalley in exchange for my honest review (and trust me, honest is always what you’ll get).

Summary: In searching for a wedding venue, Lorna is drawn to a dilapidated estate in Cornwall, for reasons unknown to her. What she finds there is more than she ever expected.

Review: Eve Chase’s debut novel Black Rabbit Hall is mesmerizing! It felt like a strong dose of Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier with a sprinkle of V.C. Andrews’ Flowers in the Attic…and what a delightful mix those two make!

There is so much to this twisted and complex story: deep, dark family secrets; an old house going to pot that everyone seems drawn to, that eats time and feels otherworldly; the ways in which our pasts, our family history, color our future, our views of ourselves; the idea that we can feel deeply connected to a place we’ve never been and to strangers with whom we share blood; and the notion that sometimes we need to tidy up the loose ends of our past in order to move successfully into our future. Ah, it is a thing of beauty!

Not quite gothic, but perhaps in the same neighborhood. That sense of foreboding, a house that has so much tragic history it seems to almost have a life of its own, people who are far from perfect examining their own damage in the light of the past, but not quite so dramatic, not quite so dark as your typical gothic fare.

This is not a fast paced book, yet I struggled to put it down. The characters are so well-developed, the world so entrancing, that I fell completely into the book straightaway and had no interest in recovering myself until the story was done. In truth, though all the loose ends were beautifully tied up, I miss the characters. The book isn’t suitable to do a series, and I don’t hope for one, but this is a certainly a story I will revisit. Black Rabbit Hall is too enticing for me to stay away.

 

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