Margaret takes a job as governess at the mysterious Hartwood Hall estate. She is perplexed by the strange atmosphere at the Hall, but enjoys teaching her young student, Louis Eversham, an intelligent and sweet little boy. Mrs. Eversham seems like a kind employer, but there are rumors in the village that the house is haunted and that Mrs. Eversham made a deal with the devil. Margaret is too wise to listen to foolish gossip, but she has seen some strange things at Hartwood Hall; figures in the dark woods, a lighted candle in the abandoned section of the house, a warm cup of tea left in the summer house where no one has been. Margaret expresses her fears to Paul, the gardener, and the two begin a forbidden romance. Paul assures her that Hartwood Hall is safe, but Margaret has her doubts. Could there be something suspicious going on at Hartwood Hall?

I loved the mystery in this book! The story structure and creepy setting are excellent, and it really kept me guessing. The whole mysterious atmosphere of the estate is beautifully written! There are so many little mysterious things that happen, but all is revealed in the end. The plot twists at the end really surprised me too! You can tell the whole story is very thoughtfully constructed.

I was mesmerized by the author's writing style. The writing is vivid and energetic, and the pacing is good. Within just a few paragraphs, I was completely hooked. There is something elegant in the way the old Victorian style is blended with modern language. This author really has a talent with words!

I really enjoyed the Victorian time period and historic setting. There are a lot of references to Victorian novels like Jane Eyre, Dombey and Son, and Children of the New Forest. I had to look up a couple of Victorian things, like a pocket watch with a "repeater" to chime the hours, so it was fun to learn something new about the Victorian era.

The characters are all complex and interesting. Every single person is hiding a secret, so that made it fascinating to follow their reactions and try to guess what they are hiding. I really liked Louis and Mrs. Welling, the vicar's wife.

However, I got frustrated with most of the characters, and I did not like the romance at all.

Margaret has been through some terrible things in her past, and it has made her fearful and selfish. She knows to do the right thing, but many times she chooses to do what she knows is wrong, and appears to feel little remorse afterward. She knows she should act with courage, but she succumbs to fear instead. I wanted to like her, but I got so frustrated with her bad decisions.

She is especially selfish in her romance with Paul. She only thinks about him in the context of physical attraction. She never really gets to know his personality or truly care about him. She only cares for what he can give her, a feeling of safety.
They have sex several times, sneaking around the estate, afraid they will get fired for having an affair. There is not much graphic detail. They kiss and start tearing their clothes off, then the scene "fades to black". She is running from her past and trying to find comfort for her grief and pain, so she uses him to make herself feel better. I really hated this aspect of her character.

I think I am especially disappointed in the characters, because the writing is so good that it really made me care about them. If the writing had been bad, then I wouldn't care. I would just shrug it off. But the writing is so powerful that it makes you want to love the characters, even when they are behaving badly.

There is a little bit of profanity in the book, but only three or four times, so it didn't annoy me too much.

There are three gay/lesbian characters in the book. That was an unexpected element for a novel set in the Victorian era. The book has a much more modern feeling than I had expected.

Overall, I loved the writing style and the mystery plot, but disliked many of the characters, and really hated the romance plot. It's such a mixture of things I enjoyed and things I didn't like.


Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book from the publisher/author in exchange for a free and honest review. All the opinions stated here are my own true thoughts, and are not influenced by anyone.