Margaret Lennox is recently widowed and in dire need of a job as a governess, not just for financial security but to escape the ghosts of her past. When she is offered a position at the mysterious Hartwood Hall, Margaret accepts with little hesitation. There she becomes the governess to a young boy named Louis, whose mother, Mrs. Eversham, is an enigma to Margaret, often leaving on business and seemingly having a crippling fear about Louis visiting the neighboring town. But while Margaret is able to ignore Mrs. Eversham’s odd behavior, she can not escape the feeling that something is not right with Hartwood Hall. From rumored sightings of ghosts to dark secrets about Mrs. Eversham and Louis being revealed, Margaret realizes that she will need to be careful of her surroundings if she wants to ensure this won’t be her last governess position.

I picked this book up almost on a whim, as it was part of Barnes and Noble’s end of the summer sale. The premise sounded very interesting, seemingly heavily inspired by Jane Eyre. The book certainly does have that vibe and although you can sort of guess where the book is going with it’s ending, it was still very enjoyable and atmospheric. Ms. Lumsden did a great job writing the book, using the language and descriptions that you would expect to find in a dark gothic novel set in the 1800s, or even written during that time period. The characters are all very well developed and there was a good little twist at the end.

While there are strengths to the book, the plot could be described as fairly predictable, especially if you have already read Jane Eyre and similar books. I was able to guess the mystery of Hartwood Hall about halfway through the book and while, like I mentioned before, there was a twist at the end of the book, it wasn’t enough to make the book go from a four to a five staring rate.

Nonetheless, this debut novel by Ms. Lumsden is very well written and a great start to what I am sure will be a very interesting writing career.

4 out of 5 stars