Title: After Alice Fell
Author: Kim Taylor Blakemore
Published: March 2021, Lake Union Publishing
Format: ARC Paperback, 288 pages
Source: Author
Summary:
Until she discovers the truth of her sister’s death, no one will rest in peace.
New
Hampshire, 1865. Marion Abbott is summoned to Brawders House asylum to
collect the body of her sister, Alice. She’d been found dead after
falling four stories from a steep-pitched roof. Officially: an accident.
Confidentially: suicide. But Marion believes a third option: murder.
Returning
to her family home to stay with her brother and his second wife, the
recently widowed Marion is expected to quiet her feelings of guilt and
grief—to let go of the dead and embrace the living. But that’s not easy
in this house full of haunting memories.
Just when the search for the truth seems hopeless, a stranger approaches Marion with chilling words: I saw her fall.
Now
Marion is more determined than ever to find out what happened that
night at Brawders, and why. With no one she can trust, Marion may risk
her own life to uncover the secrets buried with Alice in the family
plot.
My thoughts: This is the first book I’ve read by Kim Taylor Blakemore but it definitely will not be the last. I love gothic fiction and this is definitely one to add to that list!
I was immediately drawn into this book and was captivated throughout. I loved that it involved an asylum…I have such a weird fascination with these buildings and loved how this one was used here. It definitely added to the overall sense of foreboding. Things are definitely not what they seem and there is an overall sense of mystery and whodunit along with major gothic vibes that keep you flipping the pages to see what has really happened.
While it appears that Alice fell to her death off the roof of the asylum, Marion knows her sister would never commit suicide and believes she was murdered. As she starts digging into what really happened she uncovers a whole lot more than she bargained for. And even though Alice is dead from the start of the novel, her presence is felt throughout the book, which I loved.
This historical mystery is equal parts suspenseful and haunting and has just the right amount of gothic vibes and a creepy atmosphere to keep you on edge. I really enjoyed this one and look forward to reading more from this author.
The asylums of days gone by were hell holes. I've read about some of them in Ireland and England and it was like a living hell even reading about them.