Today, I’m so happy to be a tour stop on the blog tour for Mrs. England by Stacey Hall. Thank you MIRA for inviting me to participate.
Publisher: MIRA / Harper Audio
Published: April 12, 2022
Source: Print – Paperback via HTP Books / Audio – ALC via Harper Audio
SUMMARY:
Simmering with slow-burning menace, Mrs. England is a portrait of an Edwardian marriage, an enthralling tale of men and women, power and control, courage, truth and the very darkest deception.
West Yorkshire, 1904. When recently graduated Ruby May takes a nanny position looking after the children of Charles and Lilian England, a wealthy couple from a powerful dynasty of mill owners, she hopes it will be the fresh start she needs. But as she adapts to life at the isolated Hardcastle House, it becomes clear something is not quite right about the beautiful, mysterious Mrs. England.
Distant and withdrawn, Lilian shows little interest in her children or charming husband and is far from the angel of the house Ruby was expecting.
As the warm, vivacious Charles welcomes Ruby into the family, a series of strange events forces her to question everything she thought she knew. Ostracized by the servants and increasingly uneasy, Ruby must face her own demons in order to prevent history from repeating itself. After all, there’s no such thing as the perfect family—she should know.
This captivating new feminist novel from Sunday Times bestselling author Stacey Halls is her third work of fiction and proves her one of the most exciting and compelling new storytellers of our time.
My thoughts:
This is the first book I’ve read by Stacey Halls but it definitely will not be the last. I seem to be on a role with stories revolving around nannies/caregivers lately and I’m not one bit mad about it!
I love a good gothic novel and this one totally delivers on that end. In some ways I definitely got Rebecca vibes and I just loved that. The story grabbed me from the beginning and I loved that not only was there a sense of mystery about a few of our characters – the marriage between Mr. and Mrs. England was quite strange to say the least but then there were the secrets that Ruby herself had.
I loved that I was constantly questioning what was going on and while this is a slow-burning type of read, I was completely captivated. I wanted to know what drove each and every character and what was going to ultimately happen with them.
This was such an atmospheric, tense read and if you enjoy these kinds of reads, I definitely recommend it.
Audio thoughts:
This story translated very well onto audio and I think Imogen Wilde did a fantastic job narrating it. I was completely captivated by her performance, so much so that I ended up listening to this one in just one day. Her pacing and intonation were spot on, even for the children’s voices, and I really found myself completely engaged in this story.
About the author:
Stacey Halls grew up in Rossendale, Lancashire. She studied journalism at the University of Central Lancashire and has written for publications including the Guardian, Stylist, Psychologies, the Independent, the Sun and Fabulous. Both of her first two novels, The Familiars and The Lost Orphan, were Sunday Times bestsellers, Mrs England is her third novel.
Authors Links: Website | Twitter | Instagram | Goodreads
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