Author: V. L. Valentine
Publisher: Viper Books/ Profile books
Publishing Date: 28th April 2022
Many thanks to the publishing team for my copy and a spot on the blog tour
Blurb
A dark house filled with darker secrets...
Winter 1954, and in a dilapidated apartment in Brooklyn, Sam Cooper realises that she has nothing left. Her mother is dead, she has no prospects, and she cannot afford the rent. But as she goes through her mother's things, Sam finds a stack of hidden letters that reveal a family and an inheritance that she never knew she had, three thousand miles away in Yorkshire.
Begars Abbey is a crumbling pile, inhabited only by Lady Cooper, Sam's ailing grandmother, and a handful of servants. Sam cannot understand why her mother kept its very existence a secret, but her newly discovered diaries offer a glimpse of a young girl growing increasingly terrified. As is Sam herself.
Built on the foundations of an old convent, Begars moves and sings with the biting wind. Her grandmother cannot speak, and a shadowy woman moves along the corridors at night. There are dark places in the hidden tunnels beneath Begars. And they will not give up their secrets easily...
My Thoughts
A brilliant gothic and chilling story.
The story unfolds from Sam's perspective. As she is grieving for the loss of her mother Vera and starts to go through paperwork/letters and uncovers that she actually has a maternal grandmother who is in fact still alive. Not only is she a living relative she is also holds the title of a Lady. Vera has kept this a secret from Sam all her life, she could have a had a relationship , but is there more to this relationship and story that made her mother leave Yorkshire for America and not acknowledge her family.
As Sam has little to no money but the chance to have a place to live, inheritance and a living family member, she decides to make the trip. On arrival her dream of a grandeur place is lost as the place is weathered and has a cold atmosphere. When she finally meets her grandmother, in front of her is a an old lady, in a wheelchair who doesn't speak after having suffered some medical illnesses.
As the story progresses and Sam is exploring her surroundings we get to meet a few more characters: A housekeeper who isn't always honest, the night nurse, a family friend that could help Sam with some questions she has an a maid to name a few.
One Sam uncovers Veras diaries from when she lived there and as she starts to read some unsettling things it makes her raise more questions but who will help her. Do all these people know more than they are willing to share and why will no one tell her why 17 year old Vera left home all alone?
I really liked the descriptive writing in parts especially surrounding Begars Abbey as it almost made your skin crawl and added that additional layer of tension. I was always second guessing as you have this sense through the writing that at least one person Sam is talking may not be living but is this a trick.
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