Nell Galilee returns home to the small, seaside town of her childhood in the company of her husband Chris and stepdaughter Maude. This is a town that holds unsettling memories for Nell, but fortunately their stay here will be brief, as they are only here to attend a family celebration. Their home for this short holiday is a quirky holiday cottage called Elder House, in the tucked away Bishops Yard, but something about this house feels wrong to Nell as soon as she sets foot in the place. She can't quite put her finger on what it is, although she seems to be the only one of the three that finds the house unnerving.
Things are tense between the three from the start. Maude is under a black cloud from recent episodes that are vaguely hinted at, but we know from the beginning that she is finding it difficult to adjust to being an older sibling now her mother and stepfather have had a new baby, and her relationship with Nell seems strained. Nell longs for the close bond they used to share, Chris seems at a loss with how to broker peace between the two females in his life, and the atmosphere between them is amplified by the weird vibes that Elder House gives off - and the odd happenings that have them jumping at shadows.
When Nell makes an eerie discovery behind a hidden panel in the wall, they begin to learn something of the secrets that tell of Elder Cottage's traumatic history, and Maude becomes consumed by the magic that thrums in very fabric of the house. The residents of the past seem to have been trying to protect themselves from something dark, but what could it be? Events start to spin out of control when Chris is called away, leaving Nell and Maude alone. They are both harbouring secrets that cannot be contained, as are the women who live around them in Bishops Yard. This house demands a sacrifice, but who will pay the price?
Where to start? This is so much more than your average spooky tale, and Amanda Mason does such a wonderful job of incorporating a myriad of deep themes into the telling of it, which I am going to try to hint at without giving away any spoilers about the plot, because you really need to discover its secrets for yourself.
This is a novel rooted in folklore, hitting just the right spot to tickle the primitive part of your brain that feeds your darkest nightmares, but by exploring exactly how and why people use superstition to deal with their everyday fears Mason is able to interwork both historical and contemporary themes around mental health, desire, secrets, betrayal, obsession, motherhood, and rather interestingly the need to protect, which makes this a very modern ghost story. She starts with a haunted house, always a brilliant beginning, and then proceeds to let her imagination run riot with very mortal emotional threads of anxiety, the need to be loved, jealousy and aching need, that feed the supernatural elements of the tale superbly.
For a claustrophobic story there are quite a few characters in these pages from in and around Bishops Yard, which I did find surprising at first, but each and every one has a part to play in how the story, and its closely guarded secrets, unfurl and they are used very effectively to layer the themes examined. It is the relationships between the different generations of women here that conjures up literary magic, almost like weaving a spell among a coven of witches, and as the story moves back and forth between them all the plot thickens like pitch - and is just as black at heart!
I love the idea that the ordinary objects people use to make them feel secure, or as totems for good luck or deep yearning, become imbued with a kind of mystic power that can stand the test of time, and Mason carries this idea right through the story, contrasting how such items can become a form of protection and a source of dark magic. It's really rather clever.
This is one of those creepy tales that grabs you at the first page and holds you spellbound until every little twist and turn has played out. It's a highly entertaining mix of classic horror and bang up-to-date spine-chiller that begs to be consumed in one delectable sitting, making it a perfect Halloween read - daytime reading recommended!