The Animals at Lockwood Manor
Author: Jane Healey
Published by: Mantle
Pages: 340
Format: Hardback
My Rating ★★★★
Published by: Mantle
Pages: 340
Format: Hardback
My Rating ★★★★
August 1939. Thirty-year-old Hetty Cartwright is tasked with the evacuation and safekeeping of the natural history museum’s collection of mammals. Once she and her exhibits arrive at Lockwood Manor, however, where they are to stay for the duration of the war, Hetty soon realizes that she’s taken on more than she’d bargained for.
Protecting her charges from the irascible Lord Lockwood and resentful servants is work enough, but when some of the animals go missing (and worse) Hetty begins to suspect someone – or something – is stalking her through the darkened corridors of the house.
As the disasters mount, Hetty finds herself falling under the spell of Lucy, Lord Lockwood’s beautiful but clearly haunted daughter.
But why is Lucy so traumatized? Does she know something she’s not telling? And is there any truth to local rumours of ghosts and curses?
Protecting her charges from the irascible Lord Lockwood and resentful servants is work enough, but when some of the animals go missing (and worse) Hetty begins to suspect someone – or something – is stalking her through the darkened corridors of the house.
As the disasters mount, Hetty finds herself falling under the spell of Lucy, Lord Lockwood’s beautiful but clearly haunted daughter.
But why is Lucy so traumatized? Does she know something she’s not telling? And is there any truth to local rumours of ghosts and curses?
My thoughts:
Part love story, part mystery, The Animals at Lockwood Manor by Jane Healey is a gripping and atmospheric tale of family madness, long-buried secrets and hidden desires.
Jane Healey writes a dark, disturbing and slow moving gothic mystery with echoes of a number of classic novels, set amidst the background of World War 2, the decline of the aristocracy and the social norms, attitudes and expectations of women in this period.
Hetty is sent from London to watch over the animals, which have been moved from the museum to Lockwood Manor for the duration of the war, so that they might have a better chance of survival.
Hetty and the animals move into the manor and almost immediately strange things begin happening. First, the jaguar vanishes. Then, animals seem to move to new locations throughout the night. Rumours of the manor being haunted are whispered amongst the servants. Details of Mrs. Lockwood’s madness and Lucy’s night terrors and nervous personality come to light. Overwhelmed by the amount of work, isolation, and never-ending damage to the animals she must try to mitigate, Hetty wonders if the house is making her mad too.
The manor’s lord is a menacing sort of fellow, and strange things are occurring - animals are moving about or being misplaced, and there are rumours of a ghost being seen in corridors.
Feeling isolated and out of place, Hetty focuses her efforts on protecting the museum’s specimens, while slowly becoming closer to the lord’s daughter, Lucy.
She finds her task significantly more challenging than she expects in the face of the hostility and resentment she faces. The widower Lord Lockwood is an extremely difficult and menacing presence but Hetty feels a kinship with his daughter. Lucy is an anxious, fragile and haunted woman, plagued by grief, fears, dreams and nightmares.
Within the unsettling and creepily atmospheric narrative, the manor is a character in its own right, where strange and mysterious things commonly occur, the animal exhibits move and disappear. There are strong hints of a malevolent presence, and rumours of ghosts and curses linger in the air.
The story gets off to a great start, and becomes eerie almost immediately, but for me it did slow a little around the halfway point with not a huge amount of plot development for a while.
The tension felt steady when I wanted it to continue to increase, and I felt that there were a lot of secrets that weren’t quite utilised to their full potential. I enjoyed the second half and found it such an addictive read but felt slightly disappointed when there was no real exploration of the earlier dark and menacing themes that had been hinted at in the first half. The author surprised me in choosing to flick the focus of the story back to the developing relationship between the two women instead. I would have liked to see more time taken to elaborate on all the creepy occurrences. Despite this, the love story aspect of the novel was intriguing and emotional, allowing more insight into both the leading ladies and their different lifestyles.
Overall, I found The Animals at Lockwood Manor a thoroughly enjoyable, thought-provoking and entertaining read. It is a fascinating story full of family secrets, an unexpected love, loss, mental health, madness, sexuality and abuse.
Healey expertly builds up a claustrophobic, spooky and oppressive feel to her multi-layered storytelling. I felt the ending was a perhaps little anti-climactic. It is, however, beautifully written with a real Gothic horror feel to it. I enjoyed it very much.
Overall reaction:
Part love story, part mystery, The Animals at Lockwood Manor by Jane Healey is a gripping and atmospheric tale of family madness, long-buried secrets and hidden desires.
Jane Healey writes a dark, disturbing and slow moving gothic mystery with echoes of a number of classic novels, set amidst the background of World War 2, the decline of the aristocracy and the social norms, attitudes and expectations of women in this period.
Hetty is sent from London to watch over the animals, which have been moved from the museum to Lockwood Manor for the duration of the war, so that they might have a better chance of survival.
Hetty and the animals move into the manor and almost immediately strange things begin happening. First, the jaguar vanishes. Then, animals seem to move to new locations throughout the night. Rumours of the manor being haunted are whispered amongst the servants. Details of Mrs. Lockwood’s madness and Lucy’s night terrors and nervous personality come to light. Overwhelmed by the amount of work, isolation, and never-ending damage to the animals she must try to mitigate, Hetty wonders if the house is making her mad too.
The manor’s lord is a menacing sort of fellow, and strange things are occurring - animals are moving about or being misplaced, and there are rumours of a ghost being seen in corridors.
Feeling isolated and out of place, Hetty focuses her efforts on protecting the museum’s specimens, while slowly becoming closer to the lord’s daughter, Lucy.
She finds her task significantly more challenging than she expects in the face of the hostility and resentment she faces. The widower Lord Lockwood is an extremely difficult and menacing presence but Hetty feels a kinship with his daughter. Lucy is an anxious, fragile and haunted woman, plagued by grief, fears, dreams and nightmares.
Within the unsettling and creepily atmospheric narrative, the manor is a character in its own right, where strange and mysterious things commonly occur, the animal exhibits move and disappear. There are strong hints of a malevolent presence, and rumours of ghosts and curses linger in the air.
The story gets off to a great start, and becomes eerie almost immediately, but for me it did slow a little around the halfway point with not a huge amount of plot development for a while.
The tension felt steady when I wanted it to continue to increase, and I felt that there were a lot of secrets that weren’t quite utilised to their full potential. I enjoyed the second half and found it such an addictive read but felt slightly disappointed when there was no real exploration of the earlier dark and menacing themes that had been hinted at in the first half. The author surprised me in choosing to flick the focus of the story back to the developing relationship between the two women instead. I would have liked to see more time taken to elaborate on all the creepy occurrences. Despite this, the love story aspect of the novel was intriguing and emotional, allowing more insight into both the leading ladies and their different lifestyles.
Overall, I found The Animals at Lockwood Manor a thoroughly enjoyable, thought-provoking and entertaining read. It is a fascinating story full of family secrets, an unexpected love, loss, mental health, madness, sexuality and abuse.
Healey expertly builds up a claustrophobic, spooky and oppressive feel to her multi-layered storytelling. I felt the ending was a perhaps little anti-climactic. It is, however, beautifully written with a real Gothic horror feel to it. I enjoyed it very much.
Overall reaction:
