The House in the Water The BRAND NEW enchanting historical story of secrets and love from Victoria Darke for 2024 by Victoria Darke

 This was beautifully written but I didn’t realise that it was a Gothic novel! I found it extremely creepy and dark. One reviewer called it ‘unsettling’ and that’s the right word.

It involves a time-slip story. Meredith, recovering from the death of her parents and several miscarriages, finally buys the house that she has always dreamed, May Day House. It is a very dilipaditated mansion in the middle of an island in the Thames. The house is quite creepy and Meredith starts to think that she is going mad when she sees ghosts and hears voices. Her pilot husband Phillip has his own mysterious past to deal with and is not much help. Also, he begins acting oddly.

A diary of a nurse Ellen who worked at May Day House when it was a convelescent home for soldiers in the war intrigues Meredith who starts reading it. This is another dark tale. Ellen falls in love with Harry, a patient, but when she finds out about the horrific psychiatric treatments that are carried out in the hospital, she attempts to save him…

Apparently, Victoria Darke writes uplifting novels under another name. They are probably more my scene at the moment, although this one was hard to out down.

I received this free ebook from NetGalley in return for an honest review.