Aileen Armitage

This books blurb lied to me.

Its the victorian era Amity Lucas has arrived in Yorkshire to take up her post as a companion to Regina Mallory.As she is trudging up to the house a man on horseback nearly rides her down (JANE EYRE!!!) and acts very rude blaming her for the near accident.When he hears shes to become companion to the lady at Mallory Keep he gets even angrier and gallops off.

Amity continues to the keep where she meets her employer who is surprisingly a Young lady but with a disfiguring scar across her face.She also learns that the man on horseback was Damian Mallory,her employers brother and master of Mallory Keep.

Master in name only as he suffered a tragic love affair and distraught over this prefers to wander the moors for days at a time.So its left to his sister to handle the actual estate matters. Its best to keep out of Damians way really.

Immedietaly after her arrival she starts to notice that mysterious things are going on.

Why are the maid and one of the stable grooms whispering in corners and going off mysteriously at times? And furthermore who is or was Rachel and whats the deal with the awful black cat Amity keeps seeing?

This has all the hallmarks of a gothic.Family haunted by a curse? check.Dark brooding guy? check,secrets and moors check.

But the trouble is that it has so many of the gothic tropes it gets quite ridicilous and its highlighted when Amity meets the local vicar and he starts babbling on about all the totally HORRIBLE and CURSED events and places in the neighbourhood.Amity barely bats an eyelid at this and thats one of the problems with her character.

She is to Placid,too lifeless.She just drifts along and for a companion does very little companioning (well its a good excuse for an author to Place their heroine on a moor in a damp keep) But despite this we are supposed to Believe she and Regina have gotten SO CLOSE. Just felt like lazy writing

But as I said Before the blurb is so so misleading and intentionally so because even though much is made of heroine and the "demonic" master of the keep (Damian)...they dont fall in love. Instead heroine starts to fall for some super bland guy who appears claiming to be a relative of the Mallorys.Mind you Regina tries to hook up Amity and her brother by insisting they get married so Amity can save Damian from his own demons.Turns out he was a catholic priest who got seduced by the Beautiful but bad Rachel leading to him despising himself and her getting pregnant and dying in childbirth.Wich didnt help his mental wellbeing so much.Then at the end of the book Damian has a hissy fit and starts a fire wich leads his death

I have to admit to skimming a lot of it.… (lisätietoja)