Conceived as the prequel to The Turn of the Screw by Henry James, Fyneshade is an interesting hybrid of Victorian Gothic and Fantasy. But whereas TTotS is a masterwork of ambiguity, in which generations of readers have debated to what extent the narrator is reliable, and whether there are ghosts or not, Fyneshade embraces certainty. We know from the start that the governess is a bad 'un who can do haematomancy and make poisonous potions. As for the wicked heir to the estate, a stud straight from regency bonkbusters, from his first appearance I was in no doubt that he would double-cross her.
If you like a straightforward story with secret passages, a child with special needs, the hint of ghosts and some tasteful sex, this might be the book for you. But I like three-dimensional characters in whom I can believe and, for me,he only character who had the least degree of complexity was the housekeeper.
Some great descriptions.
Selected quotes:
- “Occasionally, when we juddered over a furrow in the road, the trunk bumped hard against the wood behind my head. My old life knocking.” (Ch 2)
- “Snow had fallen throughout the night. Flurries still danced in the air like feathers plucked from a goose.” (Ch 5)
- “Snow continued to fall throughout my first week at Fyneshade. Sometimes it came in blizzards that blanked the view from the windows and stained the daylight green; at other times tiny flakes fluttered and danced beyond the glass. When the snow came lightly, the pale landscape sharpened to something resembling an engraving.” (Ch 7)
- “The nursemaid was almost mute in my company but she tumbled like a fountain when it came to discussing her charge with the housekeeper.” (Ch 10)
- “Rain tapped on the glass like the fingers of an exasperated schoolmaster.” (Ch 16)
December 2025; 363 pages
First published in 2023 by Viper
My paperback edition issued in 2024
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