THE WITCH OF WILLOW HALL
Hester Fox
Graydon House
October 2, 2018
It's 1812 in Massachusetts and the wealthy Montrose family, mother, father and daughters, Catherine, Lydia, and Emmeline have fled Boston pursued by scandal. The son of the house, Charles, has also fled to London. Catherine is the beautiful, volatile eldest daughter, Lydia the mousey, quiet middle daughter and Emmeline the imaginative youngest. Willow Hall is newly constructed and palatial but from the beginning seems unwelcoming, and even threatening to the family. Even worse, it seems to be amplifying certain powers that Lydia has been trying to suppress all her life. When spirits start to manifest, one an ancestor who was hung as a witch during the Witch Trials of the previous century, Lydia begins to understand that she must explore her heritage to save herself and her family.
Lydia is immediately drawn to her father's upright new business partner, John Barrett, and despite his reticence, he appears interested in her as well. She has always considered herself to be much less attractive than her flamboyant sister, Catherine. The fact that her fiance broke off their engagement when the scandal broke has not helped. Catherine is the source of the embarrassment that hounds them but seems to be determined to find a husband and get away as soon as possible. To that end, she will do anything, even undermine Lydia. Their father is distant, their mother is fading away slowly, so it is up to Lydia to raise and educate Emmeline. It will take a series of tragedies to bring some peace to the Montrose family.
The Witch of Willow Hall is a mixture of genres; gothic, ghost, paranormal, mystery, romance, and family history. It begins with an episode in Lydia's childhood that immediately engaged my interest and continues with enough twists and turns to make one's head spin. Hester Fox draws out the revelation of the scandal that caused the Montrose family to uproot themselves masterfully. When it finally is revealed, it is quite a shocker, unless one has been taking in just how destructive Catherine is. I am afraid that I found all the twists annoying after a while and just wanted to get on with it. My interest held, however.
Thanks to Graydon House and NetGalley for an advance digital copy. The opinions are my own.
RATING- 3 Stars
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