Happy publication day to ‘The Secrets of Matterdale Hall’ by Marianne Ratcliffe!
Thanks to Bellows Press for my copy for review. As always, opinions are entirely my own.
Regular visitors to my blog will know that I’m a sucker for a historical story – even more so if it can include a Victorian setting, a strong female lead and some seriously gothic vibes… consider me pleased all round here!
The narrative centres on Susan Mottram, a young woman thrown into poverty upon the death of her father and forced to find a way to support her family. The answer comes in the shape of a teaching post in a remote boarding school in Yorkshire – the imposing Matterdale Hall which is run by Dr and Mrs Claybourn. Susan soon finds herself at odds with her employers who expect her to uphold their rather draconian ideas on discipline. She also starts to ask some dangerous questions. What is Dr Claybourn doing with his psychiatric patients? What happened to Kitty, the previous teacher? And what terrible secrets lie within the walls of Matterdale Hall?
I loved the setting of this book – there is something truly sinister about a remote house on the Yorkshire moors, especially when you factor in the added dangers of winter snow. The hall itself was beautifully described, giving a sense of the discomfort and bleakness of Susan’s life at the school. The way that a lot of the story happened over the Christmas period also added real historical depth with the contrasts between the frugal and austere way of marking the festive season at Matterdale compared to the joyous Christmas at a neighbouring estate.
The fact that – against all the darkness – there is a love story is also hugely appealing. As a perfect counterbalance for the grimness of Susan’s time at the school, there is a burgeoning relationship with the beautiful and mysterious Cassandra. I don’t want to give spoilers, but I loved the fact that Susan’s drive to help a pupil starts to bring the two women together. The correspondence and meetings between them are subtly developed as the book progresses and it would be a hard-hearted reader who fails to be charmed by it.
Susan herself is a strong and likeable character. She acts nobly in aiding her pupils and treating them with kindness and compassion when others don’t, plus the way she sends her wages home to her family. However, she is far from being too-good-to-be-true, as is evident in her uncertainty and naivety in her feelings towards Cassandra which result in unintentional cruelties and misunderstandings. All very relatable and realistic!
There are some really gorgeous touches in the book that really stand out – in particular, I enjoyed the humour of the descriptions of Dr Claybourn’s rather outre waistcoats, the development in the character of Mary and the growing sense of unease conveyed as the secrets at the Hall surface. Some of the revelations are truly shocking and made for a particularly compelling second half of the novel.
In essence, this is a lively and well-told story. It has convincing period detail, well-rounded characters and an interesting setting – plus a heartwarming story at the core of the novel that thankfully softens some of the chilliness of the other story elements!
If you’d like to buy a copy of this book (out today as an ebook, at the end of the month for the paperback), please use my affiliate link below – thanks for supporting my blog with any purchases.
Header photo by Andy Carne on Unsplash
Great review, Kate! I’m also a sucker for historical stories and this one sounds very intriguing. I also really like the sound of the love story that’s included. Thanks for sharing!