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The Crow Garden
The Crow Garden | Alison Littlewood
4 posts | 4 read | 6 to read
Susan Hill meets Wilkie Collins in Alison Littlewood's latest chiller. Mad-doctor Nathaniel is obsessed with the beautiful Mrs Harleston - but is she truly delusional? Or is she hiding secrets that should never be uncovered . . . ? Haunted by his father's suicide, Nathaniel Kerner walks away from the highly prestigious life of a consultant to become a mad-doctor. He takes up a position at Crakethorne Asylum, but the proprietor is more interested in phrenology and his growing collection of skulls than the patients' minds. Nathaniel's only interesting case is Mrs Victoria Adelina - Vita - Harleston: her husband accuses her of hysteria and delusions - but she accuses him of hiding secrets far more terrible. Nathaniel is increasingly obsessed with Vita, but when he has her mesmerised, there are unexpected results. Vita starts hearing voices, the way she used to - her grandmother always claimed they came from beyond the grave - but it also unleashes her own powers of mesmerism . . . and a desperate need to escape. Increasingly besotted, Nathaniel finds himself caught up in a world of sances and stage mesmerism in his bid to find Vita and save her. But constantly hanging over him is this warning: that doctors are apt to catch the diseases with which they are surrounded - whether of the body or the mind . . . '[An] enjoyable excursion . . . gripping' The Sunday Times
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review
Emma_PK
The Crow Garden | Alison Littlewood
Mehso-so

This started off so well, a realy atmospheric setting and sense of Victorian Gothic tension with a mysterious asylum and enigmatic characters. It tracks the main characters descent into madness but feels a bit unresolved in places and felt it should have been twice as long in order to follow through on so many other interesting aspects that piqued my interest but fizzled out.

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OutsmartYourShelf
The Crow Garden | Alison Littlewood
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Panpan

I'm still not sure what I just read. The first 1/2 was shaping up to be an interesting gothic historical fiction with some supernatural elements, but it all went pear-shaped. The MC spent most of his time mooning around after Mrs Harleston, & interesting aspects, such as the murder Mrs Harleston accused her husband of, ultimately went nowhere, & led to the strangest conclusion I have ever read. It is a shame as it could have been so good. 1⭐

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Hufflepuffle
The Crow Garden | Alison Littlewood
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Bailedbailed

I got just over half way and had no motivation to continue. I couldn‘t get over the whole “she‘s so beautiful but she‘s a lunatic” thing and the continued reminder that the main female character belongs to everyone but herself. I love books set in this time so I get that was how society worked but this book just didn‘t do it for me.

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quietlycuriouskate
The Crow Garden | Alison Littlewood
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Mehso-so

There's something about October weather that brings on a hankering for Victorian gothic! This has been compared to "The Woman in White" but reminded me more of du Maurier's "My Cousin Rachel". The setting and atmosphere are great, allowing the intriguing beginning to draw me in. Unfortunately, several interesting storylines were introduced but not developed and the main plot took a turn which, by the end, was a bit silly. Starts well: ends meh. 3*