"Orphan Edward Cayley is sent to spend the summer with his forbidding Aunt Kestrel at Iyot House, her decaying home deep in the damp, lonely fens. With him is his spoilt, spiteful cousin, Leonora. And when Leonora's birthday wish for a beautiful doll is thwarted, she unleashes a furious rage which haunts her quiet, subdued cousin for years afterwards. Much later, and now each other's only surviving relative, the cousins return to Iyot House. And it becomes horribly apparent that Leonora's act of violence has had dark and sinister consequences that they can neither anticipate nor escape."
I was given this book a couple of Christmases ago by my Grandpa and his wife, who both know a lot about English literature - my Grandpa being a teacher/examiner and Cheryl being a librarian. In fact, they bought me almost the entire Susan Hill collection, which I am immensely grateful for; not to mention that they all have such beautiful covers, especially Dolly. In case you don't know, Susan Hill also wrote The Woman In Black, which is probably why you're wondering where you've heard the name from.
~I'm going to be very unapologetic about spoilers in this review because I would love to discuss different parts of the plot which I cannot do without revealing something so if you don't want to know, please stop reading now.~ Hill has an absolutely genius mind. I wouldn't say that I was particularly terrified by this book, although it was atmospheric and sort of freaky. The settings of Iyot House and, even more so, the church cemetery nearby were of course, extremely creepy and very reminiscent of the Eel Marsh House setting in The Woman In Black. The character of Leonora scared me half to death at first while I got used to her, and I didn't particularly like Ms Mullen, though I don't think you're supposed to.
The background information you're not given in the blurb is that Edward's mother (Dora) and Leonora's mother (Violet) who were Kestrel's much younger sisters, grew to hate each other. They looked very different, with Violet being the much prettier one, although Dora had a nicer personality. The two youngest sisters led very different lives, with Violet moving around from country to country, marrying then re-marrying, living a life of luxury, while Dora stayed in Britain, marrying only once. They both had their children towards the end of their lives. From the start, there is never much hope for Edward and Violet seeing as hate is in their blood. Edward and Kestrel try their hardest to put up with Leonora, although in the end she is too much like her mother. (INTERJECTION! Not only is Leonora much like her mother, but Edward is much like his mother too. The lives they lead and the choices they make are parallel to their mothers' choices - which is something I was very interested in. It gives the story deeper roots. But more on that further down.)
The 'ghost' story begins when Leonora rejects the doll her Aunt Kestrel bought for her ninth birthday, and the doll's skull shatters across the floor. The doll is beyond repair, so Edward, after he thinks he hears it crying in its box, buries it in the graveyard hoping it will find peace - only for fate to bring the doll back many years later. When Aunt Kestrel dies, she demands that the doll be found and given back to Leonora, so that she may learn some manners and graciousness. However, when Edward digs the doll up forty years after it was buried, it shows signs of having aged like a human; wrinkles, a bald head, sunken eyes. The story doesn't end there. It soon becomes evident that Leonora's young daughter, Frederica, is suffering from an unknown 'disease', which ages her quickly - gives her a bald head and sunken eyes - just like the doll... and when Edward's daughter suffers the same fate, it is clear that the cousins are being punished for that fateful day in Iyot House when Leonora broke it.
Although it's described as a ghost story, I would argue against it. Contrary to my expectations, there were no ghostly apparitions in this book. The only source of the paranormal aspect was the doll, who did not set out to frighten or harm Edward or Leonora. The doll was not a ghost. I'd rather it had been given a different title, say, "Dolly: A Horror Story", just so it does what it says it does on the tin. It was an easy read, not hard to follow or fathom, but I did expect more from this plot. That said, I can't wait to move onto my other Susan Hill books.
Similarities between Edward/Leonora and their mothers:
1) Leonora is extremely beautiful, and lives a nomadic life of luxury
2) Edward is average-looking, like Dora, with a nice personality
3) Leonora gets divorced and marries several times
4) Edward marries only once
5) They both only have one child, at a relatively late age
Rating: ★★☆☆☆
ISBN: 978-1846685743
Thanks for reading! Here's the link to my Goodreads page if you'd like to keep up with what I'm reading: www.goodreads.com/meaghanbethany
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