APRIL 2020 - AudioFile
Narrator Sarah Lambie does double duty in alternating chapters as Hetty, an associate at a natural history museum, and Lucy, the terrified daughter of Major Lockwood of Lockwood Manor. It’s WWII, and London is being bombed, so Lockwood offers his country estate to house the museum’s collection of mammals. Hetty is sent to live at the manor and watch over the collection. As Hetty, Lambie sounds organized and matter-of-fact, very much the cool, determined professional woman in a male-dominated workplace. As Lucy, Lambie uses an ethereal tone, particularly as Lucy reveals monstrous truths. In this modern gothic, animals disappear, chilling screams pierce the night, and tales of abuse and madness abound. An appropriately horrific conclusion is worthy of the genre’s best storytellers. Lambie makes it all exceptional listening. S.J.H. © AudioFile 2020, Portland, Maine
From the Publisher
A 2020 Most Anticipated, Angela Lashbrook for Medium A March Indie Next Pick “Comparisons between Jane Healey’s debut and Sarah Perry’s The Essex Serpent are accurate, as THE ANIMALS AT LOCKWOOD MANORfits beautifully into the category of gothic fiction...a strong debut, full of creepy cliffhangers, lovely descriptions and a believably inelegant heroine.”—BookPage “Alternating chapters told from Lucy’s point of view supply the backstory of this gothic tale of hauntings, secrets, and madness—a creative device that adds tension and suspense. Atmospheric details of the manor make it a central character. VERDICT Recommended for fans of Lauren A. Forry, Sarah Perry, and gothic suspense.”—Library Journal “[Healey's] gothic novel ticks the most important box: eerie atmosphere...excels at creating disquiet through descriptions of crushed feathers, disintegrating fur, teeth shining in the half-light, and the living creatures that prey upon the texidermied animals...will offer a satisfying scratch for those with an itch for a gothic read.”—Booklist “...satisfying conclusion...this will be of interest for fans of revisionist gothic narratives.”—Publishers Weekly “Healey looks back fondly at the tradition of spooky English country-house fiction while adding a few twists of her own...history and mystery to spare.”—Kirkus “Jane Healey has created an eerie puzzle box of a book and a gothic in the tradition’s best sense. A fading great house filled with taxidermy is the perfect backdrop for Healey’s facile atmospheric prose, which brings to mind both Sarah Waters and Sarah Perry. Tense, broody, romantic and subversive, The Animals of Lockwood Manor is a deeply consuming read and a fantastic novel to get lost in.” –Erika Swyler, author of The Book of Speculation and Light from Other Stars —
APRIL 2020 - AudioFile
Narrator Sarah Lambie does double duty in alternating chapters as Hetty, an associate at a natural history museum, and Lucy, the terrified daughter of Major Lockwood of Lockwood Manor. It’s WWII, and London is being bombed, so Lockwood offers his country estate to house the museum’s collection of mammals. Hetty is sent to live at the manor and watch over the collection. As Hetty, Lambie sounds organized and matter-of-fact, very much the cool, determined professional woman in a male-dominated workplace. As Lucy, Lambie uses an ethereal tone, particularly as Lucy reveals monstrous truths. In this modern gothic, animals disappear, chilling screams pierce the night, and tales of abuse and madness abound. An appropriately horrific conclusion is worthy of the genre’s best storytellers. Lambie makes it all exceptional listening. S.J.H. © AudioFile 2020, Portland, Maine
