The Manor House Governess: A Novel

by C. A. Castle

Overview

With a genderfluid protagonist and 21st-century twist, this spirited debut pays homage to the British classics while joyfully centering an LGBTQ+ point of view, perfect for fans of Emily M. Danforth.

This charming, immersive read “reminds all queer people, now more than ever, we deserve to take up space and matter” (Kosoko Jackson).

Orphaned young and raised with chilly indifference at an all-boys boarding school, Brontë Ellis has grown up stifled by rigid rules and social “norms,” forbidden from expressing his gender identity. His beloved novels and period films lend an escape, until a position as a live-in tutor provides him with a chance to leave St. Mary’s behind.

Greenwood Manor is the kind of elegant country house Bron has only read about, and amid lavish parties and cricket matches, the Edwards family welcomes him into the household with true warmth. Mr. Edwards and the young Ada, Bron’s pupil, accept without question that Bron’s gender presentation is not traditionally masculine. Only Darcy, the eldest son, seems uncomfortable with Bron—the two of them couldn’t be more opposite.

When a tragic fire blazes through the estate’s idyllic peace, Bron begins to sense dark secrets smoldering beneath Greenwood Manor’s surface. Channeling the heroines of his cherished paperbacks, he begins to sift through the wreckage. Soon, he’s not sure what to believe, especially with his increasing attraction to Darcy clouding his vision.

Drawing energy and inspiration from Charlotte Brontë, Jane Austen, E.M. Forster, and more while bowing to popular fiction such as Plain Bad Heroines, The Manor House Governess is destined to become a modern classic.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781639105601
Publisher:	CROOKED LANE BOOKS
Publication date:	11/07/2023
Pages:	336
Product dimensions:	9.30(w) x 6.00(h) x 0.70(d)

About the Author

C. A. Castle is a writer and editor. He holds a BA in English language and literature from King’s College, London, and an MPhil from the University of Cambridge, where he focused on nineteenth- and twentieth-century literature, period adaptations, and queer studies. He is also a picture book author as well as an anthologist, where he contrasts the old with the new with a view to capturing the zeitgeist. He currently resides in Cambridgeshire.

Editorial Reviews

09/25/2023

Castle’s atmospheric if undercooked debut is a modern retelling of Jane Eyre and Pride and Prejudice with a sprinkle of Agatha Christie. Brontë “Bron” Ellis, 22, takes a governess job at Greenwood Manor in Cambridgeshire. An orphan, he was raised at an all-boys boarding school where his androgynous appearance made him a target for his peers’ taunts (“it was his femininity they reviled—that is, when they weren’t trying to court or coerce him into playing the girl’s part in their nighttime rendezvous, because they always called him pretty in the dark”). The Edwards family welcomes him with warmth and gives him the home he’d always longed for. Bron comes to love his pupil, Ada, as a sister and is drawn to her 29-year-old brother, Darcy, whose aloof personality is similar to his literary namesake. A fire in the family’s library, a mystery surrounding the identity of Ada’s biological parents, and an intriguing backstory involving Darcy’s romance with a university colleague make Bron feel like he’s inhabiting one of the Victorian tales he loves. Though the romance feels rushed and the discussions about gender between the protagonist and Darcy lack nuance, the prose richly conveys Bron’s obsession with the 19th century. This will appeal to dark academia fans. Agent: Caroline Eisenmann, Frances Goldin Literary Agency. (Nov.)

Publishers Weekly

Praise for The Manor House Governess:
“Atmospheric . . . the prose richly conveys Bron’s obsession with the 19th century. This will appeal to dark academia fans.”
—Publishers Weekly

“A compelling queer protagonist and a deftly crafted throwback to Victorian and Regency novels . . . [A] marvelous book.”
—Booklist, starred review, an Editor’s Choice for 2023: Adult Books for Young Adults

“A queer, atmospheric reimagining of the classic English gothic novel, paying homage to writers like E M Forster and Charlotte Brontë while also bringing a modern sensibility and contemporary spin. In turns spooky, funny, and romantic, C. A. Castle's debut novel is sure to be a hit.”
—Mackenzi Lee, author of Stonewall Honor book and New York Times bestseller The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue

“Brimming with lush prose and multi-dimensional characters, The Manor House Governess is a reimagining unlike any other. A modern classic about identity, love, and boldly walking one’s own path.”
—Ashley Herring Blake, author of Delilah Green Doesn't Care

“The Manor House Governess weaves past and present together to create a queer story of love and intrigue that feels thrillingly new and boldly relevant.”
—Abdi Nazemian, author of Stonewall Honor book Like a Love Story

“Thought provoking, atmospheric and introspective . . . Not only demands a space in the classics hall of fame, but reminds all queer people, now more than ever, we deserve to take up space and matter. A must read.”
—Kosoko Jackson, author of Lambda Literary Award finalist I'm So Not Over You

“Earnest, sweet, and delightfully queer. The perfect love letter to Brontë's legacy.”
—Mason Deaver, award-winning author of I Wish You All the Best

“Atmospheric and emotional . . . At once timeless and totally modern. This slow-burner will keep you guessing until the final pages. An assured debut.”
—Justin Myers, author of The Last Romeo

“Fun, fresh and clever. A fantastic coming of age story, and a huge treat for all fans of Jane Eyre.”
—Katie Lumsden, author of The Secrets of Hartwood Hall

“A sublime and tenderly-written novel that is at once an interrogation of and love letter to the literary classics.”
—Bea Fitzgerald, author of Girl, Goddess, Queen

“A brilliantly queer take on the Victorian governess archetype. Conceptually clever & beautifully written.”
—Emma Carroll, author of The Tale of Truthwater Lake

“C. A. Castle delicately and astutely reinvents the romance that queer & trans readers need, slaying self-doubt and refusing tragic tropes.”
—So Mayer, author of Truth & Dare

“Tender, beautiful and bold. Brilliant queer anachronism and deep longing blended with Castle’s prose and storytelling prowess makes for a very special novel.”
—Lizzie Huxley-Jones, author of Make You Mine this Christmas

From the Publisher

Cloud Quinn gives a beguiling performance of this queer and atmospheric ode to Jane Austen. Bron is queer, gender fluid, lonely, and obsessed with Austen, Brontë, and other nineteenth-century British authors. After he's rejected from Oxford, he takes a job as a governess for Ada, a spirited girl who lives in a massive manor house. Soon he's knee deep in the family's secrets and caught up in the orbit of Ada's mysterious older brother, Darcy. Quinn's narration is expressive and wonderfully wide ranging. He voices Bron with a mix of breathy excitement, languid reflection, huffy indignation, and dramatic flair. He easily slips into the voices of Bron's young pupil, her gruff but kind father, and the prim but alluring Darcy. A lively, suspenseful production. L.S. © AudioFile 2023, Portland, Maine

DECEMBER 2023 - AudioFile

2023-08-26
A genderfluid governess becomes embroiled in a family’s troubled past in this debut novel.

Bron, who uses he/him pronouns and experiments with his gender representation by dressing in romantic vintage fashions, is fixated on Victorian literature, particularly the works of Jane Austen and the Brontës, taking as his name Brontë Ellis in a nod to sister Emily. When he's offered a position as governess to a 9-year-old girl, Ada, in Cambridgeshire at the aristocratic-sounding Greenwood Manor, he jumps at the chance to make his fantasies of living in the stories he loves a reality. While the manor itself is as grand as he could imagine and his boss, Mr. Edwards, is welcoming and accepting of Bron’s identity, a sense of unease prevails. Ada is oddly precocious and her standoffish older brother, Darcy, at times seems to enjoy needling Bron about the way he dresses. Despite this, Bron finds himself drawn to Darcy, who seems to reciprocate the feelings, particularly after he tells Bron that he's gay. When a fire breaks out unexpectedly in the manor’s library, family secrets begin to come to the surface, including Mr. Edwards’ difficulties accepting his son’s sexuality with the grace and open-mindedness he has shown Bron. As Bron learns more about the family he lives with and works for, it becomes clear that not everyone is who they claim. Castle is clearly a scholar of English literature, borrowing themes and motifs from campus novels, aristocratic satires, romantic novels like Pride and Prejudice, and gothic works like Jane Eyre. But the novel is too intent on making those connections clear; Castle telegraphs them with prolonged conversations on literature and Bron’s own realizations of connections both large and small to fictional works, failing to meet the seeming goal of creating a queer addition to any of the genres the book focuses on. The modern timeframe is also a stumbling point; the Brideshead-esque setting and the eccentricities of the Edwards family are anachronistic and sudden mentions of Facebook are jarring.

Doesn’t quite rise to the legacy it aspires to.

Kirkus Reviews