About the Book
You’ll be the woman of this house, next, miss. And you’ll like it.’
1947
Governess Alice Miller loves Winterbourne the moment she sees it. Towering over the Cornish cliffs, its dark corners and tall turrets promise that, if Alice can hide from her ghosts anywhere, it’s here.
And who better to play hide and seek with than twins Constance and Edmund? Angelic and motherless, they are perfect little companions.
2018
Adopted at birth, Rachel’s roots are a mystery. So, when a letter brings news of the death of an unknown relative, Constance de Grey, Rachel travels to Cornwall, vowing to uncover her past.
With each new arrival, something in Winterbourne stirs. It’s hiding in the paintings. It’s sitting on the stairs.
It’s waiting in a mirror, behind a locked door.
My Review
I do enjoy a bit of gothic fiction and The Woman In The Mirror ticked all the boxes with it also being a dual time frame novel.
Apart from the prologue all the of the novel takes place in either 1947 or 2018. Both women, whose connection is initially unclear both have had to rebuild their lives after suffering a devastating loss. That is their only similarity though, Rachel is much more independent than Alice and a lot more likeable.
Whilst Alice did suffer from the events that occurred at Winterbourne I found her to be frightening in her own way. I did understand the reasons why she was like she was, loneliness and the sense of going through life unloved, but I found her quite possessive. Especially with her relationship with the children who she didn’t really know.
The twins reminded me of the children in The Turning of The Screw by Henry James and whilst they did feature quite a lot I would have liked to see more of them and to know more about what happened in the intervening years. But this did not stop me enjoying the novel, I just wanted to enjoy more spookiness.
I loved the descriptions, both of the house and the area and also London during the blitz. The author did brilliant job of showing the view through the eyes of somebody who had to work there at the time.
I would love to read more books like this, its something I only read occasionally but I always enjoy it when I do.
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