What do you think?
Rate this book
Nell West/Michael Flint #4
The Whispering
Fosse House, home of the reclusive Luisa Gilmore, harbours curious secrets - secrets that stretch back almost a century, to the ill-fated Palestrina Choir in its remote Belgian convent.
When Oxford don Michael Flint travels to the house to trace the origins of the long-dead Choir, he is at once aware of the house's eerie menace. Who is the shadowy young man who lurks in the grounds, and why does his exact likeness appear in a sketch from 1917? What is the strange whispering that echoes through the corridors? And why is Luisa so afraid when a storm makes it necessary for Michael to spend the night inside the house?
Back in Oxford, when Nell West uncovers the story of the infamous 1917 'Holzminden sketch' - the lost, legendary drawing from World War I - a dark fragment of the past begins to stir. A fragment that Michael, in the lonely old house, may not be able to resist.
When Oxford don Michael Flint travels to the house to trace the origins of the long-dead Choir, he is at once aware of the house's eerie menace. Who is the shadowy young man who lurks in the grounds, and why does his exact likeness appear in a sketch from 1917? What is the strange whispering that echoes through the corridors? And why is Luisa so afraid when a storm makes it necessary for Michael to spend the night inside the house?
Back in Oxford, when Nell West uncovers the story of the infamous 1917 'Holzminden sketch' - the lost, legendary drawing from World War I - a dark fragment of the past begins to stir. A fragment that Michael, in the lonely old house, may not be able to resist.
384 pages, Hardcover
First published May 1, 2014
17 people are currently reading
412 people want to read
About the author
Sarah Rayne
46 books306 followersAka Frances Gordon, Bridget Wood
After a convent education, which included writing plays for the Lower Third to perform, Sarah Rayne embarked on a variety of jobs, but - probably inevitably - returned again and again to writing. Her first novel appeared in 1982, and since then her books have also been published in America, Holland and Germany.
The daughter of an Irish comedy actor, she was for many years active in amateur theatre, and lists among her hobbies, theatre, history, music, and old houses - much of her inspiration comes from old buildings and their histories and atmospheres. To these interests, she adds ghosts and ghost stories, and - having grown up in the Sixties - good conversation around a well-stocked dinner table.
After a convent education, which included writing plays for the Lower Third to perform, Sarah Rayne embarked on a variety of jobs, but - probably inevitably - returned again and again to writing. Her first novel appeared in 1982, and since then her books have also been published in America, Holland and Germany.
The daughter of an Irish comedy actor, she was for many years active in amateur theatre, and lists among her hobbies, theatre, history, music, and old houses - much of her inspiration comes from old buildings and their histories and atmospheres. To these interests, she adds ghosts and ghost stories, and - having grown up in the Sixties - good conversation around a well-stocked dinner table.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 50 reviews
February 9, 2014
Academic, Dr Michael Flint, is researching the effect music had on the World War I poets for a forthcoming book. He has arranged to stay close to isolated Fosse House in the Fens to study some papers relating to the short lived Palestrina Choir. The weather and circumstances conspire to ensure that he stays at Fosse House itself with its elderly owner Luisa Gilmour who has a story to tell.
Michael starts to wonder whether there is something odd about the house when he first arrives there and it seems someone is trying to get into the house out of the wind and the rain. But is the person real, a figment of his imagination or the ghost of Stephen Gilmour who died during World War I?
This is a fascinating and spooky tale which will raise the hairs on the back of your neck. The book also includes a poignant love story which may bring tears to your eyes. I found the mixture of past and present fascinating and compelling reading. I wanted to know what the real story was behind the mysteries of Fosse House. I liked Michael Flint as a character and his partner, antique dealer, Nell West – not to speak of Wilberforce the cat who causes mayhem with his explorations.
This is a well written book with believable supernatural elements and an interesting background of World War I and the misery it caused to ordinary people. This is the first book I have read by this author and I shall certainly be reading more of her work as I enjoy the mix of past and present which she handles skilfully.
I received a free copy of this book for review purposes.
Michael starts to wonder whether there is something odd about the house when he first arrives there and it seems someone is trying to get into the house out of the wind and the rain. But is the person real, a figment of his imagination or the ghost of Stephen Gilmour who died during World War I?
This is a fascinating and spooky tale which will raise the hairs on the back of your neck. The book also includes a poignant love story which may bring tears to your eyes. I found the mixture of past and present fascinating and compelling reading. I wanted to know what the real story was behind the mysteries of Fosse House. I liked Michael Flint as a character and his partner, antique dealer, Nell West – not to speak of Wilberforce the cat who causes mayhem with his explorations.
This is a well written book with believable supernatural elements and an interesting background of World War I and the misery it caused to ordinary people. This is the first book I have read by this author and I shall certainly be reading more of her work as I enjoy the mix of past and present which she handles skilfully.
I received a free copy of this book for review purposes.
April 12, 2020
“It was a peculiar way of spending the night alone in a haunted house, but it was the precept of whatever get’s you through. Wasn’t it John Lennon who had said that?”
The book opens with two separate office memoranda: the first from the Director of Music, Oriel College, Oxford, a person identified as J.B., the second from the Oxford History Faculty’s professor Owen Bracegirdle. Both were addressed to Michael Flint, the professor of English Literature at Oxford’s language Facility.
This technique proves effective, in part because it permits the author a bit of license to “info dump,” by way of a memo format, and also because the reader is aware that they are embarking on a story of the horror genre. Opening by using what might be perceived as a “businesslike” form of communication, especially when the reader is expecting dramatic ghost stories, may be Sarah Rayne’s way of toying with her reader at the outset.
In the first missive, we understand that Flint is somewhat the celebrity, given the commercial success of his “Wilberforce” best-sellers. We also learn that he has been given an intriguing assignment, (whether or not this is due to his fame is uncertain). He’s to take a trip to a place named Fosse House, located “deep in the Fens.” One there, he’s to meet the house’s sole occupant, a seventy-year-old spinster of the eccentric and reclusive variety by the name of Luisa Gilmore.
The first memo goes on to outline the professor’s assignment, first to research the Fosse House library in order to learn more about the ill-fated convent-based Palestrina Choir that gathered at the Liege convent in Belgium of all places. The only link between the Belgium convent and the house in rural England is an ancestor of Luisa Gilmore. Apparently, this ancestor was an original member of the choir when it started in 1907. We also learn that Flint’s research efforts are part of a larger assignment focused on the effect the musical influences of the time had on the work of the “Great War Poets.” Eventually the total of the larger body of work was to be complied in a published book.
The director seems to hint that while she believes Flint’s assignment to be interesting, she’s not overly optimistic that any real progress will be made. This clue comes through most strongly by the director’s use of humor, when she playfully warns the professor to, “Try to stay clear of any peculiar happenings while your there,” while characterizing some of Flint’s past assignments as, “shenanigans.” A memo written with a healthy dose of tongue in cheek.
The second memo from Owen Bracegirdle, shorter, yet more conversational, starts with a statement that he’s assured the director that Flint’s workload is not so heavy as to disallow this excursion to Fosse House. Bracegirdle hints that he is pleased with his involvement in the project, especially as a contributor to the anticipated “Great War Poets” book. He’s also intrigued by how Flint might, “get to grips” with his reclusive, countrified host, Miss Gilmore and the general mood of “romantic tragedy” surrounding the mysterious Fosse House.
We then see Michael Flint himself, considering the two memos sitting before him on his desk. His mind turns to Luisa Gilmore, imagining her to be either a “Miss Havisham” styled eccentric or a contemporary vampiric version of Morticia Addams.
But he’s excited about the project, flattered that he was approached to contribute.
Michael does a bit of research before leaving for the Fens. The Palestrina Choir, he learned, was formed in 1900, its home an ancient Belgium monastery. The choir was formed to commemorate the start of the new century and was named after a sixteenth-century composer of sacred music.
The reference books also alluded, somewhat vaguely to a tragedy associated with the once venerated choir.
Armed with this basic set of facts, Flint sets off on his driving journey through miles of bleak, yet strangely beautiful English landscape. This was the rural England of excessive flooding, strong winds, and thickly clouded skies. A seemingly appropriate backdrop for a population of hermits and reclusive saints of this, the “Holy land of England.”
Luisa Gilmore, he reminds himself, apparently passed her entire life in this gloomy, damp rural setting. He wonders if her personality would match the characteristics of this countryside.
Somewhere along the way, Flint took a wrong turn, delaying his arrival at the pub inn he was to stay at, so he decides to proceed directly to Fosse House so that he can make a quick introduction…
This is my second Sarah Rayne “Michael Flint / Nell West” novel. The first, “Property of a Lady,” I enjoyed very much. One of the aspects of that book that intrigued me was Rayne’s description of what Michael Flint saw and felt as he approached that novel’s “manor of mystery,” Charect House of Shropshire.
It was a storytelling springboard for the rest of the story, and I’m pleased to say that the “Fosse House” version was equally excellent:
“The roads were wide and there was hardly any other traffic, and he found Fosse House without much difficulty. The sun was setting with a Turneresque rowdiness of oriflammes across the horizon, but the storm was still grumbling menacingly over the North Sea and the wind was dashing itself against the car’s sides. Michael began to wish he was back in Oxford.
But here, at last, was the gateway to the house – tall, once-white posts with a somewhat insecure wrought-iron gate. Beyond them was a fairly long drive, fringed with thick shrubbery and elderly trees. Driving cautiously and slowly, Michael could not see the house, but he could see lights shining beyond the trees – erratic glimmerings, like the mischievous beckoning of will o wisp marsh people. Or was it the corpse candles of a ghostly funeral, because if ever there was a gothic setting…?
He could not see the house, though. Was it shrouded in a mystical mist, and only permitted to make itself visible once every hundred years? Did it rise up out of the Norfolk marshes on the occasion of some macabre anniversary, to lure unwary travelers?
It was neither of those things, of course. It was invisible from the first few yards of the drive simply because the trees obscured it. Michael rounded a slight curve in the drive and there it was, coming gradually into view through the trees as they dipped and moved in the storm-wind, as if tantalizingly and deliberately revealing a piece at a time. Fosse House, making a slow, dramatic entrance through the mists. The home of the enigmatic recluse Luisa Gilmore, whose ancestor had been part of a sacred choir that had sung to its own death throes.
It was not, of course, Roderick and Madeline Usher’s mansion of gloom, but Michael thought it was not far off. It was four-square as to construction and Greystone as to fabric, and there were sprawling patches of discoloration on the walls as if some inner disease had seeped through. The windows were tall and narrow, each one surmounted with curved, thick stone lintels like frowning eyebrows. It was the most unwelcoming house Michael had ever seen, and he was guiltily relieved to think he would not be staying in this faded grandeur overnight. Dim lights showed at a couple of the windows, although they were so dim that it was remarkable, they had been visible from the drive…”
I’d set the book aside after the reading of these paragraphs as I visualized what this scene might have looked like.
At this point, I was 14 pages into a 335-page book, strongly suspecting I’d love it as much as I did “Property of a Lady.”
The U.S. Mystery Guild described Sarah Rayne as “Equal parts Daphne du Maurier, Josephine Tey and Ruth Rendell…Rayne possesses superb storytelling skills.” And she hasn’t missed a beat with “The Whispering,” a story colored with the likes of a Russian, part time journalist, part time burglar. It was told, in a large part through letters which were as revealing as they were intriguing. And, as with many “ghost stories” this one was not without its secret passageways, chained trunks and eerie walled gardens. These were all present, but employed, in my opinion in unique ways by Rayne. There were ghostly encounters and a slippery sense of time as it seemed to move backward and forward. All of this and so much more, wrapped together in the kind of “page flipping” gothic atmosphere this amazing author is known for.
As a side note, and as was the case with Sarah Rayne’s “Property of a Lady,” I found myself becoming acquainted with new words, and in other cases, familiar words used in ways I’ve never read before.
These included:
“Popinjay” – A person given to vain, pretentious displays and empty chatter.
“Foxed” – Stained or spotted a yellowish brown, as by age, i.e. “A dog-eared and foxed volume of poetry.”
“Sobriquet” – A nickname.
Just a few of the treasure trove of delights I discovered as I read “The Whispering.” Two books read and I find myself in danger of becoming a fan of the characters Nell West and Michael Flint.
Another triumph for Sarah Rayne!
The book opens with two separate office memoranda: the first from the Director of Music, Oriel College, Oxford, a person identified as J.B., the second from the Oxford History Faculty’s professor Owen Bracegirdle. Both were addressed to Michael Flint, the professor of English Literature at Oxford’s language Facility.
This technique proves effective, in part because it permits the author a bit of license to “info dump,” by way of a memo format, and also because the reader is aware that they are embarking on a story of the horror genre. Opening by using what might be perceived as a “businesslike” form of communication, especially when the reader is expecting dramatic ghost stories, may be Sarah Rayne’s way of toying with her reader at the outset.
In the first missive, we understand that Flint is somewhat the celebrity, given the commercial success of his “Wilberforce” best-sellers. We also learn that he has been given an intriguing assignment, (whether or not this is due to his fame is uncertain). He’s to take a trip to a place named Fosse House, located “deep in the Fens.” One there, he’s to meet the house’s sole occupant, a seventy-year-old spinster of the eccentric and reclusive variety by the name of Luisa Gilmore.
The first memo goes on to outline the professor’s assignment, first to research the Fosse House library in order to learn more about the ill-fated convent-based Palestrina Choir that gathered at the Liege convent in Belgium of all places. The only link between the Belgium convent and the house in rural England is an ancestor of Luisa Gilmore. Apparently, this ancestor was an original member of the choir when it started in 1907. We also learn that Flint’s research efforts are part of a larger assignment focused on the effect the musical influences of the time had on the work of the “Great War Poets.” Eventually the total of the larger body of work was to be complied in a published book.
The director seems to hint that while she believes Flint’s assignment to be interesting, she’s not overly optimistic that any real progress will be made. This clue comes through most strongly by the director’s use of humor, when she playfully warns the professor to, “Try to stay clear of any peculiar happenings while your there,” while characterizing some of Flint’s past assignments as, “shenanigans.” A memo written with a healthy dose of tongue in cheek.
The second memo from Owen Bracegirdle, shorter, yet more conversational, starts with a statement that he’s assured the director that Flint’s workload is not so heavy as to disallow this excursion to Fosse House. Bracegirdle hints that he is pleased with his involvement in the project, especially as a contributor to the anticipated “Great War Poets” book. He’s also intrigued by how Flint might, “get to grips” with his reclusive, countrified host, Miss Gilmore and the general mood of “romantic tragedy” surrounding the mysterious Fosse House.
We then see Michael Flint himself, considering the two memos sitting before him on his desk. His mind turns to Luisa Gilmore, imagining her to be either a “Miss Havisham” styled eccentric or a contemporary vampiric version of Morticia Addams.
But he’s excited about the project, flattered that he was approached to contribute.
Michael does a bit of research before leaving for the Fens. The Palestrina Choir, he learned, was formed in 1900, its home an ancient Belgium monastery. The choir was formed to commemorate the start of the new century and was named after a sixteenth-century composer of sacred music.
The reference books also alluded, somewhat vaguely to a tragedy associated with the once venerated choir.
Armed with this basic set of facts, Flint sets off on his driving journey through miles of bleak, yet strangely beautiful English landscape. This was the rural England of excessive flooding, strong winds, and thickly clouded skies. A seemingly appropriate backdrop for a population of hermits and reclusive saints of this, the “Holy land of England.”
Luisa Gilmore, he reminds himself, apparently passed her entire life in this gloomy, damp rural setting. He wonders if her personality would match the characteristics of this countryside.
Somewhere along the way, Flint took a wrong turn, delaying his arrival at the pub inn he was to stay at, so he decides to proceed directly to Fosse House so that he can make a quick introduction…
This is my second Sarah Rayne “Michael Flint / Nell West” novel. The first, “Property of a Lady,” I enjoyed very much. One of the aspects of that book that intrigued me was Rayne’s description of what Michael Flint saw and felt as he approached that novel’s “manor of mystery,” Charect House of Shropshire.
It was a storytelling springboard for the rest of the story, and I’m pleased to say that the “Fosse House” version was equally excellent:
“The roads were wide and there was hardly any other traffic, and he found Fosse House without much difficulty. The sun was setting with a Turneresque rowdiness of oriflammes across the horizon, but the storm was still grumbling menacingly over the North Sea and the wind was dashing itself against the car’s sides. Michael began to wish he was back in Oxford.
But here, at last, was the gateway to the house – tall, once-white posts with a somewhat insecure wrought-iron gate. Beyond them was a fairly long drive, fringed with thick shrubbery and elderly trees. Driving cautiously and slowly, Michael could not see the house, but he could see lights shining beyond the trees – erratic glimmerings, like the mischievous beckoning of will o wisp marsh people. Or was it the corpse candles of a ghostly funeral, because if ever there was a gothic setting…?
He could not see the house, though. Was it shrouded in a mystical mist, and only permitted to make itself visible once every hundred years? Did it rise up out of the Norfolk marshes on the occasion of some macabre anniversary, to lure unwary travelers?
It was neither of those things, of course. It was invisible from the first few yards of the drive simply because the trees obscured it. Michael rounded a slight curve in the drive and there it was, coming gradually into view through the trees as they dipped and moved in the storm-wind, as if tantalizingly and deliberately revealing a piece at a time. Fosse House, making a slow, dramatic entrance through the mists. The home of the enigmatic recluse Luisa Gilmore, whose ancestor had been part of a sacred choir that had sung to its own death throes.
It was not, of course, Roderick and Madeline Usher’s mansion of gloom, but Michael thought it was not far off. It was four-square as to construction and Greystone as to fabric, and there were sprawling patches of discoloration on the walls as if some inner disease had seeped through. The windows were tall and narrow, each one surmounted with curved, thick stone lintels like frowning eyebrows. It was the most unwelcoming house Michael had ever seen, and he was guiltily relieved to think he would not be staying in this faded grandeur overnight. Dim lights showed at a couple of the windows, although they were so dim that it was remarkable, they had been visible from the drive…”
I’d set the book aside after the reading of these paragraphs as I visualized what this scene might have looked like.
At this point, I was 14 pages into a 335-page book, strongly suspecting I’d love it as much as I did “Property of a Lady.”
The U.S. Mystery Guild described Sarah Rayne as “Equal parts Daphne du Maurier, Josephine Tey and Ruth Rendell…Rayne possesses superb storytelling skills.” And she hasn’t missed a beat with “The Whispering,” a story colored with the likes of a Russian, part time journalist, part time burglar. It was told, in a large part through letters which were as revealing as they were intriguing. And, as with many “ghost stories” this one was not without its secret passageways, chained trunks and eerie walled gardens. These were all present, but employed, in my opinion in unique ways by Rayne. There were ghostly encounters and a slippery sense of time as it seemed to move backward and forward. All of this and so much more, wrapped together in the kind of “page flipping” gothic atmosphere this amazing author is known for.
As a side note, and as was the case with Sarah Rayne’s “Property of a Lady,” I found myself becoming acquainted with new words, and in other cases, familiar words used in ways I’ve never read before.
These included:
“Popinjay” – A person given to vain, pretentious displays and empty chatter.
“Foxed” – Stained or spotted a yellowish brown, as by age, i.e. “A dog-eared and foxed volume of poetry.”
“Sobriquet” – A nickname.
Just a few of the treasure trove of delights I discovered as I read “The Whispering.” Two books read and I find myself in danger of becoming a fan of the characters Nell West and Michael Flint.
Another triumph for Sarah Rayne!
October 4, 2018
History comes alive in Sarah Rayne's The Whispering, the 4th installment of Michael n Nell mysteries. I love how the author weaves the story more into the historical aspect by bringing in letters and journals of that era. The story of the young Stephen so haunted by the terrors of war and still lingering in the only place he loves was poetic. Unlike the other 3 in the series this book had Michael inside the haunted house trying to research the Palestrina choir which had it's collapse during the the great war.
Time bleeds into the future!
Time bleeds into the future!
Read
March 13, 2014I've decided that I'll not rate or review this one. Generally I thought it a good ghost story but there is one element in the historical backstory that is so totally impossible that it ruined the book for me, and whilst it's not a major element, it's essential to the story. So I pass.
June 16, 2015
I love a good ghost story and a good war story and this is a very good story of a mystery and human suffering caused by conflict.
May 7, 2017
The Whispering by Sarah Rayne
4.5 Stars
Nell West & Michael Flint series Book #4
From The Book:
Michael Flint, a music and literature professor at Oxford, is working on a book about musical influences on the poets of WWI. Flint travels to the remote fens, in eastern England, to visit Fosse House and examine the records concerning the Palestrina Choir, circa 1900–14. His host, the personable but secretive septuagenarian Luisa Gilmore, welcomes Michael, even gives him a place to sleep when inclement weather makes traveling to the nearby town impossible, but soon Michael discovers that the history of Luisa’s family, not to mention the history of the choir, is filled with secrets.
My Views:
Sarah Rayne has an amazing talent for blending the past and the present into one neat package. Her specialty is the supernatural/paranormal genre which she weaves with history. These 100 year old events take shape through the letters and journals of men long dead but certainly not gone by any means. A goose-bump raising, creepy tale that keeps you wanting more and more.
4.5 Stars
Nell West & Michael Flint series Book #4
From The Book:
Michael Flint, a music and literature professor at Oxford, is working on a book about musical influences on the poets of WWI. Flint travels to the remote fens, in eastern England, to visit Fosse House and examine the records concerning the Palestrina Choir, circa 1900–14. His host, the personable but secretive septuagenarian Luisa Gilmore, welcomes Michael, even gives him a place to sleep when inclement weather makes traveling to the nearby town impossible, but soon Michael discovers that the history of Luisa’s family, not to mention the history of the choir, is filled with secrets.
My Views:
Sarah Rayne has an amazing talent for blending the past and the present into one neat package. Her specialty is the supernatural/paranormal genre which she weaves with history. These 100 year old events take shape through the letters and journals of men long dead but certainly not gone by any means. A goose-bump raising, creepy tale that keeps you wanting more and more.
November 12, 2021
I need to make something clear to any who read my reviews concerning this series; it is going to make life much easier if you view each book as a separate entity. If you see the books as a series you will truly come to want to strangle the two protagonists and begin to hope that one of the entities that they encounter will just take them out. But, if you see each one as a fresh start then one can stay sane. I say this because this is book four of the series and both of the main characters (one more than the other) are still claiming a disbelief in the supernatural. COME ON ALREADY! WHAT'S IT GONNA TAKE? All that being said, this was a decent haunted house story and I really enjoyed the historical aspect of ghosts from The Great War. The romance is ridiculously sappy and the characters are idiots, but the ghosts are great, with fabulous backstories!
May 17, 2020
Only just getting used to the twisty winding plots created by Sarah Rayne . This is the second book I have read and after around 40 pages found it hard to put down. Have to go back and re read some earlier pages but it all comes together at the end.
May 13, 2017
I read this awhile ago but really enjoyed this novel.
August 30, 2017
Worst in the series so far.
It took me forever to read this book because I just couldn't get into it. The story was ok but it's made not composed of old letters and news articles.
It took me forever to read this book because I just couldn't get into it. The story was ok but it's made not composed of old letters and news articles.
April 22, 2019
3.5 stares
December 19, 2019
Mediocre ghost story with a strange wrap up. But the atmosphere and writing was sufficiently creepy for a good fall read!
February 4, 2022
Very atmospheric.
August 31, 2022
Not my cup of tea dnf dont really like supernatural stuff and this was very tedious.
Read
September 13, 2022Good suspense, thriller story. Some mystery at the end that made for a good closing.
February 10, 2025
IDK what it says about me that this is my comfort author
March 24, 2014
I can't believe my good fortune in finding this book. Sarah Rayne is a new author for me so when I saw the novel was described as a haunted house mystery I took a chance and found a gem of a story. The novel is set in modern times, but concerns research Oxford don Dr. Michael Flint is doing into the influence music had on poetry written during the Great War. There is a connection to the Palestrina Choir of the Sacre-Coeur convent in Liege, Belgium, captured by the German army, and an ancestor of Miss Luisa Gilmore, who has given Flint permission to look into the family papers for information into what caused the disaster which befell the choir. Miss Gilmore reluctantly allows Michael to remain overnight in her home only because a tree has been blown across the road and he cannot get his car around it to drive to the village. Located in a particularly remote part of the Fens, Fosse House conjures up all the stereotypes of the haunted house, with the air of disrepair and the groans and creaks old houses are famous for. That must be the cause of the whispers Michael hears which seem to be a voice imploring him to allow someone entry, but what is the explanation for the shadowy form he so plainly sees?
The atmosphere of suspense was so wonderfully created that I actually was startled when my telephone rang while I was reading this book. I positively jumped! The story of what happened at the convent and later in Holzminden, the German prisoner of war camp for British officers, is told through letters written by those involved in the story and uncovered by various people in different locations. I liked the way the strands of the story intersected through hearing about what happened from various characters so all the loose ends were tied up by the story's end. The author's skill in blending the stormy weather, the conditions of the house, and the isolation of the location and Luisa Gilmore combined to make a riveting plot. Then to add in the pathos of the young girl sent away to a convent and the horrors witnessed on the battlefield by a young man whose mind became too fragile to survive everyday life resulted in this author painting tragic, unforgettable characters in a gripping story.
I've discovered that Sarah Rayne has written quite a few novels which are probably easier to find in England than here in the U. S. Some of the books are available on Kindle, but not all of them. I can't be absolutely certain, but it appears that the first novel to feature Michael Flint would be The Sin Eater, followed by Property of A Lady where Nell West makes her entrance into the series, and then The Silence. I began my exploration with the fourth book and had absolutely no problem with continuity or understanding what had come before in previous novels. If you enjoy the psychological thriller, this novel will definitely give you that. My decision now is which book to read next.
I received an ARC of this novel through NetGalley. The opinions expressed are my own.
The atmosphere of suspense was so wonderfully created that I actually was startled when my telephone rang while I was reading this book. I positively jumped! The story of what happened at the convent and later in Holzminden, the German prisoner of war camp for British officers, is told through letters written by those involved in the story and uncovered by various people in different locations. I liked the way the strands of the story intersected through hearing about what happened from various characters so all the loose ends were tied up by the story's end. The author's skill in blending the stormy weather, the conditions of the house, and the isolation of the location and Luisa Gilmore combined to make a riveting plot. Then to add in the pathos of the young girl sent away to a convent and the horrors witnessed on the battlefield by a young man whose mind became too fragile to survive everyday life resulted in this author painting tragic, unforgettable characters in a gripping story.
I've discovered that Sarah Rayne has written quite a few novels which are probably easier to find in England than here in the U. S. Some of the books are available on Kindle, but not all of them. I can't be absolutely certain, but it appears that the first novel to feature Michael Flint would be The Sin Eater, followed by Property of A Lady where Nell West makes her entrance into the series, and then The Silence. I began my exploration with the fourth book and had absolutely no problem with continuity or understanding what had come before in previous novels. If you enjoy the psychological thriller, this novel will definitely give you that. My decision now is which book to read next.
I received an ARC of this novel through NetGalley. The opinions expressed are my own.
June 4, 2014
When Michael Flint researches a choir with a mysterious end at Fosse House for Oriel College, he definitely finds more than he bargained for. While initially interested in the research and historical aspect of his search into ties between World War I and poets, Flint uncovers fragments of the story of a former inhabitant of Fosse House, and once he picks up those old threads, he can't seem to let them go. Aided by the mysterious happenings around the house, Flint gradually comes to see that it's haunted, possibly by the ghost of the former inhabitant, Stephen Gilmore. With the help of his girlfriend Nell West, Flint looks further into the past to find out what happened to Gilmore and a couple of other people from the past, Gilmore's cousin Leonora and a gentleman thief named Alexei Iskander. As everything is revealed to be tied together, and the unexpected and tragic end to Gilmore's story draws to a close, Flint and West must come to terms not only with another haunting in a series of unexpected encounters, but also their effect on the past itself.
The thing I really like about Sarah Rayne's books is how excellently she crafts the suspense and mystery surrounding the haunting. It's not even that the haunting themselves are scary, although I suppose I might feel differently if I were actually living in such a home; it's that she makes the reader want to know why there's a haunting in the first place. What's the story behind this troubled spectre? The Whispering is, I think, the book where the ghost's story affected me most deeply. I felt impossibly sad for Stephen Gilmore once I came to know his story, how the Great War affected him, what he'd endured and the tragic end of his journey. I was also intrigued by the possibility of Another thing I was really pleased with was the humanity and conscience attributed to enemy soldiers, particularly the German soldier whose letters led Nell back to Fosse House. Such mercy and consideration in the face of black, heartless justice isn't often heard of, and it really added needed nuance to the book.
The thing I really like about Sarah Rayne's books is how excellently she crafts the suspense and mystery surrounding the haunting. It's not even that the haunting themselves are scary, although I suppose I might feel differently if I were actually living in such a home; it's that she makes the reader want to know why there's a haunting in the first place. What's the story behind this troubled spectre? The Whispering is, I think, the book where the ghost's story affected me most deeply. I felt impossibly sad for Stephen Gilmore once I came to know his story, how the Great War affected him, what he'd endured and the tragic end of his journey. I was also intrigued by the possibility of Another thing I was really pleased with was the humanity and conscience attributed to enemy soldiers, particularly the German soldier whose letters led Nell back to Fosse House. Such mercy and consideration in the face of black, heartless justice isn't often heard of, and it really added needed nuance to the book.
February 24, 2014
The Whispering is the fourth in Sarah Rayne's ghost series featuring Nell West and Michael Flint.
This time Michael Flint is researching the music and poetry of the Great War; in particular how music influenced their individual outlook and work.
Michael is also researching the origins of the Palestrina Choir: a girl's choir based in a convent that sang behind a rood screen to hide their 'deformities'. Girls who were crippled, malformed or simple were left at the convent by their parents, joined the choir and created angelic music but could never be seen.
Here's a quote from The Whispering about the origins of the long-dead choir. The Palestrina Choir was "..formed in an ancient monastery in Belgium in 1900 to commemorate the start of the new century, and was named for the sixteenth-century composer of sacred music."
I was fascinated by the choir, and Michael visits Fosse House to meet reclusive Luisa Gilmore as part of his research but ends up discovering more than he bargained for.
Meanwhile, Nell is researching the origin of the Holzminden sketch, a drawing that Michael finds in Fosse House, and which could be a sketch made at a WWI prisoner of war camp.
The Whispering is nicely layered and I enjoyed having Michael as the protagonist this time around instead of Nell. There was an important reveal at the end that I had incorrectly predicted, and for me that's a sign of a great read when the plot carries you in an unexpected direction.
The Whispering can be enjoyed as a stand-alone and is recommended for readers who like a good ghost story, or the idea that the past can bleed into the future and vice versa.
This time Michael Flint is researching the music and poetry of the Great War; in particular how music influenced their individual outlook and work.
Michael is also researching the origins of the Palestrina Choir: a girl's choir based in a convent that sang behind a rood screen to hide their 'deformities'. Girls who were crippled, malformed or simple were left at the convent by their parents, joined the choir and created angelic music but could never be seen.
Here's a quote from The Whispering about the origins of the long-dead choir. The Palestrina Choir was "..formed in an ancient monastery in Belgium in 1900 to commemorate the start of the new century, and was named for the sixteenth-century composer of sacred music."
I was fascinated by the choir, and Michael visits Fosse House to meet reclusive Luisa Gilmore as part of his research but ends up discovering more than he bargained for.
Meanwhile, Nell is researching the origin of the Holzminden sketch, a drawing that Michael finds in Fosse House, and which could be a sketch made at a WWI prisoner of war camp.
The Whispering is nicely layered and I enjoyed having Michael as the protagonist this time around instead of Nell. There was an important reveal at the end that I had incorrectly predicted, and for me that's a sign of a great read when the plot carries you in an unexpected direction.
The Whispering can be enjoyed as a stand-alone and is recommended for readers who like a good ghost story, or the idea that the past can bleed into the future and vice versa.
December 2, 2014
Spooky without being gory, good history, sensitive treatment of the horrific subject of WWI.
Overall, an easy read that packs a significant emotional wallop. Got me right in the tear ducts, and I'm not generally the sniffly sort.
As always, I count on Rayne to provide a good ghost story that is free of gratuitous gore. The Whispering doesn't disappoint. (Refreshingly, no animals came to bad ends for the purpose of foreshadowing evils yet to come.)
The historic background (primarily in the form of letters, memoirs and journal entries), shockingly, is not annoying. Many a spooky story relies on the "faded letters/secret journal" trope, and quite often, the writer fails to find an appropriate voice for people of the past. In this case, Rayne has nailed it. The various historic voices are distinct, appropriate, and eminently likable despite what should, sociologically, prove to be irreconcilable differences.
When writing about WWI, it's tempting to steep the reader in the language of the famous poets of the age, burying them in heaps of superfluous Sassoon, but once again, Rayne has achieved a perfect balance between those facts which remain (understood and unexpanded upon) in the background and what is included. (Anyone with a passing familiarity for WWI poetry will be in comfortable territory.)
The story was completely enthralling, and the resolution was--at least for me--not completely obvious until the end of the second-to-last chapter. (MILD SPOILER: The identity of the deceased was called into question, so what had seemed obvious was rendered less so.)
A treat.
Overall, an easy read that packs a significant emotional wallop. Got me right in the tear ducts, and I'm not generally the sniffly sort.
As always, I count on Rayne to provide a good ghost story that is free of gratuitous gore. The Whispering doesn't disappoint. (Refreshingly, no animals came to bad ends for the purpose of foreshadowing evils yet to come.)
The historic background (primarily in the form of letters, memoirs and journal entries), shockingly, is not annoying. Many a spooky story relies on the "faded letters/secret journal" trope, and quite often, the writer fails to find an appropriate voice for people of the past. In this case, Rayne has nailed it. The various historic voices are distinct, appropriate, and eminently likable despite what should, sociologically, prove to be irreconcilable differences.
When writing about WWI, it's tempting to steep the reader in the language of the famous poets of the age, burying them in heaps of superfluous Sassoon, but once again, Rayne has achieved a perfect balance between those facts which remain (understood and unexpanded upon) in the background and what is included. (Anyone with a passing familiarity for WWI poetry will be in comfortable territory.)
The story was completely enthralling, and the resolution was--at least for me--not completely obvious until the end of the second-to-last chapter. (MILD SPOILER: The identity of the deceased was called into question, so what had seemed obvious was rendered less so.)
A treat.
February 17, 2017
Characters and plot so lame and stilted. Disappointed. Difficult to find good ghost story. Guess the old ones are the best - M R James and H P Lovecraft.
March 31, 2014
"The Whispering" by Sarah Rayne is a thoughtful and technically sound novel full of suspense, mystery and memories that will not lie still and be forgotten.
I was impressed with this book for a number of reasons. Unlike other paranormal/suspense books of recent memory, this author chose to reveal the paranormal aspects early, but did not give too many answers away too soon, thereby keeping her readers interested in knowing more about the story.
The connection to the past that makes up a large portion of this story was fascinating and kept the pace moving along nicely. This is not a mile-a-minute action type of novel, but one that requires consideration and understanding from the reader. I thought the paranormal aspects were handled well and were not too over the top to be believed.
The characters were well drawn and have some lovely and very realistic conversations during the course of this novel. I felt as though I were listening in to people talking in the next room.
The letters, sketches and memories of the characters brought the past to life for me and I got a lot of enjoyment out of piecing together the puzzle that the author presented.
If you are a fan of novels that unfold slowly and carefully and make you stop to consider what might happen next, this would be a good book to choose.
This review is based on a complimentary copy from Netgalley and the publisher in exchange for an unbiased opinion.
I was impressed with this book for a number of reasons. Unlike other paranormal/suspense books of recent memory, this author chose to reveal the paranormal aspects early, but did not give too many answers away too soon, thereby keeping her readers interested in knowing more about the story.
The connection to the past that makes up a large portion of this story was fascinating and kept the pace moving along nicely. This is not a mile-a-minute action type of novel, but one that requires consideration and understanding from the reader. I thought the paranormal aspects were handled well and were not too over the top to be believed.
The characters were well drawn and have some lovely and very realistic conversations during the course of this novel. I felt as though I were listening in to people talking in the next room.
The letters, sketches and memories of the characters brought the past to life for me and I got a lot of enjoyment out of piecing together the puzzle that the author presented.
If you are a fan of novels that unfold slowly and carefully and make you stop to consider what might happen next, this would be a good book to choose.
This review is based on a complimentary copy from Netgalley and the publisher in exchange for an unbiased opinion.
August 11, 2016
It is Michael Flint’s turn in this novel to make the trek to the spooky old home that is at the center of the action in this installment of the Nell West & Michael Flint series. Research for a book on the history and fate of the Palestrina Choir, a group of nuns who lived in Belgium during WWI, is what takes Michael to Fosse House and into the company of the octogenarian Luisa Gilmore. Luisa lives alone in the home, and always has; she never married, never had children, and never truly established a life outside of Fosse House. Michael’s research into the Choir and his own glimpses of the ghostly figure of a man in the gardens outside the building bring the background of Ms. Gilmore to light – her ancestor, a Stephen Gilmore who died during WWI, died on the grounds of Fosse House, and his spirit knocks on the door and windows of the house, asking to be let in. The story brings us around to some rare and famous sketches of Holzminden made by a prisoner of war there, one of which hangs in the stairwell in Fosse House; Nell is thus brought into the story. A new piece of this mystery which Rayne has not used previously is the idea of time as a fluid thing, something in which the future and the past can bleed into one another. Another fun installment in the series.
October 2, 2014
Having read Sarah Rayne's earlier novels and this newer series with Michael Flint, I have to confess I prefer her older stuff as they were a real white knuckle read. This series are all ghost stories but without any chill factor which I miss from her first novels. Michael Flint is an ok character but needs to grow a backbone and when his mentioning Wilberforce the cat and the childrens books he is writing goes into detail I feel I am reading a children's novel! It was quite endearing in the first book but is getting me irritated by the fourth! Nell is quite a nice character but the story lines have mostly the same basis :- Nell stays in her antique shop researching whilst Michael goes to a haunted house and Nell has to follow him where they both eventually find the answer to the haunting. Please Sarah, make your next one grittier with no Wilberforce the cat dressed up and playing bagpipes!!
February 11, 2017
Nice and creepy. Couldn't put it down as I finished it in one day!
January 24, 2014
I received this as an early read via Net Galley. I felt this started off a bit shaky, it felt like the author wasn't quite sure where the story was going, but it picked up speed as it went along and I enjoyed the twists in the ending. I love when supernatural can be woven into a mystery and I'd give this author high marks for managing to do so! Particularly nice that although the primary setting for the story was more than a bit gothic, the author didn't embrace the whole Wuthering Heights theme, she kept the focus on the story and didn't get overly dramatic.
July 10, 2016
The tagline on the front of the book says "A well-constructed horror story that delivers the goods." While I disagree with it being a 'horror' story (at least not what I would consider horror), it did deliver! I only wish there had been a little more focus on the choir and music, as that was the part of the book description that drew me to it in the first place.
I love it when you randomly choose a book off the library shelves and are rewarded with a great read. I will definitely check out more of Sarah Rayne's books!
I love it when you randomly choose a book off the library shelves and are rewarded with a great read. I will definitely check out more of Sarah Rayne's books!
March 8, 2014
The fourth in the series set in a house in Norfolk, Michael goes off to do some research into a choir as part of a book on music and WWI poets. What he finds is a paranormal mystery and the tragic tale of a young man caught up in the war in 1917.
It's an interesting story told in the form of books, journals , letters and a sketch kept in the house in the middle of nowhere. Good haunted house mystery and the best of the series so far.
It's an interesting story told in the form of books, journals , letters and a sketch kept in the house in the middle of nowhere. Good haunted house mystery and the best of the series so far.
June 19, 2014
I really enjoyed this book. I love the titles of Sarah Rayne's books but have not been able to get involved with any of her other works yet. But I keep trying because she is a talented writer. Getting involved in a story depends on my mood these days, weirdly enough. Anyway, this tale put me in mind of the Victorian ghost story genre and Susan Hill's books, in particular. If you like ghost stories, give this one a read.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 50 reviews