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The Night Stairs
When schoolgirls start fainting one after the other at an elite convent boarding school, old legends twist into new scandals. From irresistible bestselling storyteller Erin Kelly comes the new compulsive thriller that will leave you craving to read more.
Centuries of tradition are coming to an end at St Cordula's school. Deputy Head, Fiona Fox, is about to preside over a controversial move to save it from ruin. But it’s not easy to change things at a school this old.
Legend has it that the ghost of fifteenth-century nun, Sister Matilda, will keep St Cordula’s safe. But only as long as the words ‘GOD FORGIVE ME’, scrawled by Matilda on a chapel staircase wall before she fell to her death, are repainted every year. The words have only been allowed to fade once, in 2002. Then, fits of vertigo – ‘the spins’ – spread through the pupils, and a second girl fell to her death on the night stairs. But only three people know the truth of what happened the night of the tragedy.
Now the spins are back, and Fiona must stem the outbreak before it threatens St Cordula’s future, or worse, another girl loses her life. But when one of her pupils begins a dangerous investigation into the past, old secrets start to twist into new scandals…
Centuries of tradition are coming to an end at St Cordula's school. Deputy Head, Fiona Fox, is about to preside over a controversial move to save it from ruin. But it’s not easy to change things at a school this old.
Legend has it that the ghost of fifteenth-century nun, Sister Matilda, will keep St Cordula’s safe. But only as long as the words ‘GOD FORGIVE ME’, scrawled by Matilda on a chapel staircase wall before she fell to her death, are repainted every year. The words have only been allowed to fade once, in 2002. Then, fits of vertigo – ‘the spins’ – spread through the pupils, and a second girl fell to her death on the night stairs. But only three people know the truth of what happened the night of the tragedy.
Now the spins are back, and Fiona must stem the outbreak before it threatens St Cordula’s future, or worse, another girl loses her life. But when one of her pupils begins a dangerous investigation into the past, old secrets start to twist into new scandals…
432 pages, Kindle Edition
First published July 9, 2026
About the author
Erin Kelly
59 books1,641 followersErin Kelly was born in London in 1976 and grew up in Essex. She read English at Warwick University and has been working as a journalist since 1998.
She has written for newspapers including the The Sunday Times, The Sunday Telegraph, the Daily Mail and the Express and magazines including Red, Psychologies, Marie Claire, Elle and Cosmopolitan.
She has written for newspapers including the The Sunday Times, The Sunday Telegraph, the Daily Mail and the Express and magazines including Red, Psychologies, Marie Claire, Elle and Cosmopolitan.
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July 9, 2026
I’ve read all of Erin Kelly’s novels (yes, even the Broadchurch novelisation) and I can’t believe this is the 11th! It doesn’t seem two minutes since I was reading
The Poison Tree
for the first time, but that was way back in 2011. Time flies.
Anyway, I have solid faith in Kelly’s ability to transport me and I enjoy the variety of settings in her novels. They’re reliably compelling and twisty but each one has a distinct identity. This time we’re in a Catholic girls’ boarding school, St Cordula’s, with narratives split mainly between the 90s/early 2000s and the present day, both periods marked by outbreaks of a mass hysteria phenomenon known as ‘the spins’. The atmosphere is great, and the religious aspect is woven in especially well.
I guessed a couple of the major reveals fairly early on, but honestly it didn’t matter much because the real pleasure here is in watching Kelly manage the sheer number of moving parts with such confidence. There are loads of characters, shifting allegiances, school politics, and lots of cutting back and forth between timeline threads, and she keeps all of it clear and emotionally legible. When a writer has you genuinely invested in whether a merger between two schools will go ahead, and turning the pages to find out whether it happens, you know they must be doing something right.
As with so many mysteries, the denouement can’t possibly be as satisfying as all that comes before it (and relies on the kind of quick-moving and action-focused dramatic scene I always find quite difficult to picture). But overall this was very very enjoyable. In fact, I’d happily read a sequel just to spend more time at St Cordula’s and see someone get their comeuppance.
I received an advance review copy of The Night Stairs from the publisher through NetGalley.
Anyway, I have solid faith in Kelly’s ability to transport me and I enjoy the variety of settings in her novels. They’re reliably compelling and twisty but each one has a distinct identity. This time we’re in a Catholic girls’ boarding school, St Cordula’s, with narratives split mainly between the 90s/early 2000s and the present day, both periods marked by outbreaks of a mass hysteria phenomenon known as ‘the spins’. The atmosphere is great, and the religious aspect is woven in especially well.
I guessed a couple of the major reveals fairly early on, but honestly it didn’t matter much because the real pleasure here is in watching Kelly manage the sheer number of moving parts with such confidence. There are loads of characters, shifting allegiances, school politics, and lots of cutting back and forth between timeline threads, and she keeps all of it clear and emotionally legible. When a writer has you genuinely invested in whether a merger between two schools will go ahead, and turning the pages to find out whether it happens, you know they must be doing something right.
As with so many mysteries, the denouement can’t possibly be as satisfying as all that comes before it (and relies on the kind of quick-moving and action-focused dramatic scene I always find quite difficult to picture). But overall this was very very enjoyable. In fact, I’d happily read a sequel just to spend more time at St Cordula’s and see someone get their comeuppance.
I received an advance review copy of The Night Stairs from the publisher through NetGalley.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
This review could either comprise just three words, or a whole three pages. The three words for ‘The Night Stairs’ by Erin Kelly are DEAD LESBIAN SYNDROME and I’m so incensed that I’m going to go ahead and write the three pages, should you wish to read on.
I’m often made to feel ‘different’, being a lesbian. I’m familiar with prejudice, so my radar for ‘difference’ being treated badly in literature is sensitive. And in her latest novel, Erin Kelly draws her main lesbian character as ‘different’, as divergent; ultimately as deviant.
I’ve had to write the following so many times in reviews, and it’s tiresome, to put it mildly. I also want to point out that it shouldn’t be the place of queer or queer-allied readers to have to educate authors and publishers on the most basic, LGBT-101 of how-not-to-endorse-homophobia-in-your-writing, if we take homophobia in the sense of treating what’s queer badly. Just like it shouldn’t be the place of Black readers to persuade authors not to propagate the Magical Negro Trope, I – as a lesbian – should not have to point out to authors how not to encourage the proliferation of Dead Lesbian Syndrome. (DLS is used widely as shorthand for all villainising of queer female characters.)
I don’t think Erin Kelly has discussed her sexuality anywhere, and perhaps nor should she, but ‘The Night Stairs’ makes me want to scream (as I have screamed before many times): STRAIGHT AUTHORS! Stop writing lesbian characters with a problematic relationship with their father! Stop writing just two lesbian characters only to prevent them from being together! Stop writing lesbian characters who are denied the right to be mothers! Stop writing lesbian characters who are the villain or murderer! And pleeease, pleeease, stop killing your lesbian characters! The dreadful thing is that Kelly has written all these things into ‘The Night Stairs’ (what I have to say in response to ‘The Night Stairs’ relates to events towards the close of the novel, and so contains spoilers). Has the industry really no idea of how damaging the perpetuation of these motifs is? I’d rather read no queer female characters at all in a novel than read queer women who all succumb to Dead Lesbian Syndrome. I can’t believe, in 2026, that I have to write that. It’s shameful!
Because, let’s be clear: every thing the author writes is a choice that they’ve made. As readers, it’s worth considering whether we bear an obligation to interrogate the making of these choices, and to consider the consequences of them. In my view, it feels imperative that publishers, librarians, reviewers, and readers should question the virtue of representing female homosexuality when ultimately, literary representations of queer women end up written as miserable, imprisoned, and most often dead. What might be an arbitrary choice on the part of an author, results in treatment that in this day and age is, frankly, disgraceful. I’ll not mince my words because the ending of ‘The Night Stairs’ upset me very much.
Perhaps Kelly is giving herself a pat on the back for broaching discussion of same-sex attraction between female characters at all. However, by the very fact that this is a thriller novel, we know that some character or other is going to be doomed. By dooming the lesbian character, the author eliminates the possibility for fruitful commentary upon the visibility of queer females and erases/overwrites our experience in favour of heteronormativity. Because the barriers erected in the way of queer attraction are reduced to a plot device simply to enable the central crime to take place, Kelly shuns the opportunity to make any statement about how marginalised and silenced lesbians are. The author has not mistreated her lesbian character; she has made the character whom she mistreats a lesbian. Kelly here, uses queer female diversity in a reductive and tokenistic way to inspire pity for the homophobic victim, and that disgusts me.
I, personally, feel I have to angle the spotlight at the author for the textual decisions she has made. Erin Kelly should shoulder responsibility for the way that she has presented lesbian characters, because the sad truth is that there do exist predictable interpretations amongst a lazy heteronormative readership, and Kelly has created a piece of work that opens up a space for homophobia if readers wish to partake of it, by inciting in her narrative hate for a lesbian character. How short a leap for those readers, totally vindicated by what they read, to apply this stereotype in real life.
I’m enraged by the author’s conflation of the lesbian character with the archetype of the villain. There is a unique and vital opportunity here to investigate girls’ experiences of same-sex attraction in a gender-exclusive, oppressively religious school environment. In fact, in the absence of this investigation, I find it illogical that Kelly chose to assign this sexuality to a character in her plot without any discussion of the psychological impact of Jessica’s prolonged and repeated homophobic treatment upon Becks’s actions, instinctive as they are in that single urge at the moment of crisis in the novel – the crux of the plot.
Kelly opens up a charged space to discuss the acute motivations of a young lesbian girl faced with rejection. Yet instead of participating in this discourse, Kelly has homophobic Jessica elevated by the plot, and lesbian Becks demonised. Becks’s sexuality functions to throw into relief Jessica’s sacrosanct heteronormativity. Because the author never reveals Becks’s motivation for the part she plays in the accidental death of Jessica to the other characters, Jessica’s homophobia is never called into account, and Erin Kelly is absolved of having to explore the consequences of it.
Furthermore, I’m sorry to say that this novel appears to bolster the opinion that women in same-sex relationships are somehow the antipathy of femininity, a corruption of what it is to be female, and are therefore unmotherly, since Becks is ultimately forbidden to fulfil her role as mother. Becks is demonised in no place more shamefully on the part of the author than when her pleas of motherhood are deemed insufficient cause to grant her mercy. In the climactic moment, Fiona, holding Becks’s life in her hands, outright dismisses any sympathetic feeling towards a fate where Becks is separated from her son.
Is one of my takeaway messages from this novel: STRAIGHT = GOOD; LESBIAN = BAD then? Yes! It takes very little effort to read it as such. If an author has even remotely left that open as a possible interpretation, then their work is problematic. For this reason, I have to round down to one star as the minimum rating, and I hope I’ve done a reasonable job of explaining why.
I’m aware that a precious few ‘mainstream’ books will genuinely reflect me and my life experiences, so I like to stack the books I consume heavy on the LGBT-friendly, Sapphic-centred and queer-authored/female-authored side. And my justification? here you go! ‘The Night Stairs’ serves to attest that even these days, authors and publishers remain ignorant that, or dismissive that, they are compounding the worn-out ‘Dead Lesbian Syndrome’ narrative. The plot resolution of ‘The Night Stairs’ certainly suggests that Sapphics don’t deserve happy endings (I include Becks’s wife in all of this). Go ahead: name three successful and well-publicised novels published in the last year (outside of YA books and the Sapphic Romance genre) that feature a central lesbian relationship that gets a happy ending.
I’ve said this before, but in my perfect world as a librarian and a reader, I wouldn’t have to interrogate every book where my sexuality is reflected to see whether it’s fairly or realistically done like this, and I wouldn’t have to question the motives and virtues of authors and publishers like this. I’d be really interested to hear what other lesbian readers think of this novel.
My thanks go to NetGalley and Random House UK, Vintage for the eARC.
I’m often made to feel ‘different’, being a lesbian. I’m familiar with prejudice, so my radar for ‘difference’ being treated badly in literature is sensitive. And in her latest novel, Erin Kelly draws her main lesbian character as ‘different’, as divergent; ultimately as deviant.
I’ve had to write the following so many times in reviews, and it’s tiresome, to put it mildly. I also want to point out that it shouldn’t be the place of queer or queer-allied readers to have to educate authors and publishers on the most basic, LGBT-101 of how-not-to-endorse-homophobia-in-your-writing, if we take homophobia in the sense of treating what’s queer badly. Just like it shouldn’t be the place of Black readers to persuade authors not to propagate the Magical Negro Trope, I – as a lesbian – should not have to point out to authors how not to encourage the proliferation of Dead Lesbian Syndrome. (DLS is used widely as shorthand for all villainising of queer female characters.)
I don’t think Erin Kelly has discussed her sexuality anywhere, and perhaps nor should she, but ‘The Night Stairs’ makes me want to scream (as I have screamed before many times): STRAIGHT AUTHORS! Stop writing lesbian characters with a problematic relationship with their father! Stop writing just two lesbian characters only to prevent them from being together! Stop writing lesbian characters who are denied the right to be mothers! Stop writing lesbian characters who are the villain or murderer! And pleeease, pleeease, stop killing your lesbian characters! The dreadful thing is that Kelly has written all these things into ‘The Night Stairs’ (what I have to say in response to ‘The Night Stairs’ relates to events towards the close of the novel, and so contains spoilers). Has the industry really no idea of how damaging the perpetuation of these motifs is? I’d rather read no queer female characters at all in a novel than read queer women who all succumb to Dead Lesbian Syndrome. I can’t believe, in 2026, that I have to write that. It’s shameful!
Because, let’s be clear: every thing the author writes is a choice that they’ve made. As readers, it’s worth considering whether we bear an obligation to interrogate the making of these choices, and to consider the consequences of them. In my view, it feels imperative that publishers, librarians, reviewers, and readers should question the virtue of representing female homosexuality when ultimately, literary representations of queer women end up written as miserable, imprisoned, and most often dead. What might be an arbitrary choice on the part of an author, results in treatment that in this day and age is, frankly, disgraceful. I’ll not mince my words because the ending of ‘The Night Stairs’ upset me very much.
Perhaps Kelly is giving herself a pat on the back for broaching discussion of same-sex attraction between female characters at all. However, by the very fact that this is a thriller novel, we know that some character or other is going to be doomed. By dooming the lesbian character, the author eliminates the possibility for fruitful commentary upon the visibility of queer females and erases/overwrites our experience in favour of heteronormativity. Because the barriers erected in the way of queer attraction are reduced to a plot device simply to enable the central crime to take place, Kelly shuns the opportunity to make any statement about how marginalised and silenced lesbians are. The author has not mistreated her lesbian character; she has made the character whom she mistreats a lesbian. Kelly here, uses queer female diversity in a reductive and tokenistic way to inspire pity for the homophobic victim, and that disgusts me.
I, personally, feel I have to angle the spotlight at the author for the textual decisions she has made. Erin Kelly should shoulder responsibility for the way that she has presented lesbian characters, because the sad truth is that there do exist predictable interpretations amongst a lazy heteronormative readership, and Kelly has created a piece of work that opens up a space for homophobia if readers wish to partake of it, by inciting in her narrative hate for a lesbian character. How short a leap for those readers, totally vindicated by what they read, to apply this stereotype in real life.
I’m enraged by the author’s conflation of the lesbian character with the archetype of the villain. There is a unique and vital opportunity here to investigate girls’ experiences of same-sex attraction in a gender-exclusive, oppressively religious school environment. In fact, in the absence of this investigation, I find it illogical that Kelly chose to assign this sexuality to a character in her plot without any discussion of the psychological impact of Jessica’s prolonged and repeated homophobic treatment upon Becks’s actions, instinctive as they are in that single urge at the moment of crisis in the novel – the crux of the plot.
Kelly opens up a charged space to discuss the acute motivations of a young lesbian girl faced with rejection. Yet instead of participating in this discourse, Kelly has homophobic Jessica elevated by the plot, and lesbian Becks demonised. Becks’s sexuality functions to throw into relief Jessica’s sacrosanct heteronormativity. Because the author never reveals Becks’s motivation for the part she plays in the accidental death of Jessica to the other characters, Jessica’s homophobia is never called into account, and Erin Kelly is absolved of having to explore the consequences of it.
Furthermore, I’m sorry to say that this novel appears to bolster the opinion that women in same-sex relationships are somehow the antipathy of femininity, a corruption of what it is to be female, and are therefore unmotherly, since Becks is ultimately forbidden to fulfil her role as mother. Becks is demonised in no place more shamefully on the part of the author than when her pleas of motherhood are deemed insufficient cause to grant her mercy. In the climactic moment, Fiona, holding Becks’s life in her hands, outright dismisses any sympathetic feeling towards a fate where Becks is separated from her son.
Is one of my takeaway messages from this novel: STRAIGHT = GOOD; LESBIAN = BAD then? Yes! It takes very little effort to read it as such. If an author has even remotely left that open as a possible interpretation, then their work is problematic. For this reason, I have to round down to one star as the minimum rating, and I hope I’ve done a reasonable job of explaining why.
I’m aware that a precious few ‘mainstream’ books will genuinely reflect me and my life experiences, so I like to stack the books I consume heavy on the LGBT-friendly, Sapphic-centred and queer-authored/female-authored side. And my justification? here you go! ‘The Night Stairs’ serves to attest that even these days, authors and publishers remain ignorant that, or dismissive that, they are compounding the worn-out ‘Dead Lesbian Syndrome’ narrative. The plot resolution of ‘The Night Stairs’ certainly suggests that Sapphics don’t deserve happy endings (I include Becks’s wife in all of this). Go ahead: name three successful and well-publicised novels published in the last year (outside of YA books and the Sapphic Romance genre) that feature a central lesbian relationship that gets a happy ending.
I’ve said this before, but in my perfect world as a librarian and a reader, I wouldn’t have to interrogate every book where my sexuality is reflected to see whether it’s fairly or realistically done like this, and I wouldn’t have to question the motives and virtues of authors and publishers like this. I’d be really interested to hear what other lesbian readers think of this novel.
My thanks go to NetGalley and Random House UK, Vintage for the eARC.
August 1, 2026
3.5 stars
St Cordula's is steeped in tradition. Some of it less savoury than others. Every year the girls must ensure that a message from a 15th century nun is repainted, thus ensuring the school and its inhabitants are safe for another year.
There have been only two instances where the words have been allowed to fade and both times have brought about a strange school-wide affliction called "the spins". When the spins occurred the first time it brought about the death of a pupil and now, as St Cordula's prepares itself for more changes, the spins are back.
Fiona Fox, deputy head, is well aware of what harm the spins can do as she was a schoolgirl when her friend died. This time around she is determined that tragedy will not strike again.
But Fiona is hiding far more than the plans for the future of the school. Will she be able to save St Cordula's this time round and keep all the girls safe?
The Night Stairs is an engaging story that is split into two timelines and is quite an engaging story. I did get a bit confused with which pupils belonged to which timeline but the revelation of Fiona's secret was surprising.
Although I enjoyed the book it did feel like it was written for a younger audience and I thought it would fit more for young adults or tweens. There is certainly little offensive material in it although there is confusion around the death of the first nun and some violence.
Thankyou to Netgalley and Random House for the digital review copy.
St Cordula's is steeped in tradition. Some of it less savoury than others. Every year the girls must ensure that a message from a 15th century nun is repainted, thus ensuring the school and its inhabitants are safe for another year.
There have been only two instances where the words have been allowed to fade and both times have brought about a strange school-wide affliction called "the spins". When the spins occurred the first time it brought about the death of a pupil and now, as St Cordula's prepares itself for more changes, the spins are back.
Fiona Fox, deputy head, is well aware of what harm the spins can do as she was a schoolgirl when her friend died. This time around she is determined that tragedy will not strike again.
But Fiona is hiding far more than the plans for the future of the school. Will she be able to save St Cordula's this time round and keep all the girls safe?
The Night Stairs is an engaging story that is split into two timelines and is quite an engaging story. I did get a bit confused with which pupils belonged to which timeline but the revelation of Fiona's secret was surprising.
Although I enjoyed the book it did feel like it was written for a younger audience and I thought it would fit more for young adults or tweens. There is certainly little offensive material in it although there is confusion around the death of the first nun and some violence.
Thankyou to Netgalley and Random House for the digital review copy.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
A predictably solid entry into the dark academia canon by Erin Kelly, this is a satisfying psychological thriller featuring all the classics: intense female friendships, dual timelines, Latin, centuries-old tradition under threat, swooshy cloaks, creaky old wood, etc etc. Good fun.
And in another:
This is a proper spoiler which gives away some major pieces of the plot, so really don't read it if you don't want to know! But this seriously soured my enjoyment of the book.
And in another:
This is a proper spoiler which gives away some major pieces of the plot, so really don't read it if you don't want to know! But this seriously soured my enjoyment of the book.
July 10, 2026
Whilst I overall enjoyed this story I did find it heavy going and slow at times. I like a story where you get two or more timelines drip feeding you the information.
I like the concept of young girls having apparent mass delusions and thought this story did this well.
I like the concept of young girls having apparent mass delusions and thought this story did this well.
Read
June 13, 2026Thank you, Random House UK, for providing me with an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.
The Night Stairs was definitely out of my comfort zone - I do not read Mystery & thriller books, and sadly, it did not quite work for me.
I did like the setting - a private catholic school with a long history of mass hysteria and a dark history. It was interesting, and I liked the idea of a confined space where school girls are at risk of an unexplained mass hysteria phenomenon. It was intriguing at first, but I struggled with the book's structure and writing.
One of my biggest issues was the writing - I found the storytelling and book structure very confusing. The writing was disjointed, with many short chapters featuring different POVs and timelines. It was building up the mystery and overall plot structure, but I struggled with all the POVs switching. This book also has A LOT of characters, and it was confusing to follow them all; some of them appeared in different timelines.
I also had the impression that some scenes were missing - like the book was intentionally skipping some events to build up the mystery, but instead of intriguing me, it just confused me. The plot didn't grab my attention, and I didn't like that it seemed more focused on the school and on how to avoid it getting into a scandal than on the mass hysteria phenomenon. I also found some elements a bit, probably when it comes to the sexuality of some characters, and it kinda lost me (like wondering if a binary character being different and not identifying as a girl is what stops them from joining the mass hysteria).
Overall, it did not work for me. I can see this book working for people who love the Mystery and Thriller genre, and the story did have a lot of potential with so many elements being intertwined to keep us hooked.
The Night Stairs was definitely out of my comfort zone - I do not read Mystery & thriller books, and sadly, it did not quite work for me.
I did like the setting - a private catholic school with a long history of mass hysteria and a dark history. It was interesting, and I liked the idea of a confined space where school girls are at risk of an unexplained mass hysteria phenomenon. It was intriguing at first, but I struggled with the book's structure and writing.
One of my biggest issues was the writing - I found the storytelling and book structure very confusing. The writing was disjointed, with many short chapters featuring different POVs and timelines. It was building up the mystery and overall plot structure, but I struggled with all the POVs switching. This book also has A LOT of characters, and it was confusing to follow them all; some of them appeared in different timelines.
I also had the impression that some scenes were missing - like the book was intentionally skipping some events to build up the mystery, but instead of intriguing me, it just confused me. The plot didn't grab my attention, and I didn't like that it seemed more focused on the school and on how to avoid it getting into a scandal than on the mass hysteria phenomenon. I also found some elements a bit, probably when it comes to the sexuality of some characters, and it kinda lost me (like wondering if a binary character being different and not identifying as a girl is what stops them from joining the mass hysteria).
Overall, it did not work for me. I can see this book working for people who love the Mystery and Thriller genre, and the story did have a lot of potential with so many elements being intertwined to keep us hooked.
Read
July 14, 2026Sometimes it's really hard to review a book that's rock-solid in its competence, because what do you say? There are few flaws or cracks to hook into: no faltering characterisation or hollow-ringing prosody. Erin Kelly is that kind of writer. This is only the second of her books I've read, and it's set in a location that often encourages authors to get febrile, which is to say, a girls' boarding school (and a Catholic one at that, even better). Kelly smartly keeps things on a tighter rein, rarely getting overly lyrical. This is a good idea because she has a lot to juggle: multiple time frames, with the school's 2025 troubles echoing similar events that occurred twenty years earlier; a long list of characters, some of whom have secret identities (which the reader always knows, but many of the other characters don't); and a variety of registers, from a teacher's brusque affection for her charges to the complicated changes in a friendship between outcasts. All of these ring true, and effortlessly elicit the reader's investment. I always appreciate when writers take religious faith seriously - by which I mean, when they understand that for some people it's real and meaningful, and can reasonably be expected to affect values and behaviours - and Kelly very much achieves that here too, with a range of portrayals of the Catholic faith, including one of someone who desperately wants to believe but has thus far been unable to. My only complaint might be that the solution to the mystery and the climax of the plot alike rely on two different thriller tropes which have been overused, and although Kelly deploys them skilfully, the sense of familiarity is still disappointing in a book that otherwise knows exactly what it's doing, and how to deliver. Thanks to NetGalley for the eARC for review! The Night Stairs was published on 9 July 2026.
July 9, 2026
St. Cordula’s is a chilling blend of gothic mystery, psychological suspense, and supernatural folklore set within the haunting confines of a centuries-old Catholic boarding school.
As Deputy Head Fiona Fox struggles to save the struggling institution through controversial change, she finds herself confronting a terrifying legend that refuses to stay buried.
The annual ritual of repainting the words “GOD FORGIVE ME,” left by the doomed fifteenth-century nun Sister Matilda before her fatal fall, creates an eerie sense of dread from the very beginning. When the ritual is broken and the students once again begin suffering mysterious attacks of vertigo, the novel builds suspense with mounting tension and a pervasive atmosphere of unease.
What makes the book compelling is the way it balances its supernatural elements with human secrets. The return of the vertigo forces long-buried truths back into the light, and the revelation that only three people know what really happened during the 2002 tragedy adds an irresistible layer of intrigue. Fiona is a sympathetic and determined protagonist whose race against time gives the story emotional weight alongside its chilling mystery.
Rich in atmosphere, filled with dark secrets, and driven by an engaging mystery, St. Cordula’s is an absorbing read for fans of gothic fiction and supernatural thrillers. It delivers plenty of suspense while exploring themes of guilt, tradition, faith, and the devastating consequences of the past refusing to stay buried.
As Deputy Head Fiona Fox struggles to save the struggling institution through controversial change, she finds herself confronting a terrifying legend that refuses to stay buried.
The annual ritual of repainting the words “GOD FORGIVE ME,” left by the doomed fifteenth-century nun Sister Matilda before her fatal fall, creates an eerie sense of dread from the very beginning. When the ritual is broken and the students once again begin suffering mysterious attacks of vertigo, the novel builds suspense with mounting tension and a pervasive atmosphere of unease.
What makes the book compelling is the way it balances its supernatural elements with human secrets. The return of the vertigo forces long-buried truths back into the light, and the revelation that only three people know what really happened during the 2002 tragedy adds an irresistible layer of intrigue. Fiona is a sympathetic and determined protagonist whose race against time gives the story emotional weight alongside its chilling mystery.
Rich in atmosphere, filled with dark secrets, and driven by an engaging mystery, St. Cordula’s is an absorbing read for fans of gothic fiction and supernatural thrillers. It delivers plenty of suspense while exploring themes of guilt, tradition, faith, and the devastating consequences of the past refusing to stay buried.
February 7, 2026
4.75
A woohoohoooooo this rocked. I loved the way it both explored and moved on the stories of mass psychogenic illness; the depth and resonance of tradition and class and faith and all the ways they envelop each other; the gasping joy and desperation of teen girl friendship.
It had all the classic Erin Kelly twists and turns that reveal themselves slowly. They mostly got me and the ones that I guessed didn’t spoil the surprise. I think that there could have been a bit better pacing with the motivations of one of the girls earlier on but it’s only a small quibble.
Weirdly the third book in six months I’ve read about girls boarding schools and mysterious stair based death (spoiled milk)/ boarding schools and MPI (havoc). All great in different ways. This I do think was the most self assured and riotous to read. Erin Kelly the woman you are!
Erin Kelly you are so good
A woohoohoooooo this rocked. I loved the way it both explored and moved on the stories of mass psychogenic illness; the depth and resonance of tradition and class and faith and all the ways they envelop each other; the gasping joy and desperation of teen girl friendship.
It had all the classic Erin Kelly twists and turns that reveal themselves slowly. They mostly got me and the ones that I guessed didn’t spoil the surprise. I think that there could have been a bit better pacing with the motivations of one of the girls earlier on but it’s only a small quibble.
Weirdly the third book in six months I’ve read about girls boarding schools and mysterious stair based death (spoiled milk)/ boarding schools and MPI (havoc). All great in different ways. This I do think was the most self assured and riotous to read. Erin Kelly the woman you are!
Erin Kelly you are so good
July 19, 2026
This is a fabulously addictive gothic-style mystery book set in St. Cordula's, a boarding school.
The school has stood for centuries; there are mysteries, secrets and also another interesting phenomenon, "the spins"! Generations of families have sent their girls to the school, but in this modern age, things need to change, and there is a change on the horizon.
The author brings the school to life and creates it as a character in itself; as such, the bricks hold the secrets, and the rumours are continued by the girls who attend. Some of the teachers were students themselves, so they are also aware of things that have happened.
The setting is great for the gothic feel for this mystery story, and there is murder, who, when, why and all the other reasons are gradually explained along with the other mysteries that surround the school. There is a certain sense of dread throughout and of things that send shivers up your spine.
This is a fabulous book full of mystery, suspense and several twists. I thoroughly enjoyed it, and I would definitely recommend it.
The school has stood for centuries; there are mysteries, secrets and also another interesting phenomenon, "the spins"! Generations of families have sent their girls to the school, but in this modern age, things need to change, and there is a change on the horizon.
The author brings the school to life and creates it as a character in itself; as such, the bricks hold the secrets, and the rumours are continued by the girls who attend. Some of the teachers were students themselves, so they are also aware of things that have happened.
The setting is great for the gothic feel for this mystery story, and there is murder, who, when, why and all the other reasons are gradually explained along with the other mysteries that surround the school. There is a certain sense of dread throughout and of things that send shivers up your spine.
This is a fabulous book full of mystery, suspense and several twists. I thoroughly enjoyed it, and I would definitely recommend it.
Read
July 10, 2026not a stellar entry into what is accidentally becoming my big year of boarding school books, but that's okay ! fr me, its sins were venial and will, along w most likely the bulk of the book, be easily & swiftly forgotten.
March 21, 2026
so fucking incredible. rtc.
Read
July 16, 2026Erin Kelly always delivers a compelling, satisfying read. I very much enjoyed the boarding school setting.
July 22, 2026
Really enjoyed this, was fun and spooky.
July 9, 2026
There is something about the boarding school novel that never quite loses its grip. Perhaps it's the promise of adventure without the parents. Danger, yes, but curfewed danger. Erin Kelly understands this tension completely, and in The Night Stairs she does something rather brilliant with it: she takes the classic boarding school novel and locks it in a room with a proper, creeping mystery, then sets the whole thing loose across two timelines and a school that has been doggedly keeping its own secrets since 1839.
Kelly sets the tone before the story even starts. The book opens with an epigraph from the priest in Fleabag, delivering his one-word instruction, "kneel." From that alone, you know exactly what you're in for. Kelly has a wonderfully dry comic touch. For a novel dealing in dead nuns and disappearing pupils, it is, genuinely, a dark delight.
St Cordula's Roman Catholic School for Girls occupies a Yorkshire valley shaped by six centuries of Catholic history. It is a place, Kelly tells us early on, that is "less a collection of buildings than one of standing stones excavated from the North Yorkshire Moors." Ravens nest in its ramparts. Its convent, its abbey, its founding saint who almost certainly never existed: all of it is history the girls are meant to absorb without question. Running through the middle of the building, connecting the headmistress's rooms to the old abbey, are the night stairs themselves: narrow, uneven, and the site of a boarding school ritual so persistent that even the staff won't walk near them after dark.
The Night Stairs is structured in four parts named for books of the Bible: Genesis, Acts, Exodus and Revelation. Within them, Kelly threads two timelines. One runs through the present day across a single tense week of weekdays. The other runs from 1997 to 2002, tracking a group of pupils as they arrive as eleven-year-olds and grow into the girls, and then the women, they become.
Each chapter is told from a particular character's point of view, and Kelly populates the novel with a fabulous ensemble. There is Jessica, the bookish scholarship girl with a passion for old things and nineteenth-century novels, and Becks, who is furious, funny, sharp-tongued, class-conscious, and quietly working through her own sexuality long before the people around her begin to understand it. Becks’ obsessive book mapping and the “Book of Books” she gradually builds with Jessica, hiding floor plans of Manderley, Thornfield Hall, and Salem beneath a mattress, are among the most tender depictions of a certain kind of private, all-consuming reader-love I’ve come across.
Kelly's secondary characters are just as memorable. Persey rebels against expectation with a Joan of Arc haircut and razor-sharp wit, while Marisol, in red lipstick, black clothes and what Kelly memorably describes as "hip-hop levels of religious bling", steals every scene she's in. Then there is Greer, the housemistress turned headmistress, forty-two and devout, mothering "dozens" of girls she'll never bear herself.
I cannot forget Fiona, the present-day deputy head, who was a pupil here once under a different name entirely, and who has spent years making sure nobody recognises her. This last thread is the engine of the whole novel. Fiona's reinvention (a broken nose reset to resemble someone else's, four stone gained, and hair gone silver early) isn't vanity. It's armour. Kelly lets us sit in the discomfort of not knowing why for a very long time, doling out fragments: a shredded school magazine, a locked door she cannot bring herself to walk through, a confession overheard in an empty chapel, until the pressure becomes almost unbearable.
The present-day plot kicks off properly when a wave of what the school calls "the spins", clinically known as mass psychogenic illness, sweeps through the pupils, exactly as it did once before, in the year the past timeline begins. At the heart of the legend is Sister Matilda, a novitiate said to have died on the night stairs centuries ago. The ritual attached to her, which involves saying her name three times in a mirror and climbing the stairs after lights out, has the particular, sticky power of a story that everyone claims not to believe and nobody can quite let go of. Kelly is very good on why. "Only God turns stories into stone," Fiona thinks, standing in the abbey, and it's as good a thesis statement for the whole novel as any.
What makes the "spins" so compelling is that Kelly refuses to treat them as either simple superstition or medical curiosity. Instead, they become a way of exploring the stories institutions tell, the secrets young women inherit, and the ways bodies sometimes articulate what words cannot. The novel keeps returning to the uneasy relationship between narrative and belief, whether that narrative is religious, historical or psychological.
What I loved most is how unsentimental Kelly is about faith, institutions and the stories communities tell to survive. Mother Imelda's decades of discipline and denial versus Greer's radical, sometimes overextended, compassion. The scandal-scarred boys' school St Cordula's is being forced to merge with. The class and race politics running beneath the surface of a "traditional intake". None of it is delivered as a lecture. It arrives sideways, in throwaway lines and overheard staffroom conversations, the way institutional rot actually reveals itself.
Kelly also has enormous fun with the literary bones of her own novel. Carrie, The Crucible, Never Let Me Go, Rebecca, the Brontës and even Jilly Cooper all appear naturally through what the girls are reading, rather than as decorative references. It's exactly the sort of bibliophile Easter egg that makes a novel like this such a pleasure.
Without spoiling the mechanics of the final act, and there is a properly nasty, brilliantly constructed twist buried in there that recontextualises the entire "spins" plot, The Night Stairs earns its gothic trappings by grounding them in very human motives: guilt, ambition, the lengths people go to protect the people and institutions they love, and the way trauma gets inherited by an entire community even when only a handful of people know the truth. It's a locked-room mystery dressed in a school uniform, and it is, genuinely, a hoot, right up until it very much isn't.
If you love boarding school fiction with a proper gothic spine, layered mysteries, literary references and characters who feel vividly alive, The Night Stairs is an easy recommendation. Kelly takes familiar ingredients, including haunted schools, Catholic ritual, adolescent friendships and old secrets, and turns them into something surprisingly fresh. Beneath the mystery sits a thoughtful novel about the stories people create, inherit and choose to believe, and about the extraordinary power those stories have to shape lives.
The Night Stairs is funny, unsettling, emotionally generous and, by the final pages, genuinely moving. Very much worth the climb. #pudseyrecommends
Thanks to Random House UK, Vintage | Harvilland & NetGalley for the ARC.
Kelly sets the tone before the story even starts. The book opens with an epigraph from the priest in Fleabag, delivering his one-word instruction, "kneel." From that alone, you know exactly what you're in for. Kelly has a wonderfully dry comic touch. For a novel dealing in dead nuns and disappearing pupils, it is, genuinely, a dark delight.
St Cordula's Roman Catholic School for Girls occupies a Yorkshire valley shaped by six centuries of Catholic history. It is a place, Kelly tells us early on, that is "less a collection of buildings than one of standing stones excavated from the North Yorkshire Moors." Ravens nest in its ramparts. Its convent, its abbey, its founding saint who almost certainly never existed: all of it is history the girls are meant to absorb without question. Running through the middle of the building, connecting the headmistress's rooms to the old abbey, are the night stairs themselves: narrow, uneven, and the site of a boarding school ritual so persistent that even the staff won't walk near them after dark.
The Night Stairs is structured in four parts named for books of the Bible: Genesis, Acts, Exodus and Revelation. Within them, Kelly threads two timelines. One runs through the present day across a single tense week of weekdays. The other runs from 1997 to 2002, tracking a group of pupils as they arrive as eleven-year-olds and grow into the girls, and then the women, they become.
Each chapter is told from a particular character's point of view, and Kelly populates the novel with a fabulous ensemble. There is Jessica, the bookish scholarship girl with a passion for old things and nineteenth-century novels, and Becks, who is furious, funny, sharp-tongued, class-conscious, and quietly working through her own sexuality long before the people around her begin to understand it. Becks’ obsessive book mapping and the “Book of Books” she gradually builds with Jessica, hiding floor plans of Manderley, Thornfield Hall, and Salem beneath a mattress, are among the most tender depictions of a certain kind of private, all-consuming reader-love I’ve come across.
Kelly's secondary characters are just as memorable. Persey rebels against expectation with a Joan of Arc haircut and razor-sharp wit, while Marisol, in red lipstick, black clothes and what Kelly memorably describes as "hip-hop levels of religious bling", steals every scene she's in. Then there is Greer, the housemistress turned headmistress, forty-two and devout, mothering "dozens" of girls she'll never bear herself.
I cannot forget Fiona, the present-day deputy head, who was a pupil here once under a different name entirely, and who has spent years making sure nobody recognises her. This last thread is the engine of the whole novel. Fiona's reinvention (a broken nose reset to resemble someone else's, four stone gained, and hair gone silver early) isn't vanity. It's armour. Kelly lets us sit in the discomfort of not knowing why for a very long time, doling out fragments: a shredded school magazine, a locked door she cannot bring herself to walk through, a confession overheard in an empty chapel, until the pressure becomes almost unbearable.
The present-day plot kicks off properly when a wave of what the school calls "the spins", clinically known as mass psychogenic illness, sweeps through the pupils, exactly as it did once before, in the year the past timeline begins. At the heart of the legend is Sister Matilda, a novitiate said to have died on the night stairs centuries ago. The ritual attached to her, which involves saying her name three times in a mirror and climbing the stairs after lights out, has the particular, sticky power of a story that everyone claims not to believe and nobody can quite let go of. Kelly is very good on why. "Only God turns stories into stone," Fiona thinks, standing in the abbey, and it's as good a thesis statement for the whole novel as any.
What makes the "spins" so compelling is that Kelly refuses to treat them as either simple superstition or medical curiosity. Instead, they become a way of exploring the stories institutions tell, the secrets young women inherit, and the ways bodies sometimes articulate what words cannot. The novel keeps returning to the uneasy relationship between narrative and belief, whether that narrative is religious, historical or psychological.
What I loved most is how unsentimental Kelly is about faith, institutions and the stories communities tell to survive. Mother Imelda's decades of discipline and denial versus Greer's radical, sometimes overextended, compassion. The scandal-scarred boys' school St Cordula's is being forced to merge with. The class and race politics running beneath the surface of a "traditional intake". None of it is delivered as a lecture. It arrives sideways, in throwaway lines and overheard staffroom conversations, the way institutional rot actually reveals itself.
Kelly also has enormous fun with the literary bones of her own novel. Carrie, The Crucible, Never Let Me Go, Rebecca, the Brontës and even Jilly Cooper all appear naturally through what the girls are reading, rather than as decorative references. It's exactly the sort of bibliophile Easter egg that makes a novel like this such a pleasure.
Without spoiling the mechanics of the final act, and there is a properly nasty, brilliantly constructed twist buried in there that recontextualises the entire "spins" plot, The Night Stairs earns its gothic trappings by grounding them in very human motives: guilt, ambition, the lengths people go to protect the people and institutions they love, and the way trauma gets inherited by an entire community even when only a handful of people know the truth. It's a locked-room mystery dressed in a school uniform, and it is, genuinely, a hoot, right up until it very much isn't.
If you love boarding school fiction with a proper gothic spine, layered mysteries, literary references and characters who feel vividly alive, The Night Stairs is an easy recommendation. Kelly takes familiar ingredients, including haunted schools, Catholic ritual, adolescent friendships and old secrets, and turns them into something surprisingly fresh. Beneath the mystery sits a thoughtful novel about the stories people create, inherit and choose to believe, and about the extraordinary power those stories have to shape lives.
The Night Stairs is funny, unsettling, emotionally generous and, by the final pages, genuinely moving. Very much worth the climb. #pudseyrecommends
Thanks to Random House UK, Vintage | Harvilland & NetGalley for the ARC.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
This was an all-consuming, claustrophobic, gothic, dark academia style thriller. I am obsessed.
At an isolated Catholic boarding school for girls, legend has it that a long-deceased nun, Sister Matilda, keeps the school safe if her words “God forgive me” are kept chalked at the top of the stairs on the wall of the night chapel. The school is going through a tricky time with a merger, and deputy head, Fiona Fox is at the helm of it, and suddenly the girls are experiencing “the spins”, a mass psychogenic illness that spreads through the school. This has happened before, when the words on the wall were allowed to fade about 20 years ago, and ended in an incident so terrible that it is only revealed in parts to us as we flash back into the past. Fiona has to get her school in order before its secrets are uncovered.
Right from the opening page, this book was so uncomfortably familiar to me. I went to a Catholic boarding school (albeit it as a day girl) on the edge of the North Yorkshire moors that was set in a valley where “valley fever” was a widely talked about school issue. It was so eerily similar to my school experience (minus the more extreme version of the mass hysteria that affects the school) that I actually turned to Ben to ask if I had written this without realising! I was drawing parallels here, there and everywhere, and my actual school was name-dropped not that far into the book which was a surreal experience.
I was utterly enthralled by this book. Clearly it felt true to life for me, and not just from the eerie parallels.
While the story sounds like a basic adolescent YA dark academia novel, having teachers’ perspectives makes it that bit more grown up. Those of us who grew up reading the coming of age boarding school books are now the grown ups, and while it’s vaguely thrilling to look back at the intensity and toxicity of those teenage years, we now find ourselves identifying just as much with the adults. But now these adults are “trapped” back in a world they never really left. I know how easy that would be - the valley always draws you back. The adults are supposed to be grown up, saving the school from financial ruin (is that ever truer for private schools than right now!), but they still feel juvenile - I’ve never seen anyone describe valley fever in a more true to life way.
Looking at the other reviews, there is some discourse about what’s known as “dead lesbian syndrome”, and I can absolutely see where this is coming from. It’s a harmful stereotype and as such, the storyline needs to be careful not to fall into the trap of framing its only queer characters through a villainous or tragic lens. However, looking at it from the perspective of the fictional characters - this viewpoint is so true to how anyone even vaguely suspected of having anything outside of totally straight attractions might have been perceived. Having been in a Catholic boarding school in the 90s and 00s, if you were slightly different, you were classed as one of the weird ones, and for some reason, the narrative went down the path that you must be lesbian - and that was a “bad thing”. I’m definitely not saying this is okay - this is the context this story is written in and it feels so true to life for me. Even the adults in this story still act like children, they’re party to all kinds of deceptions and lies - and keeping them that way demonstrates their immaturity. They might be talking about school mergers and financial difficulties, but at the end of the day, from the lay teachers to the nuns, they’re people abusing their positions of power for their own gain. They’re stuck in their ways from their youth, the same way that they’re stuck in the valley.
I get that it’s tricky to navigate this trope, and it’s a valid conversation to have. But in my eyes, erasing that element would mean sanitising the very real prejudices of that specific era and environment. The story relies on showing how that toxicity breeds
Aside from all of the above, the story was told so well. I love a good thriller, and this one was next level for me. It was dark and twisty. It also had similarities to stories from my all-time favourite author, Carol Goodman in her books like The Lake of Dead Languages. It throws you back into the past, then into the present, the story paralleling the reading experience as you flip-flop between timelines and perspectives so you feel like the poor girls experiencing the spins.
It’s not yet published but I’ve already recommended it to an old school friend, and will probably mention it to a handful more. Maybe I just connected so well with the story thanks to how well I knew this type of life, but it was such a brilliant all-consuming book.
Thank you to Netgalley, the author and the publishers for an ARC of this book.
At an isolated Catholic boarding school for girls, legend has it that a long-deceased nun, Sister Matilda, keeps the school safe if her words “God forgive me” are kept chalked at the top of the stairs on the wall of the night chapel. The school is going through a tricky time with a merger, and deputy head, Fiona Fox is at the helm of it, and suddenly the girls are experiencing “the spins”, a mass psychogenic illness that spreads through the school. This has happened before, when the words on the wall were allowed to fade about 20 years ago, and ended in an incident so terrible that it is only revealed in parts to us as we flash back into the past. Fiona has to get her school in order before its secrets are uncovered.
Right from the opening page, this book was so uncomfortably familiar to me. I went to a Catholic boarding school (albeit it as a day girl) on the edge of the North Yorkshire moors that was set in a valley where “valley fever” was a widely talked about school issue. It was so eerily similar to my school experience (minus the more extreme version of the mass hysteria that affects the school) that I actually turned to Ben to ask if I had written this without realising! I was drawing parallels here, there and everywhere, and my actual school was name-dropped not that far into the book which was a surreal experience.
I was utterly enthralled by this book. Clearly it felt true to life for me, and not just from the eerie parallels.
While the story sounds like a basic adolescent YA dark academia novel, having teachers’ perspectives makes it that bit more grown up. Those of us who grew up reading the coming of age boarding school books are now the grown ups, and while it’s vaguely thrilling to look back at the intensity and toxicity of those teenage years, we now find ourselves identifying just as much with the adults. But now these adults are “trapped” back in a world they never really left. I know how easy that would be - the valley always draws you back. The adults are supposed to be grown up, saving the school from financial ruin (is that ever truer for private schools than right now!), but they still feel juvenile - I’ve never seen anyone describe valley fever in a more true to life way.
Looking at the other reviews, there is some discourse about what’s known as “dead lesbian syndrome”, and I can absolutely see where this is coming from. It’s a harmful stereotype and as such, the storyline needs to be careful not to fall into the trap of framing its only queer characters through a villainous or tragic lens. However, looking at it from the perspective of the fictional characters - this viewpoint is so true to how anyone even vaguely suspected of having anything outside of totally straight attractions might have been perceived. Having been in a Catholic boarding school in the 90s and 00s, if you were slightly different, you were classed as one of the weird ones, and for some reason, the narrative went down the path that you must be lesbian - and that was a “bad thing”. I’m definitely not saying this is okay - this is the context this story is written in and it feels so true to life for me. Even the adults in this story still act like children, they’re party to all kinds of deceptions and lies - and keeping them that way demonstrates their immaturity. They might be talking about school mergers and financial difficulties, but at the end of the day, from the lay teachers to the nuns, they’re people abusing their positions of power for their own gain. They’re stuck in their ways from their youth, the same way that they’re stuck in the valley.
I get that it’s tricky to navigate this trope, and it’s a valid conversation to have. But in my eyes, erasing that element would mean sanitising the very real prejudices of that specific era and environment. The story relies on showing how that toxicity breeds
Aside from all of the above, the story was told so well. I love a good thriller, and this one was next level for me. It was dark and twisty. It also had similarities to stories from my all-time favourite author, Carol Goodman in her books like The Lake of Dead Languages. It throws you back into the past, then into the present, the story paralleling the reading experience as you flip-flop between timelines and perspectives so you feel like the poor girls experiencing the spins.
It’s not yet published but I’ve already recommended it to an old school friend, and will probably mention it to a handful more. Maybe I just connected so well with the story thanks to how well I knew this type of life, but it was such a brilliant all-consuming book.
Thank you to Netgalley, the author and the publishers for an ARC of this book.
July 10, 2026
I love Erin Kelly’s writing and a new novel from this author is always a must read for me. The Night Stairs blends gothic suspense and psychological intrigue with the corrosive power of secrets, all mixed together in a girl’s boarding school.
Set in St Cordula’s, a centuries old Catholic boarding school for girls threatened by closure and modernisation, the novel centres on a supposedly cursed staircase, a dead schoolgirl and a mysterious outbreak of vertigo which everyone calls ‘The Spins’
The Spins are born from the Sister Matilda legend which has become the schools own ghost story. According to school legend, Sister Matilda was a fifteenth-century nun who fell to her death on the staircase known as the “night stairs.” Before she died, she supposedly wrote the words “GOD FORGIVE ME” on the wall. The pupils believe that Sister Matilda’s spirit protects the school, but only if those words are repainted every year. When, in 2002, the words were allowed to fade, a pupil died after falling down the stairs and a mysterious outbreak of ‘the spins’ spread through the school. Now the vertigo is making a reappearance with the current set of pupils.
The Night Stairs is a dual timeline story, set in the present day and in 2002.
St. Cordula’s traditions are both comforting and threatening. Eerie corridors, shadowy staircases and religious cubicles dominate the school. The image of the fading words “GOD FORGIVE ME” stands as a symbol of guilt and a reminder that the past is never really buried. The atmosphere is so well done. The whole way through, the novel gives off a palpable sense that something is wrong in this school, and that unease shines out from every page.
I enjoyed Erin Kelly’s exploration of the tension between faith and superstition, questioning whether the school’s troubles stem from a genuine curse, collective psychology or something far more human. The Catholic backdrop also intensifies themes of guilt, confession, sin and redemption.
At the heart of the novel is Fiona Fox. As Deputy Head, she is responsible for guiding St Cordula’s through a period of enormous change, yet she is also haunted by events from the past. Fiona carries secrets with her and those secrets give this story its emotional heft. She’s not an especially likeable character, perhaps because she keeps herself so closed off, so it is hard to really empathise with her.
As the present vertigo outbreak spreads, it’s clear there are too many similarities with the earlier outbreak to ignore. As we learn more about the events of the past, a theme of betrayal emerges. Friends betray friends. Staff betray pupils. The school betrays those it was supposed to protect. Fiona Fox knows the truth, now she has to choose between loyalty and truth.
The Night Stairs is a gothic mystery of the human secrets that lie beneath a haunting myth. A centuries old curse may be what sends the pupils spinning but the real curse lies in what people are willing to do to protect themselves and the reputation of St Cordula’s.
The novel does rely on secrecy rather than investigation to sustain suspense. Fiona’s reluctance to confront her past slows the pace, especially in the middle section, and several of the supporting characters never really emerge as fully formed characters.
Yet I still think that the atmosphere, sense of place and psychological insight are incredibly well done. By the final section, the novel reaches an intense and surprising climax that absolutely fits the plot but which I did not see coming.
Verdict: Atmospheric, Gothic, and full of insight into the world of what it’s like to be in a formally religious Catholic girls school, The Night Stairs is intelligent, dark and immersive.
Set in St Cordula’s, a centuries old Catholic boarding school for girls threatened by closure and modernisation, the novel centres on a supposedly cursed staircase, a dead schoolgirl and a mysterious outbreak of vertigo which everyone calls ‘The Spins’
The Spins are born from the Sister Matilda legend which has become the schools own ghost story. According to school legend, Sister Matilda was a fifteenth-century nun who fell to her death on the staircase known as the “night stairs.” Before she died, she supposedly wrote the words “GOD FORGIVE ME” on the wall. The pupils believe that Sister Matilda’s spirit protects the school, but only if those words are repainted every year. When, in 2002, the words were allowed to fade, a pupil died after falling down the stairs and a mysterious outbreak of ‘the spins’ spread through the school. Now the vertigo is making a reappearance with the current set of pupils.
The Night Stairs is a dual timeline story, set in the present day and in 2002.
St. Cordula’s traditions are both comforting and threatening. Eerie corridors, shadowy staircases and religious cubicles dominate the school. The image of the fading words “GOD FORGIVE ME” stands as a symbol of guilt and a reminder that the past is never really buried. The atmosphere is so well done. The whole way through, the novel gives off a palpable sense that something is wrong in this school, and that unease shines out from every page.
I enjoyed Erin Kelly’s exploration of the tension between faith and superstition, questioning whether the school’s troubles stem from a genuine curse, collective psychology or something far more human. The Catholic backdrop also intensifies themes of guilt, confession, sin and redemption.
At the heart of the novel is Fiona Fox. As Deputy Head, she is responsible for guiding St Cordula’s through a period of enormous change, yet she is also haunted by events from the past. Fiona carries secrets with her and those secrets give this story its emotional heft. She’s not an especially likeable character, perhaps because she keeps herself so closed off, so it is hard to really empathise with her.
As the present vertigo outbreak spreads, it’s clear there are too many similarities with the earlier outbreak to ignore. As we learn more about the events of the past, a theme of betrayal emerges. Friends betray friends. Staff betray pupils. The school betrays those it was supposed to protect. Fiona Fox knows the truth, now she has to choose between loyalty and truth.
The Night Stairs is a gothic mystery of the human secrets that lie beneath a haunting myth. A centuries old curse may be what sends the pupils spinning but the real curse lies in what people are willing to do to protect themselves and the reputation of St Cordula’s.
The novel does rely on secrecy rather than investigation to sustain suspense. Fiona’s reluctance to confront her past slows the pace, especially in the middle section, and several of the supporting characters never really emerge as fully formed characters.
Yet I still think that the atmosphere, sense of place and psychological insight are incredibly well done. By the final section, the novel reaches an intense and surprising climax that absolutely fits the plot but which I did not see coming.
Verdict: Atmospheric, Gothic, and full of insight into the world of what it’s like to be in a formally religious Catholic girls school, The Night Stairs is intelligent, dark and immersive.
February 25, 2026
I'm giving four stars (really 3.5, but hey, I'll curve over this time round) but only on the proviso that this advance release copy given to me by Random House and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review didn't come with a map and, once the map is added to the mix, it'll be easier to follow the Cordulans at play.
Kelly is a great fan of the dual narrative. For those who seek nostalgia, they will find, as we join a school that is shrouded in rumour and intrigue. The context: one girl , a sister in the 15th Century fell down the Night Stairs of a chapel a broken woman with an eerie message - God forgive me, thereafter becoming part of religious folklore forever more. Now a private boarding school, it suffered its biggest existential crisis when a second girl, haunted by the 'spins' (a complicated, red-herring which I found the hardest part of the book to adjust to), perished in the same way. For teacher Fiona Fox (I recently read 'Fox' by Carol Joyce Oates, so the similarity to fellow educator Francis Fox did unnerve me, somewhat), her loyalty to the school is vocational, even if she's without the faith that sustains the school. This shall not pass once again on her watch.
So we flit between the hallowed days of 2001-2, when the school faced its initial crisis and on to 2022, where the current cohort (which includes Buffy Summers - great name) seem to be in the throes of mania. The sickness is back but, like always, Erin Kelly's antiheroine is determined to suss out what could be causing this and protect herself... but, why?
I like that the book has one star through to five star reviews. Someone described this as pseudo-intellectual, with the use of polysyllabic words peppered in. I'd say this book is wrapped in dark academia and therefore, needs that sense of intellectual curiosity. It also, of course, has plenty, pleeeeeenty of pomp and pageantry. Why not? As Kelly has an eye for nostalgia (the vibes of a film like Cruel Intentions is on show here), there's a pleasing tribute to bonkbuster extraordinare Jilly Cooper (I also like that Kelly referenced 'bonkbuster' at least once) to ensure that the book gets people with the rose-tinted lenses of the past. With 83 chapters, this is not a breezy read and further criticisms that the narrative back and forth doesn't always flow are entirely valid.
Finally, some are livid with the ending. No spoilers here but it was definitely a choice and is indicative that the characters in a Kelly novel are 'okay' on the surface level but are evidently living in purgatory. Finally, at least one person has revealed the final line, which is a shame because it's a really excellent line that nicely summarises the black, jaded humour that guides her antiheroines.
Overall, a claustrophobic, gothic read that took a lot of ambition to get down on paper. As I summarised to the author: Your characters really do have to leave their inhibitions at the door, jettison their moral compass out the window and, if we talk religious fervour, bury their secrets, all the while knowing that a pact is only as steady as those who maintain it and that actions really do have consequences...
Kelly is a great fan of the dual narrative. For those who seek nostalgia, they will find, as we join a school that is shrouded in rumour and intrigue. The context: one girl , a sister in the 15th Century fell down the Night Stairs of a chapel a broken woman with an eerie message - God forgive me, thereafter becoming part of religious folklore forever more. Now a private boarding school, it suffered its biggest existential crisis when a second girl, haunted by the 'spins' (a complicated, red-herring which I found the hardest part of the book to adjust to), perished in the same way. For teacher Fiona Fox (I recently read 'Fox' by Carol Joyce Oates, so the similarity to fellow educator Francis Fox did unnerve me, somewhat), her loyalty to the school is vocational, even if she's without the faith that sustains the school. This shall not pass once again on her watch.
So we flit between the hallowed days of 2001-2, when the school faced its initial crisis and on to 2022, where the current cohort (which includes Buffy Summers - great name) seem to be in the throes of mania. The sickness is back but, like always, Erin Kelly's antiheroine is determined to suss out what could be causing this and protect herself... but, why?
I like that the book has one star through to five star reviews. Someone described this as pseudo-intellectual, with the use of polysyllabic words peppered in. I'd say this book is wrapped in dark academia and therefore, needs that sense of intellectual curiosity. It also, of course, has plenty, pleeeeeenty of pomp and pageantry. Why not? As Kelly has an eye for nostalgia (the vibes of a film like Cruel Intentions is on show here), there's a pleasing tribute to bonkbuster extraordinare Jilly Cooper (I also like that Kelly referenced 'bonkbuster' at least once) to ensure that the book gets people with the rose-tinted lenses of the past. With 83 chapters, this is not a breezy read and further criticisms that the narrative back and forth doesn't always flow are entirely valid.
Finally, some are livid with the ending. No spoilers here but it was definitely a choice and is indicative that the characters in a Kelly novel are 'okay' on the surface level but are evidently living in purgatory. Finally, at least one person has revealed the final line, which is a shame because it's a really excellent line that nicely summarises the black, jaded humour that guides her antiheroines.
Overall, a claustrophobic, gothic read that took a lot of ambition to get down on paper. As I summarised to the author: Your characters really do have to leave their inhibitions at the door, jettison their moral compass out the window and, if we talk religious fervour, bury their secrets, all the while knowing that a pact is only as steady as those who maintain it and that actions really do have consequences...
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
3.5
Thanks to NetGalley and Harvill for the advanced copy of this title in return for an honest review.
I've only read one Erin Kelly book - He Said She Said - but I do own others, and this sounded really promising.
The book I have read of hers was a thriller and whilst this is too in a way, and I do know it's set in modern times, it felt more historical and gothic. This ancient feeling like you were being led into this sacred historical age. It was completely different to what I was expecting.
You need your wits about you. It flits, not only between times, but also by character POV. So you've really got to keep on top of it otherwise you won't know when you are and who with.
It's a story that is about 95% female led, which was interesting. Most fiction books will have more of an even split, but being set in a single-sex school, this was obviously very heavy on females. There are a lot of characters and they could have easily merged together but they're very distinct. You can see so many familiar things in these girls and women, they all have relatable parts and that helps draw you in.
I've seen some complaints about the LGBTQ representation in this book, in very negative terms, by LGBTQ readers. Now, I will say right now that I will not belittle any of their opinions. But as a cis-gendered, heterosexual reader, the problems were not as obvious for me as they might have been for others. Having said that, I did feel some of the relationships between the girls were forced. They could have worked but they felt stereotypical and not really needed. For me, it didn't impact on my enjoyment of the story but I can completely understand why it might do for others.
The characters - children and teachers - were interesting to read. They're not all goodies or baddies - although some definitely lean more into one than the other. None of them are perfect by any means. And some are more likeable and nicer to read about. But I felt there were elements in all of them that most, female, readers could recognise, especially if you have experience in boarding schools of religious education.
I think it needs a detailed map, that would make the setting a bit easier to follow.
I'm not sure how I feel about the tone. It is a thriller, yes, but it feels like a gothic, historical one. There's flashbacks but only to the late 1990s/early 2000s, and that's not historical in my books. The setting, the dialogue, the characters, everything felt old. It was so historical and archaic and I loved that but then there were mobile phones, and it jarred. It never comfortably fit into one tone or another for me.
There is a twist, but I'd read about it before I got to it, so I can't say 100% whether it's obvious or not because I already know about it. But on reflection, I don't think it's an obvious one. I was certainly quite surprised by it, but I wish it had come in a bit earlier.
This is only my second of her books but I do own others and she is definitely an interesting author for slightly unique thrillers, even if this one wasn't quite as heart racing or tense as I was hoping.
Thanks to NetGalley and Harvill for the advanced copy of this title in return for an honest review.
I've only read one Erin Kelly book - He Said She Said - but I do own others, and this sounded really promising.
The book I have read of hers was a thriller and whilst this is too in a way, and I do know it's set in modern times, it felt more historical and gothic. This ancient feeling like you were being led into this sacred historical age. It was completely different to what I was expecting.
You need your wits about you. It flits, not only between times, but also by character POV. So you've really got to keep on top of it otherwise you won't know when you are and who with.
It's a story that is about 95% female led, which was interesting. Most fiction books will have more of an even split, but being set in a single-sex school, this was obviously very heavy on females. There are a lot of characters and they could have easily merged together but they're very distinct. You can see so many familiar things in these girls and women, they all have relatable parts and that helps draw you in.
I've seen some complaints about the LGBTQ representation in this book, in very negative terms, by LGBTQ readers. Now, I will say right now that I will not belittle any of their opinions. But as a cis-gendered, heterosexual reader, the problems were not as obvious for me as they might have been for others. Having said that, I did feel some of the relationships between the girls were forced. They could have worked but they felt stereotypical and not really needed. For me, it didn't impact on my enjoyment of the story but I can completely understand why it might do for others.
The characters - children and teachers - were interesting to read. They're not all goodies or baddies - although some definitely lean more into one than the other. None of them are perfect by any means. And some are more likeable and nicer to read about. But I felt there were elements in all of them that most, female, readers could recognise, especially if you have experience in boarding schools of religious education.
I think it needs a detailed map, that would make the setting a bit easier to follow.
I'm not sure how I feel about the tone. It is a thriller, yes, but it feels like a gothic, historical one. There's flashbacks but only to the late 1990s/early 2000s, and that's not historical in my books. The setting, the dialogue, the characters, everything felt old. It was so historical and archaic and I loved that but then there were mobile phones, and it jarred. It never comfortably fit into one tone or another for me.
There is a twist, but I'd read about it before I got to it, so I can't say 100% whether it's obvious or not because I already know about it. But on reflection, I don't think it's an obvious one. I was certainly quite surprised by it, but I wish it had come in a bit earlier.
This is only my second of her books but I do own others and she is definitely an interesting author for slightly unique thrillers, even if this one wasn't quite as heart racing or tense as I was hoping.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
4+
St Cordula’s RC School, located on the North York Moors, is now a girls boarding school but was once a 15th century Nunnery, steeped in mystery and legend. One such legend refers to the ghost of a nun, Sister Matilda, who will only keep the inhabitant safe provided the words “God Forgive Me” remain visible at the top of the night stairs. These words faded just once and the consequence of that being the girls getting the spins and one falling to her death on the night stairs. However, perhaps that’s not the whole story as only three people know exactly what happens on that night.
In the present day, Deputy Head Fiona Fox is desperately trying to save the school from financial ruin and is overseeing a bold and controversial move. That’s not her only concern though as the spins are back and she has to not only save the school but prevent the death of another girl before old secrets reveal a scandalous past.
A new Erin Kelly is always a cause for celebration and her latest novel does not disappoint. The premise is great and what emerges is hugely atmospheric with the old convent, it’s legends, myths and traditions is the star of the show and I love its connection to the past. At times it’s Gothic and ghostly, it’s creepy and mysterious with tantalising back stories reinforcing the puzzles of the present. The setting gives so much scope which is utilised to the max. If you add in the dynamics between the girls, the friendships and the not quite so friendly (polite version), the manipulations and the holding down of secrets with the inclusion of the spins, it equates to a gripping storyline. The spins or Mass Psychogenic Illness (formerly mass hysteria) is an inventive and creative elements and I can picture it happening. The catholic element with the nuns and things such as the teaching of the Lives of Saints, some of which leave me quite speechless which, trust me, is a rare beast!
The characterisation is exemplary, there are quite a lot of them but as the author gives them their own uniqueness it’s easy to know who’s so and what motivates them. There’s a strong literary element too via three central characters which I absolutely love, as it’s a book lovers dream.
The novel has multiple layers, it’s very well written, there are plenty of good twists and a satisfying end, although I’ve held back the full five stars because although it is a slow burner, at times it feels a tad drawn out.
Overall though, I do recommend this as it’s just that bit different.
With thanks to NetGalley and especially to Random House U.K., Vintage for the much appreciated early copy in return for an honest review.
St Cordula’s RC School, located on the North York Moors, is now a girls boarding school but was once a 15th century Nunnery, steeped in mystery and legend. One such legend refers to the ghost of a nun, Sister Matilda, who will only keep the inhabitant safe provided the words “God Forgive Me” remain visible at the top of the night stairs. These words faded just once and the consequence of that being the girls getting the spins and one falling to her death on the night stairs. However, perhaps that’s not the whole story as only three people know exactly what happens on that night.
In the present day, Deputy Head Fiona Fox is desperately trying to save the school from financial ruin and is overseeing a bold and controversial move. That’s not her only concern though as the spins are back and she has to not only save the school but prevent the death of another girl before old secrets reveal a scandalous past.
A new Erin Kelly is always a cause for celebration and her latest novel does not disappoint. The premise is great and what emerges is hugely atmospheric with the old convent, it’s legends, myths and traditions is the star of the show and I love its connection to the past. At times it’s Gothic and ghostly, it’s creepy and mysterious with tantalising back stories reinforcing the puzzles of the present. The setting gives so much scope which is utilised to the max. If you add in the dynamics between the girls, the friendships and the not quite so friendly (polite version), the manipulations and the holding down of secrets with the inclusion of the spins, it equates to a gripping storyline. The spins or Mass Psychogenic Illness (formerly mass hysteria) is an inventive and creative elements and I can picture it happening. The catholic element with the nuns and things such as the teaching of the Lives of Saints, some of which leave me quite speechless which, trust me, is a rare beast!
The characterisation is exemplary, there are quite a lot of them but as the author gives them their own uniqueness it’s easy to know who’s so and what motivates them. There’s a strong literary element too via three central characters which I absolutely love, as it’s a book lovers dream.
The novel has multiple layers, it’s very well written, there are plenty of good twists and a satisfying end, although I’ve held back the full five stars because although it is a slow burner, at times it feels a tad drawn out.
Overall though, I do recommend this as it’s just that bit different.
With thanks to NetGalley and especially to Random House U.K., Vintage for the much appreciated early copy in return for an honest review.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
4 Stars from me
Finding this book was a bit like finding a lost shoe as my mind swiftly drew back to a time when I devoured books like Malory Towers and St Clare's, fascinated by these other worlds inhabited by girls whose lives were so utterly different to my own.
The Night Stairs, for me, is the grown up version of these books with an added sprinkle of religion and Erin Kelly has delivered this beautifully by setting the story around a tight core of characters, within the boarding school setting.
There are familiar themes of entitlement, snobbery, bullying, tradition, coming of age, secrets and shame, set in the most wonderful backdrop of St Cordula's school which seemingly runs to the potentially outdated views of the nuns. But no matter how clued up and modern each new cohort of students is, they all fear the watchword of the ghost of Sister Matilda.
This felt like a long read, but the story was intelligently plotted and delivered and I was invested in the outcomes of both the girls and the school itself.
A big recommend from me for anyone who can remember reading 'just one more chapter of St Clare's or Malory Towers' when they were supposed to be sleeping.
My thanks to the author, Netgalley and Random House UK, Vintage |for an ARC in return for an honest review.
Blurb: When schoolgirls start fainting one after the other at a convent boarding school, old legends twist into new scandals. From irresistible bestselling storyteller Erin Kelly comes the new thriller that will leave you craving to read more.
Centuries of tradition are coming to an end at St Cordula's school. Deputy Head, Fiona Fox, is about to preside over a controversial move to save it from ruin. But it’s not easy to change things at a school this old. Legend has it that the ghost of fifteenth-century nun, Sister Matilda, will keep St Cordula’s safe. But only as long as the words ‘GOD FORGIVE ME’, scrawled by Matilda on a chapel staircase wall before she fell to her death, are repainted every year.
The words have only been allowed to fade once, in 2002. But then, fits of vertigo spread through the pupils, and a second girl fell to her death on the night stairs. Only three people know the truth of what happened on the night of the tragedy.
Now the vertigo is back, and Fiona must stem the outbreak before it threatens St Cordula’s future, or worse, another girl loses her life. But when one of her pupils begins a dangerous investigation into the past, old secrets start to twist into new scandals…
Finding this book was a bit like finding a lost shoe as my mind swiftly drew back to a time when I devoured books like Malory Towers and St Clare's, fascinated by these other worlds inhabited by girls whose lives were so utterly different to my own.
The Night Stairs, for me, is the grown up version of these books with an added sprinkle of religion and Erin Kelly has delivered this beautifully by setting the story around a tight core of characters, within the boarding school setting.
There are familiar themes of entitlement, snobbery, bullying, tradition, coming of age, secrets and shame, set in the most wonderful backdrop of St Cordula's school which seemingly runs to the potentially outdated views of the nuns. But no matter how clued up and modern each new cohort of students is, they all fear the watchword of the ghost of Sister Matilda.
This felt like a long read, but the story was intelligently plotted and delivered and I was invested in the outcomes of both the girls and the school itself.
A big recommend from me for anyone who can remember reading 'just one more chapter of St Clare's or Malory Towers' when they were supposed to be sleeping.
My thanks to the author, Netgalley and Random House UK, Vintage |for an ARC in return for an honest review.
Blurb: When schoolgirls start fainting one after the other at a convent boarding school, old legends twist into new scandals. From irresistible bestselling storyteller Erin Kelly comes the new thriller that will leave you craving to read more.
Centuries of tradition are coming to an end at St Cordula's school. Deputy Head, Fiona Fox, is about to preside over a controversial move to save it from ruin. But it’s not easy to change things at a school this old. Legend has it that the ghost of fifteenth-century nun, Sister Matilda, will keep St Cordula’s safe. But only as long as the words ‘GOD FORGIVE ME’, scrawled by Matilda on a chapel staircase wall before she fell to her death, are repainted every year.
The words have only been allowed to fade once, in 2002. But then, fits of vertigo spread through the pupils, and a second girl fell to her death on the night stairs. Only three people know the truth of what happened on the night of the tragedy.
Now the vertigo is back, and Fiona must stem the outbreak before it threatens St Cordula’s future, or worse, another girl loses her life. But when one of her pupils begins a dangerous investigation into the past, old secrets start to twist into new scandals…
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
4.5⭐️
Tormented by scandal in 1487, Sister Matilda after writing the words, ‘God forgive me’ on the wall throws herself down the chapel stairs. Or did she? Some of the nuns didn’t believe she killed herself and that instead she accidentally fell, so as the writing from Sister Matilda fades, they chalk over it again and again to keep it there in the hope that she will go to heaven, eventually painting it to make it last longer.
In 2002 the writing has faded and a case of strange vertigo, referred to as the spins, spread through what is now St Cordula’s school for girls and another girl is dead. Only three people knew exactly what happened that tragic night.
Years later and now 2025, the spins are back. St Cordula’s is under extreme pressure and changes are afoot. Deputy Head Fiona Fox must navigate the changing times and try to stem the hysteria breaking out through the girls at their fear of seeing others unwell and them potentially getting the spins and whether they too could die as had happened in the past. Will history come back to haunt the present?
The Night Stairs is a dark academia setting mixed with mystery and a touch of what feels like historical fiction in the way that it’s written.
It opens with intrigue that instantly draws you in with the author creating imagery of St Cordula’s that has a creeping unease and an almost claustrophobic feel to it. This continues throughout the book with the author using such detail that makes you feel like you’re actually there and can smell, taste and feel the surroundings.
The story is a dual timeline, multi pov with a complex mystery and twists and turns that I genuinely didn't see coming. Although there are a lot of characters and jumps in time, I didn't lose the thread of the storytelling and really enjoyed the distinctive and flawed characters. The showing of humans, connection, the grey to our sometimes black and white thinking. This author creates a world that is perfectly dark but delectable.
I overall really enjoyed the book, it was unique in its writing and the twists were twisting. I couldn’t put it down in the last third. Also gave me such nostalgic 2000’s movie vibes, think Cruel Intentions! Highly recommend for anyone that loves a gothic style dark academia with a side of thriller.
Thanks to the publisher for my advance copy of this fab book. I'm looking forward to buying it and recommending it to others.
Tormented by scandal in 1487, Sister Matilda after writing the words, ‘God forgive me’ on the wall throws herself down the chapel stairs. Or did she? Some of the nuns didn’t believe she killed herself and that instead she accidentally fell, so as the writing from Sister Matilda fades, they chalk over it again and again to keep it there in the hope that she will go to heaven, eventually painting it to make it last longer.
In 2002 the writing has faded and a case of strange vertigo, referred to as the spins, spread through what is now St Cordula’s school for girls and another girl is dead. Only three people knew exactly what happened that tragic night.
Years later and now 2025, the spins are back. St Cordula’s is under extreme pressure and changes are afoot. Deputy Head Fiona Fox must navigate the changing times and try to stem the hysteria breaking out through the girls at their fear of seeing others unwell and them potentially getting the spins and whether they too could die as had happened in the past. Will history come back to haunt the present?
The Night Stairs is a dark academia setting mixed with mystery and a touch of what feels like historical fiction in the way that it’s written.
It opens with intrigue that instantly draws you in with the author creating imagery of St Cordula’s that has a creeping unease and an almost claustrophobic feel to it. This continues throughout the book with the author using such detail that makes you feel like you’re actually there and can smell, taste and feel the surroundings.
The story is a dual timeline, multi pov with a complex mystery and twists and turns that I genuinely didn't see coming. Although there are a lot of characters and jumps in time, I didn't lose the thread of the storytelling and really enjoyed the distinctive and flawed characters. The showing of humans, connection, the grey to our sometimes black and white thinking. This author creates a world that is perfectly dark but delectable.
I overall really enjoyed the book, it was unique in its writing and the twists were twisting. I couldn’t put it down in the last third. Also gave me such nostalgic 2000’s movie vibes, think Cruel Intentions! Highly recommend for anyone that loves a gothic style dark academia with a side of thriller.
Thanks to the publisher for my advance copy of this fab book. I'm looking forward to buying it and recommending it to others.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
I recently enjoyed listening to a Podcast called Hysterical which explored the ‘LeRoy outbreak’ among schoolgirls in New York, which was described as one of the most severe cases of mass psychogenic illnesses in modern US history. When I saw the blurb for The Night Stairs, I saw some similarities and was excited to give it a read.
A religious boarding school is the ideal place for stories and myths to spread. The words ‘God Forgive Me’ scrawled in paint on the Night Chapel stairs by a 15th Century nun is supposed to keep the girls safe. Many years ago, when it started to fade, a mysterious illness known as ‘the spins’ swept through the school and a girl died on the steps. Now many years later, the spins are back, and Deputy Headmistress Fiona Fox must get to the bottom of this outbreak before someone else gets hurt.
The novel switches perspectives between best friends Jessica and Becks in the past, and Deputy Headmistress Fiona in the present day. Both of these timelines were interesting, and I didn’t find myself skipping one to get to the other. They both impact each other in different ways and Erin Kelly has a brilliant way of misleading readers, (or perhaps allowing incorrect assumptions to be made which are not corrected until much later in the story) to allow for a bigger gut punch of a twist! Quite a few times I was left feeling surprised as the rug was pulled from under my feet. The novel also touches on themes of sexuality and class within the setting of a religious and expensive boarding school steeped in tradition, and I liked the introduction of a lottery winner into that dynamic and the inherent issues with opening up a close friendship to include a third person.
My one criticism for the book would be that I did feel like it dragged and started to get repetitive in the middle. The end reveal is one which I don’t think will be very well received by some readers, but it is also not really signposted within the prose and so there is no way a reader can guess that it is coming.
Overall, The Night Stairs is a twisty book, with reveals that had me shocked throughout. Thank you to NetGalley & Random House UK – Vintage and Harvill for the chance to read the ARC in exchange for an honest review.
For more of my reviews check out Kindig Blog
A religious boarding school is the ideal place for stories and myths to spread. The words ‘God Forgive Me’ scrawled in paint on the Night Chapel stairs by a 15th Century nun is supposed to keep the girls safe. Many years ago, when it started to fade, a mysterious illness known as ‘the spins’ swept through the school and a girl died on the steps. Now many years later, the spins are back, and Deputy Headmistress Fiona Fox must get to the bottom of this outbreak before someone else gets hurt.
The novel switches perspectives between best friends Jessica and Becks in the past, and Deputy Headmistress Fiona in the present day. Both of these timelines were interesting, and I didn’t find myself skipping one to get to the other. They both impact each other in different ways and Erin Kelly has a brilliant way of misleading readers, (or perhaps allowing incorrect assumptions to be made which are not corrected until much later in the story) to allow for a bigger gut punch of a twist! Quite a few times I was left feeling surprised as the rug was pulled from under my feet. The novel also touches on themes of sexuality and class within the setting of a religious and expensive boarding school steeped in tradition, and I liked the introduction of a lottery winner into that dynamic and the inherent issues with opening up a close friendship to include a third person.
My one criticism for the book would be that I did feel like it dragged and started to get repetitive in the middle. The end reveal is one which I don’t think will be very well received by some readers, but it is also not really signposted within the prose and so there is no way a reader can guess that it is coming.
Overall, The Night Stairs is a twisty book, with reveals that had me shocked throughout. Thank you to NetGalley & Random House UK – Vintage and Harvill for the chance to read the ARC in exchange for an honest review.
For more of my reviews check out Kindig Blog
July 14, 2026
Thank you to Harvill (Vintage/Penguin Random House) for the opportunity to read and review this ARC.
Set within an old convent turned girls’ boarding school, The Night Stairs blends gothic atmosphere with mystery, dual timelines and the complicated dynamics of teenage friendships.
Told through multiple first-person perspectives across past and present, twenty years apart. The story gradually reveals the events surrounding a tragedy that continues to cast a long shadow over the school. I really enjoyed Erin Kelly’s writing style from the very beginning. It felt natural, immersive and incredibly easy to read, making it effortless to settle into the story.
One of the strongest aspects of the novel for me was its exploration of female friendships. The shifting hierarchies, the power struggles, the girls who fit in and those who don’t, and the lasting impact that school experiences can have all felt authentic. Setting this within a boarding school, where there’s no escape when lessons end, only heightened the tension and emotional weight of those relationships.
There were also some beautifully written moments that really stood out to me.
“Perhaps that’s why time has lost its shape today. We have crammed what once took a week into twelve hours.”
And my favourite quote from the book:
“The meaning of life was to find the people you could do nothing with and for that to feel like home.”
As the mystery unfolded, there were a couple of twists that genuinely surprised me, and one emotional moment that brought tears to my eyes. Although I enjoyed the journey, I found the ending a little different from what I’d been expecting. I’d anticipated something darker and more thriller-driven, whereas the story ultimately leaned more into friendships, buried secrets, personal relationships and the way the past has a habit of echoing into the present. That’s not a criticism of the story itself – more that my own expectations were slightly different.
Overall, The Night Stairs is an atmospheric mystery with an engaging boarding school setting, memorable characters and thoughtful themes surrounding friendship, identity and the secrets we carry. While I personally wished for a more suspenseful finale, I still enjoyed the story and would happily recommend it to readers who enjoy character-driven mysteries with gothic undertones.
Set within an old convent turned girls’ boarding school, The Night Stairs blends gothic atmosphere with mystery, dual timelines and the complicated dynamics of teenage friendships.
Told through multiple first-person perspectives across past and present, twenty years apart. The story gradually reveals the events surrounding a tragedy that continues to cast a long shadow over the school. I really enjoyed Erin Kelly’s writing style from the very beginning. It felt natural, immersive and incredibly easy to read, making it effortless to settle into the story.
One of the strongest aspects of the novel for me was its exploration of female friendships. The shifting hierarchies, the power struggles, the girls who fit in and those who don’t, and the lasting impact that school experiences can have all felt authentic. Setting this within a boarding school, where there’s no escape when lessons end, only heightened the tension and emotional weight of those relationships.
There were also some beautifully written moments that really stood out to me.
“Perhaps that’s why time has lost its shape today. We have crammed what once took a week into twelve hours.”
And my favourite quote from the book:
“The meaning of life was to find the people you could do nothing with and for that to feel like home.”
As the mystery unfolded, there were a couple of twists that genuinely surprised me, and one emotional moment that brought tears to my eyes. Although I enjoyed the journey, I found the ending a little different from what I’d been expecting. I’d anticipated something darker and more thriller-driven, whereas the story ultimately leaned more into friendships, buried secrets, personal relationships and the way the past has a habit of echoing into the present. That’s not a criticism of the story itself – more that my own expectations were slightly different.
Overall, The Night Stairs is an atmospheric mystery with an engaging boarding school setting, memorable characters and thoughtful themes surrounding friendship, identity and the secrets we carry. While I personally wished for a more suspenseful finale, I still enjoyed the story and would happily recommend it to readers who enjoy character-driven mysteries with gothic undertones.
June 3, 2026
Thank you so much to Vintage Books for an advanced copy of The Night Stairs by Erin Kelly, which is available from the 9th July 2026. I have not read any of Erin’s books before so I was very interested in reading this.
The story follows the fortunes of St Cordula’s school. It is a girl’s school which is about to undergo a fundamental change. We meet the current deputy head Fiona Fox, who is attempting to bring the school into the 21st century, but she has a secret which has far reaching effects for herself and the school. This is a book which encompasses mystery, religion, love, friendship and murder. The legend of St Cordula’s says that the ghost of a fifteenth century nun, Sister Matilda protects the school, so long as the words ‘GOD FORGIVE ME’ are painted on the staircase where she fell to her death.
The words faded once before in 2002 and fits of vertigo ‘the spins’ began spreading through the school and a second girl fell to her death. Fiona Fox finds that the spins are now back and she must struggle to contain them before they threaten the future of the school and let old secrets come to light.
I thought that this was a well written book, however I struggled with keeping track of the different storylines and time periods at some points. There are a lot of characters, and the story jumped from 2002 to the present day quite a lot. They were short chapters though and if I found myself confused I could go back and re-read parts. Towards the end of the novel I found it easier, as I became more familiar with the different characters.
I did feel that the last 100 pages of the novel were the best. The first part of the book was a little too long and a little too slow for my taste. Everything seemed to happen at the end of the book. A little more action earlier would have suited me more. I do think that the book was a little too long. However, I found this book a really intriguing read, with lots of tension and the mystery when revealed was interesting. If you like gothic thriller, set in a boarding school setting then you will love this book.
The story follows the fortunes of St Cordula’s school. It is a girl’s school which is about to undergo a fundamental change. We meet the current deputy head Fiona Fox, who is attempting to bring the school into the 21st century, but she has a secret which has far reaching effects for herself and the school. This is a book which encompasses mystery, religion, love, friendship and murder. The legend of St Cordula’s says that the ghost of a fifteenth century nun, Sister Matilda protects the school, so long as the words ‘GOD FORGIVE ME’ are painted on the staircase where she fell to her death.
The words faded once before in 2002 and fits of vertigo ‘the spins’ began spreading through the school and a second girl fell to her death. Fiona Fox finds that the spins are now back and she must struggle to contain them before they threaten the future of the school and let old secrets come to light.
I thought that this was a well written book, however I struggled with keeping track of the different storylines and time periods at some points. There are a lot of characters, and the story jumped from 2002 to the present day quite a lot. They were short chapters though and if I found myself confused I could go back and re-read parts. Towards the end of the novel I found it easier, as I became more familiar with the different characters.
I did feel that the last 100 pages of the novel were the best. The first part of the book was a little too long and a little too slow for my taste. Everything seemed to happen at the end of the book. A little more action earlier would have suited me more. I do think that the book was a little too long. However, I found this book a really intriguing read, with lots of tension and the mystery when revealed was interesting. If you like gothic thriller, set in a boarding school setting then you will love this book.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
A multi-layered boarding school mystery whose conclusion will leave you shocked and wanting to read more from Erin Kelly.
St Cordula’s is a single-sex boarding school for girls, based in an old Catholic convent. But for those familiar with boarding school-based fiction this is not the Mallory Towers of your childhood reading - this is a boarding school for the children of the mega rich, the generationally wealthy. Cordelian alumni sign their daughters up for the school from birth.
At St Cordula’s generational wealth is King (or rather Queen) and new money is shunned and mocked.
The Night Stairs is a complex mystery set across multiple generations with the story expertly twisting the two timelines together:
In 1997 three outcast girls bond over a shared love of books and form a firm friendship.
In 2025, the passing of Mother Imelda, the last surviving member of the Order of Cordula sets off a series of events that will see Fiona Fox, as Deputy Head of School, preparing to usher in a new era as St Cordula’s teeters on the brink of welcoming boys to the student body for the first time in its history.
But one thing links the two time periods irrevocably - a mysterious illness sweeps the school - the spins - leaving girls dizzy, sick and bed-bound. In 1997 two girls died, now, in 2025 will more deaths be added to the list?
I haven’t read anything by Erin Kelly previously but I would be more than happy to read more by this author. Kelly is a great storyteller and is an expert at building a believable world and intriguing, multifaceted characters.
The pace of the novel is steady, but everything that is shared feels necessary and it doesn’t feel like there is any gratuitous filler. Each chapter revealing a little more and pushing the plot onwards, uncovering just enough to build the reader’s intrigue.
You find yourself expertly misdirected and certain that you’ve worked out what’s going on, only for the carpet to be swiftly pulled out from under you.
The ending is a sudden change of pace with all the plot lines converging and suddenly all is shockingly revealed.
St Cordula’s is a single-sex boarding school for girls, based in an old Catholic convent. But for those familiar with boarding school-based fiction this is not the Mallory Towers of your childhood reading - this is a boarding school for the children of the mega rich, the generationally wealthy. Cordelian alumni sign their daughters up for the school from birth.
At St Cordula’s generational wealth is King (or rather Queen) and new money is shunned and mocked.
The Night Stairs is a complex mystery set across multiple generations with the story expertly twisting the two timelines together:
In 1997 three outcast girls bond over a shared love of books and form a firm friendship.
In 2025, the passing of Mother Imelda, the last surviving member of the Order of Cordula sets off a series of events that will see Fiona Fox, as Deputy Head of School, preparing to usher in a new era as St Cordula’s teeters on the brink of welcoming boys to the student body for the first time in its history.
But one thing links the two time periods irrevocably - a mysterious illness sweeps the school - the spins - leaving girls dizzy, sick and bed-bound. In 1997 two girls died, now, in 2025 will more deaths be added to the list?
I haven’t read anything by Erin Kelly previously but I would be more than happy to read more by this author. Kelly is a great storyteller and is an expert at building a believable world and intriguing, multifaceted characters.
The pace of the novel is steady, but everything that is shared feels necessary and it doesn’t feel like there is any gratuitous filler. Each chapter revealing a little more and pushing the plot onwards, uncovering just enough to build the reader’s intrigue.
You find yourself expertly misdirected and certain that you’ve worked out what’s going on, only for the carpet to be swiftly pulled out from under you.
The ending is a sudden change of pace with all the plot lines converging and suddenly all is shockingly revealed.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
4,5/5
My sincere thanks to NetGalley, Random House UK, Vintage/Harvill, and Erin Kelly for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.
St Cordula – a boarding school for girls with a long, long tradition. Many centuries ago a young nun, Sister Matilda, seduced in her innocence by a local man, got pregnant and, ashamed of her sin, died by her own hand on the night chapel's stairs.
She left a written inscription on the wall: God Forgive Me. It is said that as long as this final message is repainted and curated, Sister Matilda will protect the school. This one time when this sacred duty had been neglected, a mysterious case of vertigo afflicted the pupils and one of them died.
In the present day the school deputy headmistress, Fiona Fox, wants to save the school with a bold move, while protecting her own hidden agenda and true identity. Old customs die hard though and worst of all, the vertigo is back... what can be done this time to protect the girls from another tragedy?
„The Nights Stairs” is a great, reflective book with a mystery at its core. A dark academia thriller, yes, but also much more than that. It's a book about belonging, searching for your place in the world and among your peers, about growing pains and insecurities, the raw tragedy of being rejected, being different, being an outcast.
It's also a dissertation about female burdens, how women get dismissed, punished and ridiculed just because of their gender, when their fears and anxieties are disrespected and labeled simply as hysteria, their voices silenced, their safety in perpetual danger. How they are pinned against each other and forced into a competition instead of working on an united front. And finally, how hard it is to overcome the outdated burdens of the past.
It's a book to be savored, without rushing for twists and surprises, just enjoying the beautiful writing style while also discovering the intricate web of connections and influences between the past, the present... and probably also the future.
My sincere thanks to NetGalley, Random House UK, Vintage/Harvill, and Erin Kelly for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.
St Cordula – a boarding school for girls with a long, long tradition. Many centuries ago a young nun, Sister Matilda, seduced in her innocence by a local man, got pregnant and, ashamed of her sin, died by her own hand on the night chapel's stairs.
She left a written inscription on the wall: God Forgive Me. It is said that as long as this final message is repainted and curated, Sister Matilda will protect the school. This one time when this sacred duty had been neglected, a mysterious case of vertigo afflicted the pupils and one of them died.
In the present day the school deputy headmistress, Fiona Fox, wants to save the school with a bold move, while protecting her own hidden agenda and true identity. Old customs die hard though and worst of all, the vertigo is back... what can be done this time to protect the girls from another tragedy?
„The Nights Stairs” is a great, reflective book with a mystery at its core. A dark academia thriller, yes, but also much more than that. It's a book about belonging, searching for your place in the world and among your peers, about growing pains and insecurities, the raw tragedy of being rejected, being different, being an outcast.
It's also a dissertation about female burdens, how women get dismissed, punished and ridiculed just because of their gender, when their fears and anxieties are disrespected and labeled simply as hysteria, their voices silenced, their safety in perpetual danger. How they are pinned against each other and forced into a competition instead of working on an united front. And finally, how hard it is to overcome the outdated burdens of the past.
It's a book to be savored, without rushing for twists and surprises, just enjoying the beautiful writing style while also discovering the intricate web of connections and influences between the past, the present... and probably also the future.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
We start with a tradition - one of the older girls from St Cordula's school showing a class of new pupils the words "God Forgive Me" as she retells the story of Sister Matilda who fell to her death, falling down the stairs of the chapel. She goes on to tell them that they will be safe as long as the words are repainted every year. And if they aren't, as was the case back in 2002, the pupils will all suffer with "the spins"...
All very spooky and all very strange... which pretty much matches the rest of the book. We catch up in the present with Dep Head Fiona Fox as she has to deal with a bunch of things, including a new case of "the spins". We know there is something hinky about her, specifically her identity and then we go back in time to the previous outbreak of said spins, and also learn about a tragedy that occurred to one of her friend group. If that wasn't enough for her to content with there's also the upcoming merger with the boys school to consider... It's all very convoluted and interconnected and there is plenty of secrets and lies, more than enough dysfunction, served with a healthy side order of obfuscation.
It's creepy and the setting really does add to that feeling. Almost gothic in nature too. As we flit back and forward, with the past adding enough to progress the present day narrative without giving too much away too early. Yes I did guess a few things early, but I don't think that marred my overall enjoyment of this book at all. There are a LOT of characters in the various timelines and I did have to start writing a list to try and keep things straight which did take me out of the book on occasion but was something that, at the end one the day I was thankful for.
My only real bugbear is that there was so much going on throughout the book, throughout the timelines, that the eventual reveal did all feel a wee bit rushed and not quite as satisfying as I would have liked it to have been. This will not however stop me pouncing on her next book as soon as I can...
My thanks go to the Publisher and Netgalley for the chance to read this book.
All very spooky and all very strange... which pretty much matches the rest of the book. We catch up in the present with Dep Head Fiona Fox as she has to deal with a bunch of things, including a new case of "the spins". We know there is something hinky about her, specifically her identity and then we go back in time to the previous outbreak of said spins, and also learn about a tragedy that occurred to one of her friend group. If that wasn't enough for her to content with there's also the upcoming merger with the boys school to consider... It's all very convoluted and interconnected and there is plenty of secrets and lies, more than enough dysfunction, served with a healthy side order of obfuscation.
It's creepy and the setting really does add to that feeling. Almost gothic in nature too. As we flit back and forward, with the past adding enough to progress the present day narrative without giving too much away too early. Yes I did guess a few things early, but I don't think that marred my overall enjoyment of this book at all. There are a LOT of characters in the various timelines and I did have to start writing a list to try and keep things straight which did take me out of the book on occasion but was something that, at the end one the day I was thankful for.
My only real bugbear is that there was so much going on throughout the book, throughout the timelines, that the eventual reveal did all feel a wee bit rushed and not quite as satisfying as I would have liked it to have been. This will not however stop me pouncing on her next book as soon as I can...
My thanks go to the Publisher and Netgalley for the chance to read this book.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
Richly atmospheric and utterly absorbing, The Night Stairs is a haunting, layered thriller that lingers long after the final page.
Erin Kelly has always excelled at crafting worlds that feel both intimate and unsettling, and St Cordula’s convent school is perhaps one of her most vivid settings yet. Steeped in centuries of lore, whispered traditions, and the oppressive weight of unspoken history, the school becomes a character in its own right—protective, claustrophobic, and quietly menacing.
The novel opens with a series of fainting episodes among the students, echoing a long‑buried tragedy linked to the legendary Sister Matilda and the fateful message she left behind: God forgive me. From the moment Deputy Head Fiona Fox steps into the narrative, the tension is immediate. She’s determined to shepherd the school into the modern era, yet finds herself battling vertigo outbreaks, dangerous rumours, and the grim possibility that history is repeating itself.
Kelly’s control of suspense is masterful. The story slips seamlessly between past and present, unraveling old secrets and new scandals with restrained elegance. The mystery of what really happened in 2002—and who still carries the weight of that night—is meticulously paced, every revelation tugging at deeper emotional threads. While the plot is compelling, the novel’s heartbeat lies in its exploration of female friendship, loyalty, betrayal, and the ways institutions can shape (and warp) the young women within them.
The writing is hypnotic, the atmosphere thick with gothic unease, and the characters feel deeply, painfully real. The creeping sense of dread builds with exquisite subtlety, culminating in a finale that is both shocking and heartbreakingly inevitable.
If you love thrillers that combine psychological depth with haunting, gothic tension, The Night Stairs is an absolute standout—intelligent, immersive, and beautifully told.
With thanks to Erin Kelly, the publisher and netgalley for the ARC
Erin Kelly has always excelled at crafting worlds that feel both intimate and unsettling, and St Cordula’s convent school is perhaps one of her most vivid settings yet. Steeped in centuries of lore, whispered traditions, and the oppressive weight of unspoken history, the school becomes a character in its own right—protective, claustrophobic, and quietly menacing.
The novel opens with a series of fainting episodes among the students, echoing a long‑buried tragedy linked to the legendary Sister Matilda and the fateful message she left behind: God forgive me. From the moment Deputy Head Fiona Fox steps into the narrative, the tension is immediate. She’s determined to shepherd the school into the modern era, yet finds herself battling vertigo outbreaks, dangerous rumours, and the grim possibility that history is repeating itself.
Kelly’s control of suspense is masterful. The story slips seamlessly between past and present, unraveling old secrets and new scandals with restrained elegance. The mystery of what really happened in 2002—and who still carries the weight of that night—is meticulously paced, every revelation tugging at deeper emotional threads. While the plot is compelling, the novel’s heartbeat lies in its exploration of female friendship, loyalty, betrayal, and the ways institutions can shape (and warp) the young women within them.
The writing is hypnotic, the atmosphere thick with gothic unease, and the characters feel deeply, painfully real. The creeping sense of dread builds with exquisite subtlety, culminating in a finale that is both shocking and heartbreakingly inevitable.
If you love thrillers that combine psychological depth with haunting, gothic tension, The Night Stairs is an absolute standout—intelligent, immersive, and beautifully told.
With thanks to Erin Kelly, the publisher and netgalley for the ARC
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
Sometimes my promise to always be honest about my reactions to books can haunt me a little when an author I've adored throughout all of their books writes one that for whatever reason just doesn't work for me. It happens and is usually a one off. No such thing as on the money every time.
The Night Stairs has an interesting premise and a decent mystery element tying in. The writing is sublime as always, but the overall story was....problematic for me on a subjective level. Full disclosure, by about halfway through I was skipping and speed reading through much of it.
The all girls religious school setting offered so much potential for the exploration of female friendships and emotional growing pains as well as how deep faith can be both positive and negative but my feeling was of so much just being shoehorned in to create a certain...well I don't know what the word is.
Adults questioning whether a child (and they are children , teenagers) is non binary and if so that may be a reason for them not succumbing to the mass psychosis. The same sex attracted girls, certainly not weird or unusual to find in a large group dynamic of young women, were just written a bit strangely, they had no deep reality beyond victimhood and the homophobic elements of the, well I suppose 'bad guy' would be the way to put it in a non spoilery way weren't particularly well managed. There's also the question of a maybe inappropriate relationship between one student and her music tutor who happens to be a, yes, you are likely ahead of me here...
It was just...odd The phenomenon of mass hysteria is an interesting one that certainly occurs, in this book it manifests as the spins (dizziness etc) but even that seemed secondary (try Megan Abbott The Fever) Everything felt secondary rather than front and centre.
I'm sorry Erin you know I love you so so much but I guess this time my brain couldn't keep up with yours. Til next time!
The Night Stairs has an interesting premise and a decent mystery element tying in. The writing is sublime as always, but the overall story was....problematic for me on a subjective level. Full disclosure, by about halfway through I was skipping and speed reading through much of it.
The all girls religious school setting offered so much potential for the exploration of female friendships and emotional growing pains as well as how deep faith can be both positive and negative but my feeling was of so much just being shoehorned in to create a certain...well I don't know what the word is.
Adults questioning whether a child (and they are children , teenagers) is non binary and if so that may be a reason for them not succumbing to the mass psychosis. The same sex attracted girls, certainly not weird or unusual to find in a large group dynamic of young women, were just written a bit strangely, they had no deep reality beyond victimhood and the homophobic elements of the, well I suppose 'bad guy' would be the way to put it in a non spoilery way weren't particularly well managed. There's also the question of a maybe inappropriate relationship between one student and her music tutor who happens to be a, yes, you are likely ahead of me here...
It was just...odd The phenomenon of mass hysteria is an interesting one that certainly occurs, in this book it manifests as the spins (dizziness etc) but even that seemed secondary (try Megan Abbott The Fever) Everything felt secondary rather than front and centre.
I'm sorry Erin you know I love you so so much but I guess this time my brain couldn't keep up with yours. Til next time!
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