The Infamous Gilberts: A Novel

by Angela Tomaski

The Remains of the Day meets The Royal Tenenbaums in this darkly funny debut novel about a wealthy, eccentric family in decline and the secrets held within the walls of their crumbling country manor.

Thornwalk, a once-stately English manor, is on the brink of transformation. Its keys are being handed over to a luxury hotelier who will undertake a complete renovation—but in doing so, what will they erase? Through the keen eyes of an enigmatic neighbor, the reader is taken on a guided tour into rooms filled with secrets and memories, each revealing the story of the five Gilbert siblings.

Spanning the eve of World War II to the early 2000s, this contemporary gothic novel weaves a rich tapestry of English country life. As the story unfolds, the reader is drawn into a world where the echoes of an Edwardian idyll clash with the harsh realities of war, neglect, and changing times. The Gilberts’ tale is one of great loves, lofty ambitions, and profound loss, and Angela Tomaski’s mordantly witty yet loving account is an immersive experience. Reminiscent of the haunting atmospheres in Daphne du Maurier’s Rebecca and Shirley Jackson’s We Have Always Lived in the Castle, The Infamous Gilberts offers a fresh take on a classic genre, capturing the essence of a troubled but fascinating family.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction, Historical, Adult, Gothic, Literary Fiction, British Literature

288 pages, Kindle Edition

Expected publication January 20, 2026

Reviews

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

4+
Thornwalk, is a great manor house in England that housed a mother and her five eccentric children…
Hugo, Lydia, Annabel, Jeremy and Rosalind.
We are taken on a tour of a the manor by a family friend …Maximus, after the last of the living Gilbert children has passed, before a hotelier takes over.
Each short chapter provides more insight of the rooms of the house, the siblings relationships with each other and their outside relationships, and mental health struggles and just general struggles in life.
This is a darkly comic yet increasingly sad.
All the gothic feels.

Thank you to NetGalley and Scribner for the ARC in exchange for my honest review!

[Erin]

ARC for review. To be published January 20, 2026.

DNF at 20%

I don’t know what ails me. This is maybe my fourth DNF book in about two weeks. Am I just in a mood or am I choosing poorly?

This family saga follows the used-to-be-wealthy Gilbert family, particularly the five children and appears to go up through to their deaths. I think.

Reading this just seemed like a chore to me and each time I left it I didn’t want to go back to it. So, finally, I didn’t. YMMV.

[Haley Graham · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 Stars!

[Dona's Books · Rating 3 out of 5]

DNF @ p25

Pre-Read Notes:

I love stories about what people and families leave behind in a place they have inhabited. Also, that cover was irresistible!

"You are entering through the servants’ hall, as you see. The keys to the rest of the house have already been surrendered to the hotel people, but this one was given to me by Miss Annabel Gilbert herself, and it shall not be relinquished to anyone but her. Since she is dead, that is unlikely to happen." p9

Final Review

(thoughts & recs) Unfortunately, between the unstable POV and all the passive constructions, I am not getting along with the style here.

Thank you to the author Angela Tomaski, publishers Scribner, and NetGalley for an accessible digital arc of THE INFAMOUS GILBERTS. All views are mine.

[Michael · Rating 5 out of 5]

Boo to Scribner for dropping “gothic” “Jackson” and “du Maurier” in to the jacket copy for this one. I loathe copywriters who load up on keywords that really have nothing to do with the book they’re describing. I swear every book published this year has been called gothic.

Ignoring the jacket copy, I absolutely loved what’s between the covers. The book completely clashed with the endless sunshine we’re having at the moment. It’s depressing atmosphere, darkly amusing narration and downward spiral of its characters was the perfect most un-beach read that became a beach read.

I loved the unique way the story is told, as if you’re on a tour of the crumbling estate before all of its history gets erased in the form of a hotel conversion.

Deeply melancholic, it’s Downton Abbey if the estate fell to ruin.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for an early peek.

[Erica (Cheekymama2) · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book had potential but fell short. The book was told in third person. The book begins with Max the neighbor, guiding the reader through the rooms of the Thornwalk House and the hidden stories they contain. Each room and its contents serve as the beginning of a story into the past lives of the five Gilbert siblings.

Unfortunately the story does not flow. I didn't feel like I really got to know any of the characters well. I wish the story had been told by each character instead of someone from the outside.

Thank you NetGalley for an early read of this novel.

[Toni · Rating 5 out of 5]

Extremely interesting. Couldn’t put it down.

[Jennifer · Rating 2 out of 5]

The conceit of this novel is that a neighbor who addresses the reader as “you” is giving you a tour of a once grand English estate now in severe decline, showing you to different rooms and different objects in them, and through that, telling the story of the extremely messed up family that once lived there.

Sadly this one was a big miss for me. I love crumbling mansions and dysfunctional family novels, but this one was just beyond. The structure of the book is super odd and screams “I’m so literary and quirky” but not in a good way. And the characters are well beyond quirky into mostly extremely unlikeable and unpleasant to read about. Not to mention that the book is utterly devoid of the humor the blurb promises. Depressing and confusing. But I’ll bump it up to 2.5 stars because it didn’t bore me, in fact there was something mesmerizing about it that kept me reading. But would not recommend.

[Janereads10 · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5/5 stars

This started slow for me. Pairing it with the audiobook helped the story pick up.

What stood out: The family and the tragedy of what they became over time. The book is told through a narrator's POV as he walks through the old Thornwalk mansion. The setting felt like its own character - I could see it in its glory days and watch how it lost its shine. As the narrator moved through each room, he shared anecdotes of what happened there, connecting to the overall plot.

The story of the Gilberts - the mother and her children - had its funny moments. Like how they convinced one of the sisters to break up with her tutor, or the mother always running to her sister-in-law for help. But it got tragic. The siblings drifted apart, a promising relationship failed. Some siblings got greedy over the family fortune and I wasn't sure how I felt about them. What kept me reading though was finding out who the narrator was.

Audio note: Michael Bertenshaw's narration made it feel like touring a Gothic mansion with a guide sharing stories of the Gilberts.

You'll love this if: You're drawn to novels about families and their complex relationships, or mansion settings that become characters in the story.

Thanks to Scribner and NetGalley for the advance copy.

[Brianna · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think this book does feel like some wacky, dark Royal Tenenbaums-esque story as the blurb teases. Five siblings’ stories are told, but really it’s the story of their lives within the walls of Thornwalk, their crumbling, once revered home. The third person narrator walks us through the rooms and the memories, literally ushering us through a tour of the home, how it came to have its stains and quirks and hidden treasures, and along the way we learn the stories of Hugo, Jeremy, Rosalind, Annabel, and Lydia. Truthfully, I think I would’ve enjoyed this story more had it not been told by a third person narrator and instead we got to be in the heads of each character and immersed in their stories a little more deeply. It took me a bit to get into it but the story finds its groove about halfway through. I do think this book would make for a good movie or show adaptation to bring it all to life.

Thank you to NetGalley and the Publisher for providing me with an advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

[Stephanie (aka WW) · Rating 4 out of 5]

(4.5 stars) The Infamous Gilberts are five siblings and their mother who live in the once stately, but now crumbling English country manor called Thornwalk. As the property is set to be converted into a hotel, the history of the fmaily is told in all its sordid details. Each of the five siblings is looked at in-depth, everyone’s history a combination of humorous and sad. While the book started off a little slow for me, it soon reached cruising speed, and I sped through the pages to find out how (or if) the family survived its circumstances.

This book is billed as similar to The Royal Tenenbaums and this resonates with other reviewers. (I haven’t read the book or seen the movie.) I was highly entertained by the well-written accounts, their contents and pacing excellently rendered. Especially notable as a debut, The Infamous Gilberts succeeds in spades. Angela Tomaski is a new author to follow.

Much thanks to NetGalley and Scribner for allowing me access to this e-ARC in exchange for my honest review. This book is scheduled to hit the shelves on January 20, 2026.

[talia ♡]

as the biggest fan of both salinger and anderson, if you comp ANYTHING the royal tenebaums you better know that i have it preordered

[Lindsey · Rating 2 out of 5]

Oh goodness, this was weird. I kept wanting to put the book aside, but like any train wreck, I was strangely drawn to the chaos.

[Libby · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thank you very much to Scribner for sending me a free copy of this book to review.

Trigger warnings: domestic abuse, physical abuse, emotional abuse, toxic relationships, death, murder, violence, grief, death of a child, forced institutionalism (due to mental illness), forced medical drug use, gaslighting, confinement, suicidal thoughts/attempt

This book reminds me quite a bit of the video game What Remains of Edith Finch. I won’t spoil anything, but the vibes of the book and the game feel very similar. This was one of the first things I thought about when I began reading. If you like the game, then maybe check out this book — and vice versa!

The Infamous Gilberts is a story about the fall of a family, told by a family friend. I’ve seen this novel described as “gothic,” which is one of the reasons I picked it up; however, it doesn’t have much of that gothic novel feel. Haunting, yes, but not gothic. For the most part, the book’s main genres are historical fiction and literary fiction.

The narrative style of the novel is what I struggled with the most. It’s narrated by a family friend, who talks to the reader as if you’re going through the house on a tour. Each chapter is usually pretty short and often is focused on a specific object, especially in the beginning. It’s really difficult to follow and the timeline jumps around quite a bit. While it gets a bit more linear toward the middle, the beginning of the book was hard to get into — and also moved quite slowly. Once I hit the 50% mark, it became more compelling and easier to read, but I struggled early on.

I didn’t find the narrator’s sarcasm to hit in the way that it was supposed to; it wasn’t funny or satirical to me. Instead, I found that it took away from the story of the family. I honestly don’t think that the premise of showing the house on a tour or telling a story to a visitor is even needed. There can still be a narrator accounting the story of the family, but with much less of the extra fluff. It just didn’t work for me.

That all being said, it isn’t a bad book. The story of the family is engaging and I did want to keep reading it, especially after the halfway mark. The ending is VERY depressing, though; if you’re looking for a happily ever after, you’re not going to find it here. Overall, though, I’d say this is a pretty solid 3 stars for me.

[Acton.and.Ellis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank you to Scribner and NetGalley for allowing me to read this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Excellent. Hands down, a five-star read.

Smart, funny, sad. The vignettes were emotionally deep, but fast-paced. I laughed out loud. I wanted to cry. The ups and downs were real.

I appreciate stories that allow me to love and hate the characters in equal measure. It’s a feat to tackle sibling drama through five unique narratives. Each was interesting and memorable - as were their mother, aunt, significant others, servants, and friends. This book had a full cast and no role was wasted.

In addition to the characters, the setting was also exceptional. Thornwalk was brought to life - across almost seventy years of story. When considered in retrospect, the grandeur was palpable. In the now, the descriptions of faded wallpapers and dust motes were heartbreaking.

Lovely. This book will make you think about legacy and aging, and about the differences between being lonely and being alone.

[Reading Rachel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing. I just finished reading this book and I'm writing my review with tears running down my face. I'm devoted to this story and all of the characters. This is truly an unforgettable book. I love how the story is written, it's so unique. I can't tell you how much comfort the author gives my anxiety ridden soul by explaining in detail all of the rooms in the house and why things are the way they are. I live for this kind of detail and I love to know all the secrets and stories behind everything. I love every character so much with all of their madness and everything. I would take a bullet for Anabel. Hugo reminds me so much of my father in so many ways. I know I will comfort read this book many times and find something amazing about the writing every time. I don't have any other books to compare this one too because it is so unique. This book is very atmospheric, the characters are so deep without you even realizing. .. the author is a genius.

[Roman Clodia · Rating 3 out of 5]

You are entering through the servants’ hall, as you see. The keys to the rest of the house have already been surrendered to the hotel people, but this one was given to me by Miss Annabel Gilbert herself, and it shall not be relinquished to anyone but her. Since she is dead, that is unlikely to happen.

I think what will make or break each reader's relationship to this book is the way she responds to the unusual narrative perspctive: this is told via a second-person narrator, Maximus, taking us on a tour of Thornwalk, an old English manor house, now decrepit and being sold to a hotel group. Max speaks to us directly as 'you' so that everything is filtered through his speech and memories leaving us largely at arm's length from the Gilberts themselves. It's an interesting narrative choice but, sadly, not one that worked for me. The narrative doesn't flow as Max tells stories room by room that spread across most of the twentieth century, not in any chronological order, jumping between the individual Gilberts, sometimes children, sometimes adults through to their deaths in no particular order. I get that the fictional organisation reflects Max's memories tied to the individual rooms but seeing the Gilbert's through Max left them largely shadowy and unreal. There's a final payoff as Max's not unexpected relationship to the Gilberts is revealed at the end.

This feels like it wants to be an 'English eccentrics' novel like those of Nancy Mitford or Dodie Smith's I Capture the Castle or even the Flyte family in Brideshead Revisited. The problem is that those books all sprang from their historical moment and were all both critical, as well as aware of the charm, of their contemporary characters: it's really hard to duplicate that perspective in 2026 given all the ancestral privileges handed down to the Gilberts along with their reactionary attitudes as life around them changes during the twentieth century. We are pretty much confined to an upper class landed aristocracy in their bubble and feeling hard done by as their investments stagnate and their lifestyle is impossible to maintain, and so some of the humour as well as the tragedies fell flat for me. That said, the jam jars made me think of the Duchy of Lancaster overpriced produce sold in Fortnum & Mason - though hopefully tastier than Hugo's enterprise!

In the end, I felt this was an innocently nostalgic look back at an aristocratic family with a romanticised view of a certain very privileged class across the twentieth century - maybe a different narrative style might have made me more sympathetic to the Gilberts? As it is, I was left emotionally stranded outside of the book - technically, Maximus is a strong and characterful narrative voice but the distance in both perspective and chronology from the Gilberts themselves felt off to me. 2.5 stars rounded up because of Max's voice.

Thanks to the publisher for an ARC via NetGalley

[Nancy · Rating 5 out of 5]

We are all the ruins of castles. from The Infamous Gilberts by Angela Tomaski

I was so psyched to read this novel! Between the cover to and the blurb I was so intrigued. I was not disappointed! I loved it. It did remind me of classic reads, not only Gothic classics, but even Brideshead Revisited with its nostalgia, recalling a mansion and a dysfunctional family.

The narrator Maximus addresses the reader while leading a tour through the ruins of the Gilbert’s home, revealing the family’s history piecemeal, each stain and mark and dank corner recalling memories.

An ineffective, detached mother, her husband, she tells, lost in the war. The children, left to their own devices and desires, growing up wild. Drained of money, servants leave, the house falls into dirt and decay. Why brush away the cobweb? Better not to start, or there will be no end to it.

The innocence of childhood is very short lived[…]if it exists at all. from the Infamous Gilberts by Angela Tomaski

The family was infamous, considered mad. A daughter subject to fits and medicated her entire life. A son wandering the world. Daughters accepting sterile and abusive marriages, separated from the men they loved. And the eldest, Hugo, determined to fill his role and save the family fortune, resisting change in all its forms, while slowly descending into depression and madness.

There is comedy and heartbreak. Mystery and murderous violence. Strange goings on.

Another newspaper described them as “a bunch of lunatics.” Well, that is a gross exaggeration, but there is some truth in it. And why not? Life drives us all to madness. from The Infamous Gilberts

And yet, there is something that pulls the heartstrings. The narrator recalls the memories with great emotion, cared for these children to the end. Those bright children and what they could have become haunts us as they do Maximus.

I want to read it all again.

Thanks to the publisher for a free book through NetGalley.

[Linda (The Arizona Bookstagrammer) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you Scribner Books @ScribnerBooks #ScribnerInfluencer NetGalley @netgalley and Angela Tomaski for this free book.
“The Infamous Gilberts” by Angela Tomaski⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️Genre: Contemporary Gothic. Location: Thornwalk country manor, in the Wyn Valley, England. Time: World War II to the early 2000s.

Formerly grand Thornwalk can’t survive neglect, war, and changing times, so it’s sold to a hotelier who will turn it into a luxury hotel. Before the hotelier begins renovations, enigmatic neighbor Maximus tells us the story of the last 5 Gilberts: (eldest Lydia, elder son Hugo, middle child Annabel, 2nd youngest Jeremy, Rosalind, the youngest). He narrates a guided tour through rooms filled with secrets, memories, loves, loss, and unchecked mental illness. Chapter titles hint at secrets: “The Bolt on the Blue-Room Door.” “The Burn on the Library Rug.”

It’s hard to like a book with unlikable characters, but Tomaski tells a compelling, bleak tale of neglectful siblings who forget to feed their dog one day, then remember 3 times the next day. There’s Hugo, hating change so much he destroys anyone who even thinks about it; Annabel, a shell of a person, barely coping; dramatic, forever-dying Rosalind; greedy Lydia, taking and taking, but never giving; Jeremy, giving and giving, but never engaging. Tomaski’s writing is both darkly funny: (“…a sly looking dachshund under her arm, a hint of mothballs around her handbag, and a tiny sugar crystal clinging to a corner of her lower lip…”) and sadly pensive: (“Life has battered me, like a snail in a sandstorm.”) The tragically inept characters made my brain itch, but Tomaski’s writing is vivid, I enjoyed the unusual narrative style, and it definitely kept my interest, so it’s 4⭐️s from me 👩🏼‍🦳#TheInfamousGilberts #AngelaTomeski #netgalley

[Lori L (She Treads Softly) · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Infamous Gilberts by Angela Tomaski is a recommended historical family drama interwoven into a tour of Thornwalk, an English manor about to be converted into a hotel.

As a tour guide conducts the reader through the various rooms at Thornwalk, he points out memories, secrets, and history entwined within it's walls that reveal the story of the five Gilbert siblings, Lydia, Hugo, Annabel, Jeremy, and Rosalind, with their mother and aunt and other family members and servants also present along the way. The timeline spans the 1920s to the early 2000s and recounts the history/story of each sibling.

While the quality of the writing is good, the actual narrative, for the right reader, is average, at best due to the presentation. The pace felt glacially slow through over half of the novel and I almost set it aside. Although humorous at times, it is overwhelmingly a depressing novel that establishes a darkly atmospheric setting. It is a short novel so the chapters moved quickly. Each chapter focusing on a specific part or object in the house in the tour, and the narrator tells the story surrounding it.

The presentation of the plot as a house tour/story through a third person narrator and tour guide was perhaps not a good stylistic decision. It made it difficult to connect with or even care about the Gilberts as we learn about all their problems and their dysfunctional traits. Perhaps having each chapter through a different characters point-of-view would have worked better or have one or two of the siblings tell the story.

The Infamous Gilberts is recommended for the right reader who enjoy historical family dramas and The Royal Tenenbaums. Thanks to Scribner for providing me with an advance reader's copy via NetGalley. My review is voluntary and expresses my honest opinion.

http://www.shetreadssoftly.com/2025/1...

[Hannah]

My thanks to Scribner for providing an advance copy of this book for review consideration via NetGalley. All opinions expressed here are my own.

The Infamous Gilberts is a book that is more unique in its telling than the tale it contains. The novel is structured as a series of vignettes, as related by a family friend, Maximus, to the reader. Thornwalk, the crumbling Gilbert family estate, is being converted to a luxury hotel now that the five siblings have all passed away. Max takes the reader on a ramble through the house and grounds, relaying the story of the family as he encounters relevant relics and rooms.

What emerges is a fundamentally sad story. Spanning the decades from the aftermath of the Great War to the turn of the twenty-first century, the novel charts the slow erosion of a once-wealthy family into mental illness, isolation, and poverty. Readers familiar with sprawling family dramas will recognize many of the themes and plot points at play here. And while I admired the framing device, I didn’t find the Gilberts themselves especially compelling or distinct. With apologies to Tolstoy, unhappy families in literature are something of a crowded field these days – and they’re starting to resemble one another a bit too closely.

I appreciated Tomaski’s approach and her commitment to atmosphere, but I found myself wishing for a deeper emotional connection to the story being told. If you’re drawn to novels with an unusual narrative structure and a strong sense of place, The Infamous Gilberts certainly delivers on that front. If, however, you’re looking for a book that pairs formal experimentation with a more affecting emotional core, I would point you towards The Names by Florence Knapp instead.

[RachelZ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Characters: 3.75⭐️
Setting: 4.00⭐️
Plot: 3.75⭐️
Themes: 3.50⭐️
Personal enjoyment: 3.75⭐️
Emotional Impact: 3.50⭐️
Overall rating: 3.75⭐️

The Infamous Gilberts is the story about the rise and fall of a family in the early 1900s of the London countryside. It goes through the individual siblings lives and is told through a narrator named Maximus who is touring the Gothic mansion called Thornwalk which was sold to hotelier. Many of the Gilberts are confronted with some sort of "madness" and are resistant to change.

Overall, I think this story is best described as undiagnosed individuals navigating a post World War I world in a Downton Abbey setting. Overall the story was enjoyable, and you don't want to root for any of the characters because at the end they really just are horrible people who thought they were entitled to the world because of their status in society which diminished with time. Hugo is the eldest son who thinks he could just run his fathers business because he is is son. He has no experience. Jeremy disappears from the family entirely living his life around the world. Lydia falls "in love" with her tutor at the age of 14 and is married off to a much older man at the age of 18. Rosalind is delusional about her own self. And poor Annabel, a "strange" young woman who wants nothing to do with proper society.

It was an okay story and I enjoyed the fact that it was not about a prim and proper family.

Would I recommend this book? Maybe.

Thank you to Scribner for sending me a physical ARC in exchange for an honest review.

[Shine with Shauna · Rating 2 out of 5]

Have you ever been on a tour of a historic home? You walk through the residence while learning about its past occupants and what each room was used for. This entire story felt like I was on a tour of the Gilberts' home listening to the guide divulge all of their life stories and darkest secrets...room by room, object by object. It's a family that I can only describe as quirky, dysfunctional and complex.

In the case of the Gilberts, we hear the tales of five siblings; five very different siblings. For the most part, they have lived a life of wealth, but are experiencing first hand how both greed and resistance to change can contribute to decline, abandonment and fractures. I found it dark and sad, but with moments of comedy.

I reflected on my thoughts about this book, trying to figure out why it didn't work for me, especially since the characters were insufferable, yet interesting. I feel it was the third person perspective. It's original, which deserves acknowledgement. However, I think that it would have been more captivating to hear either from one sibling's viewpoint (perhaps Annabel) or to hear from all of the siblings (multiple narrators). The third person perspective left me confused at times.

Thank you to the publisher for providing an advanced digital copy via NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review. These opinions are entirely my own.

(2.5 stars)

[Alyson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is narrated by Maximus, who speaks directly to the reader, inviting them into the large house called Thornwalk, and introducing them to the family who live there. It is an unusual narration style and certainly took some getting used to, especially as the book jumped about between the siblings at first and took a while to settle down. It is, I imagine, a style which will either find favour with readers or put them off fairly early on.
The Gilberts live a somewhat privileged life in their large house, although because Mr Gilbert disappeared after WW1 there is not as much wealth as there used to be. Investments don't make the same returns and they must cut back on things. I found Mrs Gilbert's ineptitude both in household management and child management very annoying and I didn't sympathise with any of the siblings despite them all having problems. I believe I was hoping for some Brideshead or Mitford type characters who I could root for but there is nothing in the Gilberts that encourages such championing.
That said, there was something in the telling of the story that encouraged me to read on. Maybe I was simply hoping that one of them would come good in the end, or maybe it was voyeurism into their lifestyles but I did find the book quite enjoyable despite the characters.
With thanks to Netgalley, the author and Penguin Random House UK for an early copy in return for an honest review.

[Amy Campbell · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thank you to Scribner and NetGalley for allowing me to read this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I was not a fan of the format of this book. The former home of the titular Gilberts is being made into a hotel, and the narrator is giving us a tour of the place before it's remodeled, room by room. The narrator was a little florid for my tastes and the book never really told me how he became the narrator, and why he was involved with the family or how he became the curator of their legacy.. I may have missed that small factoid in the endlessly depressing details of this family.

The family consists of mom, aunt, three girls, and two boys, all of them "eccentric" and toward the end out and out bonkers. The reason for Dad's absence is not revealed till toward the end of the book but it was pretty strongly telegraphed and there wasn't much payoff to finding out the truth. I liked Jeremy, but he was the only sane one and he spent a good bit of the book traveling, popping into the story and then out.

I can see where this book aspired to be a Wes Andersen kind of tale, but I just could not get into the characters. So many jerks, professional victims, manipulators, users, etc. The wreckage these people left in their wake is the worst, and not a one of them seemed to have any inkling of the effects of their damage to the lives of others.

[Amy Ashworth · Rating 5 out of 5]

In a moldering stately home called Thornwalk, where moths and rust consume, our narrator treads dusty steps through the past to provide readers a glimpse into the rudderless lives of the last Gilberts. Set adrift by the loss of their father, Hugo, Jeremy, Lydia, Rosalind and Annabel are (mis)guided into adulthood by a clueless mother, helpless as a baby bird, and overbearing aunt, who sets stock in appearances.

Through our tour guide Maximus, the narrator and Thornwalk neighbor, the reader encounters the everyday things that carry a historical burden: a sliver of wood, the dark silhouette of a missing painting on peeling wallpaper, the strands of hair from a pony's tail, the bloodstain on a threadbare carpet. These items, decayed by age, bear witness to the decay wrought by mismanagement and the end of a gilded age.

What I found most entrancing about the novel are the stories left untold: the stories of Annabel, Emma and Jeremy, and Maximus, who bumped along, sometimes in the current, but most often in the wake of the other Gilberts. I do get the comparison to The Royal Tenenbaums, but I sincerely appreciated the lift of Tomaski's dark humor while bearing witness to a series of melodramatic fails and heart-wrenching family trauma.

Many, many thanks to Scribner and NetGalley for access to the digital ARC in exchange for my honest review.

[Barbara Boyd · Rating 3 out of 5]

The premise of "The Infamous Gilberts" reflects books I enjoy: dilapidated English estates with faulty families, better off neighbors, wise and caring servants, meddling aunts from London, and an overall comedy of manners. The idea of their story being told through the rooms and furniture of the house itself is intriguing. For me, the neighbor as narrator, however, got old very quickly, like the friend who tells full stories of people you don’t know.

Nonetheless, I felt compelled to read forward. The short chapters offer vivid descriptions of the house as the artifice for the tragic events of the people in it, namely the Gilberts. I kept waiting for something more “gothic and haunted” to happen, and while there is plenty of tragedy, I wouldn't call it gothic.

I’ve always disliked those fourth wall comments and asides that speak to the “dear reader” and this entire book is written in that voice. As the book went on, my frustration with the narrator grew because everything was from his point of view, leaving us wanting for any deep interior thoughts of the characters.

I can imagine some readers adoring this book. For me it remains a 3-star review.

Thank you to NetGalley and Scribner for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

#netgalley #theinfamousgilberts

[Madeline Church · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars (Honestly, it might be 5 stars with a re-read)! The Infamous Gilberts was such a treat to read. It was unlike anything else I've read, and I want more from Angela Tomaski as soon as possible!

I am baffled that this is a debut. The writing felt very experienced and polished. This author's potential is endless, especially when combined with the creativity within the story itself.

This novel did not feel exactly "gothic," as advertised. It did have a looming, gloomy feeling all throughout, though. The haunting atmosphere, comparable to that of Daphne du Maurier's Rebecca and Shirley Jackson's We Have Always Lived in the Castle, was undoubtedly present. However, I would not say the writing styles were completely similar.

The choice of narrator was top-tier. The story was told through the lens of a family friend. I think this opened up great possibilities for the story. We got to see each Gilbert family member in depth. If a family member told it, I think it might have lost that aspect a lot. In addition, I really loved how a lot of the chapters gave us a "tour" of the house. This caught my attention in the beginning, and I felt that I could imagine the estate clearly.

Thank you NetGalley, Scribner, & Angela Tomaski for an ARC in exchange for an honest review. The Infamous Gilberts is released on January 20, 2026!

[Stephanie Campbell · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is a story about five siblings as told by a fairly mysterious narrator. It had a unique writing style and perspective that was a little challenging to get into, but once it became familiar, I really enjoyed it. However, there were a couple of elements that weren't to my personal taste. First, the story was quite cryptic and relied a lot on the reader reading between the lines and making inferences. I know some readers enjoy this, and if you do, you will find this book suitable. Second, I found the majority of the book to be quite depressing and many of the characters to be insufferable.There were few moments of hope and happiness and a lot of moments of injustice, poor choices, and bad luck. I did enjoy, in the last few chapters, getting a glimpse of how the narrator connected to the story, but I would have liked that dynamic to be featured a little in the text. I did feel a hint of satisfaction at some of the thoughts the main character shared toward the end of the book, but they, and the emotions therein, kind of contradicted some of the earlier events in the story, so I was left wondering which was the more accurate depiction and more questions than answers. Although, perhaps that is the point.

[Susan Poer · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was well written, and a unique format that I just had a hard time getting into. This is a story of the Gilbert siblings-Lydia, Hugo, Annabel, Jeremy and Rosalind; and spans from the early 20s to the early 2000s. The story is told by a narrator who is touring their house, soon to be renovated into a grand hotel. We tour the decaying opulence of the Thornwalk manor with him, and in each room there is a story about one of the siblings. This was an original way of telling a story that at first caught me off guard and sometimes made it hard to comprehend what was going on.

The narrator covers the Gilbert siblings, and all the other inhabitants of the house, through multiple time periods, giving each their due through some incident or item in each room. It's a character rich study that has lots of dark humor and melancholy. The author uses objects to bring up topics such as memory, loss, and the importance of place. As the times change, and the world adapts, many of the Gilberts do not, and we witness their slow demise along with the decay of the house that is no longer there.

An interesting read, and not something I'd ususally pick up.