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The Room in the Attic
A child who does not know her name…
In 1903 fishermen find a wrecked boat containing a woman, who has been badly beaten, and a young girl. An ambulance is sent for, and the two survivors are taken to All Hallows, the imposing asylum, hidden deep on Dartmoor. The woman remains in a coma, but the little girl, who the staff name Harriet, awakens and is taken to an attic room, far away from the noise of the asylum, and is put in the care of Nurse Emma Everdeen.
Two motherless boys banished to boarding school…
In 1993, All Hallows is now a boarding school. Following his mother’s death and his father’s hasty remarriage, Lewis Tyler is banished to Dartmoor, stripped of his fashionable clothes, shorn of his long hair, and left feeling more alone than ever. There he meets Isak, another lost soul, and whilst refurbishment of the dormitories is taking place, the boys are marooned up in the attic, in an old wing of the school.
Cries and calls from the past that can no longer be ignored…
All Hallows is a building full of memories, whispers, cries from the past. As Lewis and Isak learn more about the fate of Harriet, and Nurse Emma’s desperate fight to keep the little girl safe, it soon becomes clear there are ghosts who are still restless.
Are they ghosts the boys hear at night in the room above, are they the unquiet souls from the asylum still caught between the walls? And can Lewis and Isak bring peace to All Hallows before the past breaks them first…
In 1903 fishermen find a wrecked boat containing a woman, who has been badly beaten, and a young girl. An ambulance is sent for, and the two survivors are taken to All Hallows, the imposing asylum, hidden deep on Dartmoor. The woman remains in a coma, but the little girl, who the staff name Harriet, awakens and is taken to an attic room, far away from the noise of the asylum, and is put in the care of Nurse Emma Everdeen.
Two motherless boys banished to boarding school…
In 1993, All Hallows is now a boarding school. Following his mother’s death and his father’s hasty remarriage, Lewis Tyler is banished to Dartmoor, stripped of his fashionable clothes, shorn of his long hair, and left feeling more alone than ever. There he meets Isak, another lost soul, and whilst refurbishment of the dormitories is taking place, the boys are marooned up in the attic, in an old wing of the school.
Cries and calls from the past that can no longer be ignored…
All Hallows is a building full of memories, whispers, cries from the past. As Lewis and Isak learn more about the fate of Harriet, and Nurse Emma’s desperate fight to keep the little girl safe, it soon becomes clear there are ghosts who are still restless.
Are they ghosts the boys hear at night in the room above, are they the unquiet souls from the asylum still caught between the walls? And can Lewis and Isak bring peace to All Hallows before the past breaks them first…
390 pages, Paperback
First published October 12, 2021
2955 people are currently reading
7190 people want to read
About the author
Louise Douglas
29 books852 followersHello and thank you for visiting my profile page. I write contemporary Gothic novels which are usually inspired by places close to where I live in the Mendips, close to Bristol in the UK, or by places I've visited, especially Italy and Sicily. The House by the Sea won the Jackie Collins Romantic Suspense Award in 2021. The Love of My Life, my first book, was longlisted for the Romantic Novel of the Year Award. My second book, Missing You, won the RNA Readers' Choice Award, and my third, The Secrets Between Us was a 2012 Richard and Judy Summer Read.
The next book, The Room in the Attic is due to be published in October 2021 and is a ghost story set in a Victorian asylum-turned-boarding school on Dartmoor.
If you'd like to connect, you'll find me on Facebook Louise Amy Douglas or Twitter: @LouiseDouglas3.
The next book, The Room in the Attic is due to be published in October 2021 and is a ghost story set in a Victorian asylum-turned-boarding school on Dartmoor.
If you'd like to connect, you'll find me on Facebook Louise Amy Douglas or Twitter: @LouiseDouglas3.
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November 20, 2022
The Room in the Attic by Louise Douglas
Narrated by Helen Barford and David Thorpe
All Hallows has a long and unpleasant past. For years it was an asylum and at first all the patients were treated the same, with dignity. Later came different management and there were rooms set aside for the wealthy, complete with flowers, fine food and drink, and personal attention from the staff. By this time the rest of the patients were treated by being drugged into a stupor, bound, chained, and stripped of their clothes and all their dignity, until there was little left of them, body or mind. This was the way things were in 1903 when an unconscious woman and her young daughter were brought to the asylum in very bad shape.
All Hallows is a boarding school in 1993. It's worse for wear and there has been some flooding so when thirteen year old Lewis is sent there, it's darker and danker than ever. At least Lewis becomes friends and roommates with surly Isak. While repairs are made on the bigger group room where the boys will eventually sleep, the two of them have a room of their own, under an old attic that has the strangest noises coming from it.
I really like Lewis. He can hardly keep his mind on anything related to school or adults. It's always going off on tangents that are interesting to him and to me. Both he and Isak are smart and creative even if their grades don't reflect it. Once they realize something strange is going on in the school they spend most of their spare time in the library or their room reading about the past of All Hallows and it's staff and residents.
The story alternates between a female narrator for the 1903 timeline and a male narrator for 1993 and most of the chapters are very short. I really like how the story was done because I never had a chance to lose the thread of either timeline. In the earlier timeline we spend time with the little girl, Harriet, and Nurse Emma, who is to take care of her while her mother recovers from her injuries. Old Emma thought her heart had hardened after her little boy died fifty years ago but she was wrong. Harriet breaks through that barrier and Emma would do anything to keep Harriet safe.
The two timelines are going to meet although it takes two creative and curious boys to allow it to happen. I like how the story is told and how the story is resolved. I definitely want to read more by this author.
Published 2021 by Boldwood Books
Narrated by Helen Barford and David Thorpe
All Hallows has a long and unpleasant past. For years it was an asylum and at first all the patients were treated the same, with dignity. Later came different management and there were rooms set aside for the wealthy, complete with flowers, fine food and drink, and personal attention from the staff. By this time the rest of the patients were treated by being drugged into a stupor, bound, chained, and stripped of their clothes and all their dignity, until there was little left of them, body or mind. This was the way things were in 1903 when an unconscious woman and her young daughter were brought to the asylum in very bad shape.
All Hallows is a boarding school in 1993. It's worse for wear and there has been some flooding so when thirteen year old Lewis is sent there, it's darker and danker than ever. At least Lewis becomes friends and roommates with surly Isak. While repairs are made on the bigger group room where the boys will eventually sleep, the two of them have a room of their own, under an old attic that has the strangest noises coming from it.
I really like Lewis. He can hardly keep his mind on anything related to school or adults. It's always going off on tangents that are interesting to him and to me. Both he and Isak are smart and creative even if their grades don't reflect it. Once they realize something strange is going on in the school they spend most of their spare time in the library or their room reading about the past of All Hallows and it's staff and residents.
The story alternates between a female narrator for the 1903 timeline and a male narrator for 1993 and most of the chapters are very short. I really like how the story was done because I never had a chance to lose the thread of either timeline. In the earlier timeline we spend time with the little girl, Harriet, and Nurse Emma, who is to take care of her while her mother recovers from her injuries. Old Emma thought her heart had hardened after her little boy died fifty years ago but she was wrong. Harriet breaks through that barrier and Emma would do anything to keep Harriet safe.
The two timelines are going to meet although it takes two creative and curious boys to allow it to happen. I like how the story is told and how the story is resolved. I definitely want to read more by this author.
Published 2021 by Boldwood Books
October 2, 2023
“Mum said places had personalities. Strong emotions soaked into the fabric of buildings, and if you concentrated you could feel the same feelings as the people who had been there before.”
And it is with this sentiment and chilling reflection of what time does to people, who are captured in the soul of the buildings they once inhabited, that we enter into the ‘attic’, of All Hallows.
A chilling, atmospheric and brooding tale with a difference. A story that is every bit as engrossing and addictive as the characters. Even the attic feels like a character that has captured within its soul the tragedy, isolation, and whispers of people like Lewis, Harriett and Nurse Everdeen.
The Plot
Now working in property and architecture, Lewis Tyler is forced to return to the place that haunts so much of his childhood memories. All Hallows boarding school. Yet not all recollections of this meandering Gothic pile are troubling. Having been rejected by his father and despised by his stepmother, Lewis strikes up an unlikely friendship with his roommate and the unruly Isak only to find that the young Isak harbours as much pain as he does.
However, as their friendship blossoms and they learn more of each other agonising past so too do their learn of the painful past shared by some of the other occupants of All Hallows. So yes, we go further back in time to 1903, and meet Harriet and Mrs March who arrived on a boat to the country and found themselves boarding at the famous All Hallows – then an asylum. Taken on the charge of looking after the infant, Nurse Everdeen becomes all but a mother to the little Harriet.
Needless to say, there are many twists to this story that would spoil to reveal. So best to read to find out more!!! but a word of warning...
Some wrongs can never be put right. Not all pain can be alleviated. Human beings are an optimistic bunch, but it’s disingenuous to think there will always be a happy ending; that that which we believe to be right will always triumph.
Review and Comments
Just as the slow start to the novel takes time to reveal the twists and links from past to present, so too does this mysterious grade listed building hold on dearly to its ghostly past with an abundance of secrets that if anything enhances the feeling of menace and the supernatural.
I loved this book, everything from the characters to the plot, the vivid descriptions, the perpetual feeling of unease, knowing to expect the unexpected and still being surprised. I loved the build and the even pacing. I loved the setting because anything Victorian conjures up its own images in me. The movement between timelines felt effortless and unusually both timelines were strong with a lot of substance to each story / timeline.
A very very worthy read. Excellent.
And it is with this sentiment and chilling reflection of what time does to people, who are captured in the soul of the buildings they once inhabited, that we enter into the ‘attic’, of All Hallows.
A chilling, atmospheric and brooding tale with a difference. A story that is every bit as engrossing and addictive as the characters. Even the attic feels like a character that has captured within its soul the tragedy, isolation, and whispers of people like Lewis, Harriett and Nurse Everdeen.
The Plot
Now working in property and architecture, Lewis Tyler is forced to return to the place that haunts so much of his childhood memories. All Hallows boarding school. Yet not all recollections of this meandering Gothic pile are troubling. Having been rejected by his father and despised by his stepmother, Lewis strikes up an unlikely friendship with his roommate and the unruly Isak only to find that the young Isak harbours as much pain as he does.
However, as their friendship blossoms and they learn more of each other agonising past so too do their learn of the painful past shared by some of the other occupants of All Hallows. So yes, we go further back in time to 1903, and meet Harriet and Mrs March who arrived on a boat to the country and found themselves boarding at the famous All Hallows – then an asylum. Taken on the charge of looking after the infant, Nurse Everdeen becomes all but a mother to the little Harriet.
Needless to say, there are many twists to this story that would spoil to reveal. So best to read to find out more!!! but a word of warning...
Some wrongs can never be put right. Not all pain can be alleviated. Human beings are an optimistic bunch, but it’s disingenuous to think there will always be a happy ending; that that which we believe to be right will always triumph.
Review and Comments
Just as the slow start to the novel takes time to reveal the twists and links from past to present, so too does this mysterious grade listed building hold on dearly to its ghostly past with an abundance of secrets that if anything enhances the feeling of menace and the supernatural.
I loved this book, everything from the characters to the plot, the vivid descriptions, the perpetual feeling of unease, knowing to expect the unexpected and still being surprised. I loved the build and the even pacing. I loved the setting because anything Victorian conjures up its own images in me. The movement between timelines felt effortless and unusually both timelines were strong with a lot of substance to each story / timeline.
A very very worthy read. Excellent.
October 21, 2021
EXCERPT: He took hold of the knob and turned it. The door swung open and the ice-cold air trapped behind it spilled out.
Isak gasped. I blinked; looked again.
Inside the room was nothing but darkness; not even a silvering of moonlight.
And it was empty.
No light was glowing, no flame flickered, nobody was there.
Only the rocking chair moved, rocking forwards and backwards as if whoever had been sitting in it had, a moment earlier, got up and left the room.
ABOUT 'THE ROOM IN THE ATTIC': A child who does not know her name…
In 1903 fishermen find a wrecked boat containing a woman, who has been badly beaten, and a young girl. An ambulance is sent for, and the two survivors are taken to All Hallows, the imposing asylum, hidden deep on Dartmoor. The woman remains in a coma, but the little girl, who the staff name Harriet, awakens and is taken to an attic room, far away from the noise of the asylum, and is put in the care of Nurse Emma Everdeen.
Two motherless boys banished to boarding school…
In 1993, All Hallows is now a boarding school. Following his mother’s death and his father’s hasty remarriage, Lewis Tyler is banished to Dartmoor, stripped of his fashionable clothes, shorn of his long hair, and left feeling more alone than ever. There he meets Isak, another lost soul, and whilst refurbishment of the dormitories is taking place, the boys are marooned up in the attic, in an old wing of the school.
Cries and calls from the past that can no longer be ignored…
All Hallows is a building full of memories, whispers, cries from the past. As Lewis and Isak learn more about the fate of Harriet, and Nurse Emma’s desperate fight to keep the little girl safe, it soon becomes clear there are ghosts who are still restless.
Are they ghosts the boys hear at night in the room above, are they the unquiet souls from the asylum still caught between the walls? And can Lewis and Isak bring peace to All Hallows before the past breaks them first…
MY THOUGHTS: I became totally absorbed in The Room in the Attic, the first book I have read by author Louise Douglas. She has written an eerily atmospheric book that took me quite by surprise.
I was sitting in my reading chair, totally engrossed, when my cat, who had been asleep across the top of the back, jumped down onto the arm of the chair, then my lap. My husband swears that I shot a good foot into the air and squealed in fright. It's not often that a book has that effect on me. The cat, Tighe, while disgruntled, was unharmed. My pounding heart took a little longer to recover. My husband is unlikely to let me forget this any time soon.
An old lunatic asylum is the perfect setting for this story; A large, old, gothic building, full of unexplained sounds and dark corners with a tragic history is a fitting backdrop for the story Louise Douglas tells.
The story is told over two timelines: 1903 when All Hallows is still an asylum and takes in a woman who is found unconscious, and a child presumed to be her daughter; and 1993 when Lewis and Isak are pupils there, sleeping in the room directly under the room in the attic where the young child was murdered.
An asylum in the early 1900s was no refuge. There was no treatment for mental illness. Violent or troublesome patients were chained to the walls, and most were heavily sedated. Some of the drugs given actually caused hallucinations. Such places were very easy to be admitted to; few people got to leave other than in a coffin.
All Hallows as a school was not a much more inviting establishment than it was as an asylum. Bullying and corporal punishment are the norm; the staff border on brutal.
The characters in both time frames are beautifully crafted. 1993 - Lewis and Isak, both motherless, have been sent to All Hallows by their fathers basically to get them out of the way. Lewis's father has remarried and Lewis is not liked nor understood by his new stepmother. Isak's father simply hasn't the time for him - he is far too busy in politics to be bothered with a grieving son.
1903 - Nurse Emma is getting on in years and no longer able to carry out the heavier duties of her job. She is still grieving for the loss of her young son many years previously and so she is given the task of caring for the young child who was admitted alongside the unconscious mystery woman. There are no shifts, no relief. It's a 24/7 task, locked in the attic with only another nurse, Maria, to bring meals, clean linen, and gossip from the wards below.
The tie-in between these two threads is incredibly clever; the resolution immensely satisfying. The writing is haunting and emotionally apt. I can't wait to read more from this author.
⭐⭐⭐⭐.8
#TheRoomintheAttic #NetGalley
I: @louisedouglas3 @bookandtonic
T: @LouiseDouglas3 @BoldwoodBooks
#fivestarread #gothic #historicalfiction #mystery #paranormal #suspense
THE AUTHOR: Hello and thank you for visiting my profile page. I write contemporary Gothic novels which are usually inspired by places close to where I live in the Mendips, close to Bristol in the UK, or by places I've visited, especially Italy and Sicily.
DISCLOSURE: Thank you to Boldwood Books via Netgalley for providing a digital ARC of The Room in the Attic by Louise Douglas for review. All opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own personal opinions.
For an explanation of my rating system please refer to my Goodreads.com profile page or the about page on sandysbookaday.wordpress.com
This review is also published on Twitter, Amazon, Instagram and my webpage https://sandysbookaday.wordpress.com/...
Isak gasped. I blinked; looked again.
Inside the room was nothing but darkness; not even a silvering of moonlight.
And it was empty.
No light was glowing, no flame flickered, nobody was there.
Only the rocking chair moved, rocking forwards and backwards as if whoever had been sitting in it had, a moment earlier, got up and left the room.
ABOUT 'THE ROOM IN THE ATTIC': A child who does not know her name…
In 1903 fishermen find a wrecked boat containing a woman, who has been badly beaten, and a young girl. An ambulance is sent for, and the two survivors are taken to All Hallows, the imposing asylum, hidden deep on Dartmoor. The woman remains in a coma, but the little girl, who the staff name Harriet, awakens and is taken to an attic room, far away from the noise of the asylum, and is put in the care of Nurse Emma Everdeen.
Two motherless boys banished to boarding school…
In 1993, All Hallows is now a boarding school. Following his mother’s death and his father’s hasty remarriage, Lewis Tyler is banished to Dartmoor, stripped of his fashionable clothes, shorn of his long hair, and left feeling more alone than ever. There he meets Isak, another lost soul, and whilst refurbishment of the dormitories is taking place, the boys are marooned up in the attic, in an old wing of the school.
Cries and calls from the past that can no longer be ignored…
All Hallows is a building full of memories, whispers, cries from the past. As Lewis and Isak learn more about the fate of Harriet, and Nurse Emma’s desperate fight to keep the little girl safe, it soon becomes clear there are ghosts who are still restless.
Are they ghosts the boys hear at night in the room above, are they the unquiet souls from the asylum still caught between the walls? And can Lewis and Isak bring peace to All Hallows before the past breaks them first…
MY THOUGHTS: I became totally absorbed in The Room in the Attic, the first book I have read by author Louise Douglas. She has written an eerily atmospheric book that took me quite by surprise.
I was sitting in my reading chair, totally engrossed, when my cat, who had been asleep across the top of the back, jumped down onto the arm of the chair, then my lap. My husband swears that I shot a good foot into the air and squealed in fright. It's not often that a book has that effect on me. The cat, Tighe, while disgruntled, was unharmed. My pounding heart took a little longer to recover. My husband is unlikely to let me forget this any time soon.
An old lunatic asylum is the perfect setting for this story; A large, old, gothic building, full of unexplained sounds and dark corners with a tragic history is a fitting backdrop for the story Louise Douglas tells.
The story is told over two timelines: 1903 when All Hallows is still an asylum and takes in a woman who is found unconscious, and a child presumed to be her daughter; and 1993 when Lewis and Isak are pupils there, sleeping in the room directly under the room in the attic where the young child was murdered.
An asylum in the early 1900s was no refuge. There was no treatment for mental illness. Violent or troublesome patients were chained to the walls, and most were heavily sedated. Some of the drugs given actually caused hallucinations. Such places were very easy to be admitted to; few people got to leave other than in a coffin.
All Hallows as a school was not a much more inviting establishment than it was as an asylum. Bullying and corporal punishment are the norm; the staff border on brutal.
The characters in both time frames are beautifully crafted. 1993 - Lewis and Isak, both motherless, have been sent to All Hallows by their fathers basically to get them out of the way. Lewis's father has remarried and Lewis is not liked nor understood by his new stepmother. Isak's father simply hasn't the time for him - he is far too busy in politics to be bothered with a grieving son.
1903 - Nurse Emma is getting on in years and no longer able to carry out the heavier duties of her job. She is still grieving for the loss of her young son many years previously and so she is given the task of caring for the young child who was admitted alongside the unconscious mystery woman. There are no shifts, no relief. It's a 24/7 task, locked in the attic with only another nurse, Maria, to bring meals, clean linen, and gossip from the wards below.
The tie-in between these two threads is incredibly clever; the resolution immensely satisfying. The writing is haunting and emotionally apt. I can't wait to read more from this author.
⭐⭐⭐⭐.8
#TheRoomintheAttic #NetGalley
I: @louisedouglas3 @bookandtonic
T: @LouiseDouglas3 @BoldwoodBooks
#fivestarread #gothic #historicalfiction #mystery #paranormal #suspense
THE AUTHOR: Hello and thank you for visiting my profile page. I write contemporary Gothic novels which are usually inspired by places close to where I live in the Mendips, close to Bristol in the UK, or by places I've visited, especially Italy and Sicily.
DISCLOSURE: Thank you to Boldwood Books via Netgalley for providing a digital ARC of The Room in the Attic by Louise Douglas for review. All opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own personal opinions.
For an explanation of my rating system please refer to my Goodreads.com profile page or the about page on sandysbookaday.wordpress.com
This review is also published on Twitter, Amazon, Instagram and my webpage https://sandysbookaday.wordpress.com/...
October 27, 2021
This is the most charming story I have read this year – great loveable characters, some spookiness, multiple timelines converging beautifully and a small touch of science fiction.
The story carries three timelines: The present - 2021, 1903 & 1993, with most of the coverage in the second & third timelines.
2021: Lewis Tyler’s employers are considering purchasing the property referred to as the All Hallows school, a section of which is damaged by fire and is now otherwise deserted. Just the thought gives Lewis the shivers, and as he visits, he has visions and recollections of past characters & events.
1903: A woman and a young girl are discovered on a boat with injuries, and are brought to the All Hallows asylum. The girl Harriet recovers fast but the woman, who is very good looking, is in a coma for many days. Nurse Emma Everdeen, now in her advanced years, who holds the pain of the loss of her young son Herbert now cares for the girl in a room in the attic. It is many days before Harriet opens up to her, and they grow to be close with Emma being very protective. Maria, who is a trainee nurse visits Emma and the girl on and off, but has her doubts on some of the inferences Emma makes – especially on where Harriet is from and the danger, she may be in.
1993: All Hallows is now a boarding school. After his mother’s passing Lewis struggles to get along with his father & stepmother. His father thinks he needs some disciplining and packs him off to All Hallows. There he shares a room with Isak, who does not get along with his father either. His father has a girlfriend and he is set to get married again. Their room is directly below the one Nurse Emma & Harriet stayed. There are strange noises at times, sending the boys into a tizzy. Both, and especially Lewis, are constantly disobeying rules and getting punishments. Lewis’ sister offers him support via letters. The boys are determined to learn more of the history of the place and decipher what they are experiencing.
As the boys learn more and more of what happened in 1903, the convergence of the story nears. There is cute introduction of some science fiction to close things. The author does not try too hard to make the science seem very credible, and that was best for a story such as this.
I loved how all the characters were shaped – especially Lewis, Isak, Emma & Maria. The writing is great and the story & the characters grow on you.
Strongly recommended!
My rating: 4.5 / 5.
The story carries three timelines: The present - 2021, 1903 & 1993, with most of the coverage in the second & third timelines.
2021: Lewis Tyler’s employers are considering purchasing the property referred to as the All Hallows school, a section of which is damaged by fire and is now otherwise deserted. Just the thought gives Lewis the shivers, and as he visits, he has visions and recollections of past characters & events.
1903: A woman and a young girl are discovered on a boat with injuries, and are brought to the All Hallows asylum. The girl Harriet recovers fast but the woman, who is very good looking, is in a coma for many days. Nurse Emma Everdeen, now in her advanced years, who holds the pain of the loss of her young son Herbert now cares for the girl in a room in the attic. It is many days before Harriet opens up to her, and they grow to be close with Emma being very protective. Maria, who is a trainee nurse visits Emma and the girl on and off, but has her doubts on some of the inferences Emma makes – especially on where Harriet is from and the danger, she may be in.
1993: All Hallows is now a boarding school. After his mother’s passing Lewis struggles to get along with his father & stepmother. His father thinks he needs some disciplining and packs him off to All Hallows. There he shares a room with Isak, who does not get along with his father either. His father has a girlfriend and he is set to get married again. Their room is directly below the one Nurse Emma & Harriet stayed. There are strange noises at times, sending the boys into a tizzy. Both, and especially Lewis, are constantly disobeying rules and getting punishments. Lewis’ sister offers him support via letters. The boys are determined to learn more of the history of the place and decipher what they are experiencing.
As the boys learn more and more of what happened in 1903, the convergence of the story nears. There is cute introduction of some science fiction to close things. The author does not try too hard to make the science seem very credible, and that was best for a story such as this.
I loved how all the characters were shaped – especially Lewis, Isak, Emma & Maria. The writing is great and the story & the characters grow on you.
Strongly recommended!
My rating: 4.5 / 5.
October 16, 2022
4-5 stars rounded up
In 2021 Lewis returns to All Hallows his former boarding school on Dartmoor in Devon. The Gothic building is now a dilapidated virtually ruined wreck which has now been sold at auction. However this place holds no happy memories for Lewis. His heart is heavy as he surveys the site for his clients. All the answers to his trepidation and fear lie in 1993 when he is 13 and his friend Isak is 14 and then his world falls apart. However, the events of 1993 track further back in time to 1903 when a clearly wealthy woman who is named ‘Mrs March’ and her daughter Harriet are rescued from the sea. Mrs March is badly injured and unconscious and it is decided the two should be brought to All Hallows asylum where they will receive the best of care. Harriet is to be cared for by nurse Emma Everdeen. Lewis and Emma tell the astonishing tale mostly from 1993 and 1903.
Wow. I think this is the best novel by Louise Douglas that I have read so far. It positively oozes atmosphere which drips from every stone, turret and corner of the Gothic pile that is All Hallows. Let’s be clear, the atmosphere isn’t a happy one. It’s full of menacing creepiness, it’s ghostly, spooky, definitely sinister and full of mystery with the events having an excellent and really enjoyable Gothic vibe. Add in the isolation of the location on Dartmoor and the cold of the weather and the atmosphere of harshness is palpable. Harsh is a highly appropriate word as in 1993 Louis and Isak‘s treatment is also harsh and it’s a well-known fact that in 1903 the treatment of those unlucky enough to be confined in an asylum is harsh in the extreme.
This is an absolutely cracking read, it’s so well written with the timelines melding seamlessly making an immersive whole. The pace is fast, there’s never a dull moment and the short sharp chapters perfectly match the plot with very good characterisation too.
This is a terrific October read for the Halloween season.
Kindle Unlimited read.
In 2021 Lewis returns to All Hallows his former boarding school on Dartmoor in Devon. The Gothic building is now a dilapidated virtually ruined wreck which has now been sold at auction. However this place holds no happy memories for Lewis. His heart is heavy as he surveys the site for his clients. All the answers to his trepidation and fear lie in 1993 when he is 13 and his friend Isak is 14 and then his world falls apart. However, the events of 1993 track further back in time to 1903 when a clearly wealthy woman who is named ‘Mrs March’ and her daughter Harriet are rescued from the sea. Mrs March is badly injured and unconscious and it is decided the two should be brought to All Hallows asylum where they will receive the best of care. Harriet is to be cared for by nurse Emma Everdeen. Lewis and Emma tell the astonishing tale mostly from 1993 and 1903.
Wow. I think this is the best novel by Louise Douglas that I have read so far. It positively oozes atmosphere which drips from every stone, turret and corner of the Gothic pile that is All Hallows. Let’s be clear, the atmosphere isn’t a happy one. It’s full of menacing creepiness, it’s ghostly, spooky, definitely sinister and full of mystery with the events having an excellent and really enjoyable Gothic vibe. Add in the isolation of the location on Dartmoor and the cold of the weather and the atmosphere of harshness is palpable. Harsh is a highly appropriate word as in 1993 Louis and Isak‘s treatment is also harsh and it’s a well-known fact that in 1903 the treatment of those unlucky enough to be confined in an asylum is harsh in the extreme.
This is an absolutely cracking read, it’s so well written with the timelines melding seamlessly making an immersive whole. The pace is fast, there’s never a dull moment and the short sharp chapters perfectly match the plot with very good characterisation too.
This is a terrific October read for the Halloween season.
Kindle Unlimited read.
October 15, 2021
In a Nutshell: Great characters, great plot, great writing. What are you waiting for? Read this book!!!!!
Story:
I am determined not to give anything away from this tricky story. So trying my best to just give the bare bones.
Ever read a book that hooked you so much that you are ready and willing to forgive teeny plot holes? That’s me for this story. It is thematically so complicated that some logical loopholes are inevitable. But the way the author has handled most of them deserves credit.
Right from the very first page, the atmosphere is very firmly created. It's creepy, it’s eerie, it’s suspenseful, and it’s addictive. The story took its time to develop, but it developed in such a way that I couldn’t keep the book aside! The initial part of Lewis’ story gave me David Copperfield vibes. (The Charles Dickens book, not the magician!) But it is much, much darker. The gothic feel is maintained throughout the narrative.
The main characters are well-sketched. Some of the secondary characters too make a mark, though they appear only in a few scenes.
The only complaint I have about the writing is that the perspective changes are too frequent. While this helps in maintaining suspense, it also means abrupt in-between-scene shifts between Lewis' and Emma’s stories. A slightly longer duration for each character perspective would have worked better for me.
This is my very first book by this author, and I assure you, it won’t be the last!
4.5 happy stars.
My thanks to Boldwood Books and NetGalley for the ARC of the book in exchange for an honest review.
***********************
Join me on the Facebook group, Readers Forever! , for more reviews, book-related discussions and fun.
Story:
I am determined not to give anything away from this tricky story. So trying my best to just give the bare bones.
1903: Emma Everdeen is an old nurse who works at the All Hallows asylum in rural Dartmoor. When a boat with two unconscious people in it—a woman and a child--is discovered by the locals, the survivors are brought to the asylum and the child is put under the care of Nurse Everdeen. They spend their days in a room in the attic, away from the rest of the patients. The child, Harriet, soon makes her place in the lonely nurse’s heart.
1993: Lewis Tyler’s life has turned topsy-turvy after his mother’s sudden death eighteen months ago. His father has remarried, his new stepmother hates him, his elder sister has gone away to college, and Lewis himself is bundled off to the All Hallows boarding school, which is nothing like a good school should be. Here, Lewis meets another lonely boy, Isak, and their mutual pain bonds them in a true friendship. Both of them share a room in the attic, in the old wing of the school, while the actual building is being refurbished. But this room seems to contain some spooky memories, and the boys soon find themselves caught in a weird situation.
The third (minor) timeline is that of Lewis in 2021, with the 1993 narrative coming as his flashback. How the 1903 narrative connects with Lewis’ story is what you need to figure out by reading the book. My lips are sealed.
Ever read a book that hooked you so much that you are ready and willing to forgive teeny plot holes? That’s me for this story. It is thematically so complicated that some logical loopholes are inevitable. But the way the author has handled most of them deserves credit.
Right from the very first page, the atmosphere is very firmly created. It's creepy, it’s eerie, it’s suspenseful, and it’s addictive. The story took its time to develop, but it developed in such a way that I couldn’t keep the book aside! The initial part of Lewis’ story gave me David Copperfield vibes. (The Charles Dickens book, not the magician!) But it is much, much darker. The gothic feel is maintained throughout the narrative.
The main characters are well-sketched. Some of the secondary characters too make a mark, though they appear only in a few scenes.
The only complaint I have about the writing is that the perspective changes are too frequent. While this helps in maintaining suspense, it also means abrupt in-between-scene shifts between Lewis' and Emma’s stories. A slightly longer duration for each character perspective would have worked better for me.
This is my very first book by this author, and I assure you, it won’t be the last!
4.5 happy stars.
My thanks to Boldwood Books and NetGalley for the ARC of the book in exchange for an honest review.
***********************
Join me on the Facebook group, Readers Forever! , for more reviews, book-related discussions and fun.
October 28, 2022
This is a truly wonderful book about the pain of loss, growing up, becoming wiser, and finding the good in life. Most of the story also takes place in a huge, dark, brooding building full of hidden nooks and staircases, as well as a morbid history. The ending was partially, but not fully, what I had envisioned. There is magic in this book! Fit this into your schedule.
April 2, 2022
“Some wrongs can never be put right. Not all pain can be alleviated. Human beings are an optimistic bunch, but it’s disingenuous to think there will always be a happy ending; that that which we believe to be right will always triumph”. - Louise Douglas, The Room in the Attic
🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 ABSOLUTELY loved!
Told from alternating POV’s and time periods this ghost/mystery flowed seamlessly between them all. Nurse Emma (All Hallows Asylum-1903) and Lewis (All Hallows Boarding School- 1993) were so easy to root for. I really enjoyed the eventual cross-over of the timelines… this difficult transition developed flawlessly which showed a great deal of talent on Douglas’s part.
Though the story’s ending left me completely satisfied, I felt sad that it was over and that I would not be spending any more time with these characters. I listened on audio (I increased the speed from my normal 1.25 up to 1.3) with a duel narration by Helen Barford & David Thorpe They both did an outstanding job. Upon finishing I quickly looked for other novels narration by both. I would highly recommend listening over reading, because their talent adds so much warmth to these characters.
I’m very surprised that more people have not read this. I would highly recommend running out and grabbing a copy. You will not be disappointed. 5+ stars.
*We can all look back at the medical practices from the past and see how barbaric many of these practices were… made me wonder if future generations will look at medical practices of today and think the same thing. 🤔
🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 ABSOLUTELY loved!
Told from alternating POV’s and time periods this ghost/mystery flowed seamlessly between them all. Nurse Emma (All Hallows Asylum-1903) and Lewis (All Hallows Boarding School- 1993) were so easy to root for. I really enjoyed the eventual cross-over of the timelines… this difficult transition developed flawlessly which showed a great deal of talent on Douglas’s part.
Though the story’s ending left me completely satisfied, I felt sad that it was over and that I would not be spending any more time with these characters. I listened on audio (I increased the speed from my normal 1.25 up to 1.3) with a duel narration by Helen Barford & David Thorpe They both did an outstanding job. Upon finishing I quickly looked for other novels narration by both. I would highly recommend listening over reading, because their talent adds so much warmth to these characters.
I’m very surprised that more people have not read this. I would highly recommend running out and grabbing a copy. You will not be disappointed. 5+ stars.
*We can all look back at the medical practices from the past and see how barbaric many of these practices were… made me wonder if future generations will look at medical practices of today and think the same thing. 🤔
October 9, 2021
Well, well, well. I know why I love this authors books and she’s on my “auto” buys, but this book….this book was just outstanding and I had to give it my 5* which most know I hold back and I’m mean over!
This had everything I love.
Mystery
Suspense
Edge of my seat
Lots of questions I needed answers to…..right now!
Interesting characters and many with backgrounds you query over.
She lays the foundation and build it up in your mind brick by brick.
Two timelines that end up colliding.
1903. Then 1993
The gothic feel was eerie.
I want to tell you everything about this book, I’m so excited by it and eager to speak but you need to read it. There’s a huge amount I can’t tell you I don’t want to give anything away!
The Room in the Attic is a great title and more than fits the story.
The building…..
Asylum
Emma and Harriet were great characters. (1903 )
Boys school (1993) a school.
I’ve never read anything so captivating like this for a very long time.
This had everything I love.
Mystery
Suspense
Edge of my seat
Lots of questions I needed answers to…..right now!
Interesting characters and many with backgrounds you query over.
She lays the foundation and build it up in your mind brick by brick.
Two timelines that end up colliding.
1903. Then 1993
The gothic feel was eerie.
I want to tell you everything about this book, I’m so excited by it and eager to speak but you need to read it. There’s a huge amount I can’t tell you I don’t want to give anything away!
The Room in the Attic is a great title and more than fits the story.
The building…..
Asylum
Emma and Harriet were great characters. (1903 )
Boys school (1993) a school.
I’ve never read anything so captivating like this for a very long time.
October 16, 2021
5☆ A Hauntingly Good Mystery
The Room in the Attic is a book that is full of Intrigue and Mystery and once you start reading it's very hard to put down. Although for me it was a spooky read ( I'm one of those that can't watch horror as I'm too scared) I still couldn’t stop reading as I wanted to know what happened next!
I'm not going to write about the plot as the blurb gives you just enough insight to draw you in perfectly.
There are many threads to this haunting story, which makes it perfect, if you love a good ghostly Mystery, that is shrouded by a dark gothic feel that is very atmospheric.
The characters are superbly written and I really felt for them and all that they had been through.
Not only is this story gripping and eerie, it's also very emotive, which I loved.
This is my first book by Louise Douglas and I'm very excited to discover more!
Thank you to Rachel Random Resources and Boldwood Books for my copy which I reviewed honestly and voluntarily.
You can Find this Review and all my Other Reviews on My Blog :-
https://dashfan81.blogspot.com/2021/1...
The Room in the Attic is a book that is full of Intrigue and Mystery and once you start reading it's very hard to put down. Although for me it was a spooky read ( I'm one of those that can't watch horror as I'm too scared) I still couldn’t stop reading as I wanted to know what happened next!
I'm not going to write about the plot as the blurb gives you just enough insight to draw you in perfectly.
There are many threads to this haunting story, which makes it perfect, if you love a good ghostly Mystery, that is shrouded by a dark gothic feel that is very atmospheric.
The characters are superbly written and I really felt for them and all that they had been through.
Not only is this story gripping and eerie, it's also very emotive, which I loved.
This is my first book by Louise Douglas and I'm very excited to discover more!
Thank you to Rachel Random Resources and Boldwood Books for my copy which I reviewed honestly and voluntarily.
You can Find this Review and all my Other Reviews on My Blog :-
https://dashfan81.blogspot.com/2021/1...
January 7, 2023
The Room in the Attic by Louise Douglas
Synopsis /
A child who does not know her name…
In 1903 fishermen find a wrecked boat containing a woman, who has been badly beaten, and a young girl. An ambulance is sent for, and the two survivors are taken to All Hallows, the imposing asylum, hidden deep on Dartmoor. The woman remains in a coma, but the little girl, who the staff name Harriet, awakens and is taken to an attic room, far away from the noise of the asylum, and is put in the care of Nurse Emma Everdeen.
Two motherless boys banished to boarding school…
In 1993, All Hallows is now a boarding school. Following his mother’s death and his father’s hasty remarriage, Lewis Tyler is banished to Dartmoor, stripped of his fashionable clothes, shorn of his long hair, and left feeling more alone than ever. There he meets Isak, another lost soul, and whilst refurbishment of the dormitories is taking place, the boys are marooned up in the attic, in an old wing of the school.
Cries and calls from the past that can no longer be ignored…
All Hallows is a building full of memories, whispers, cries from the past. As Lewis and Isak learn more about the fate of Harriet, and Nurse Emma’s desperate fight to keep the little girl safe, it soon becomes clear there are ghosts who are still restless.
Are they ghosts the boys hear at night in the room above, are they the unquiet souls from the asylum still caught between the walls? And can Lewis and Isak bring peace to All Hallows before the past breaks them first.
My Thoughts /
Rounded up to 4.5
My first Louise Douglas novel, The Room in the Attic opens and ends in the present day. However, in between, we meander between 1903 with the story of Nurse Emma Everdeen and 1993 with the story of boarding school student, Lewis Tyler. The common thread throughout is – ‘All Hallows’ – a Grade II listed Victorian asylum/boarding school and its outbuildings, nestled on 50 acres of walled grounds in the Dartmoor countryside.
The story opens in 2021, Lewis, now working for a firm of architects is paying a ‘work related’ visit to the abandoned, All Hallows. He has been tasked with inspecting the property and photograph it for a client who has purchased the old relic with a view to renovate it. When he arrives, Lewis immediately falls back into the memories of his time spent here as a youth. Even now, as an adult, All Hallows still gives him a fear of foreboding – even in this derelict and forbidden state.
Right from the get go, I was hooked and knew this was going to be something special.
It was 1903, and fisherman out fishing came upon a shipwrecked boat. In it were the bodies of two people - a woman and a young girl. The woman, who had been badly beaten was found unconscious and the young girl so traumatized that she would not speak. An ambulance was called and the two survivors taken to All Hallows – an asylum which was hidden deep within the countryside on Dartmoor. The woman arrived at All Hallows in a comatose state and the young girl, thought to be the woman’s young daughter was taken and cared for by one of the nurses. Nurse Emma Everdeen was charged with the care of the young girl, whose name she discovers, is Harriet. Nurse Everdeen and her young patient are kept locked in the attic, out of the way, as it was thought that the child and her mother may be in danger. Nurse Everdeen’s only other contact apart from Harriet was with a trainee nurse, who came thrice daily bringing food and other supplies; as well as relaying any gossip.
In 1993, Lewis Taylor is sent to All Hallows boarding school by his father, following the death of his mother. Since his mother’s death, Lewis was floundering, he felt lost and alone. His father had remarried, and Lewis felt that sending him to All Hollows was basically a punishment to get him out of the way. Boarding school life was distinctly uncomfortable for Lewis. He was different from the others, found it hard to concentrate and understand a lot of the school teachings. Lewis found it hard to form friendships.
Regularly, I was hit with the ruler or cane during consecutive lessons and the palm of my left hand was burned and bruised. It made no sense. Hitting me would not make me cleverer.
Lewis was partnered in a room with a student called Isak and two forged an unlikely friendship which was to last a lifetime. It’s in this room that the boys quickly discover that the ‘ghosts’ from the past are still present. Lewis and Isak begin to learn more about the past of All Hallows and the tale of Nurse Emma Everdeen and the young girl in her charge, Harriet.
The stories in both timelines are equally heartbreaking and compelling. The author has done a wonderful job drip feeding us threads that join one timeline to the other. The chapters are short and alternate timelines. I wasn’t sure how I’d enjoy the ‘paranormal’ element in this story – however, the asylum setting with it’s dark and gothic history is itself eerie, and add to that the parallel timeline stories, is utterly absorbing so that the paranormal element just simply fits.
At the end, the author has both timelines mashed together – I was rivetted. totally absorbed, and entirely invested in the story.
The book was a library read, but immediately upon finishing, I purchased a copy and, purchased another of the author’s works to read in the future.
Synopsis /
A child who does not know her name…
In 1903 fishermen find a wrecked boat containing a woman, who has been badly beaten, and a young girl. An ambulance is sent for, and the two survivors are taken to All Hallows, the imposing asylum, hidden deep on Dartmoor. The woman remains in a coma, but the little girl, who the staff name Harriet, awakens and is taken to an attic room, far away from the noise of the asylum, and is put in the care of Nurse Emma Everdeen.
Two motherless boys banished to boarding school…
In 1993, All Hallows is now a boarding school. Following his mother’s death and his father’s hasty remarriage, Lewis Tyler is banished to Dartmoor, stripped of his fashionable clothes, shorn of his long hair, and left feeling more alone than ever. There he meets Isak, another lost soul, and whilst refurbishment of the dormitories is taking place, the boys are marooned up in the attic, in an old wing of the school.
Cries and calls from the past that can no longer be ignored…
All Hallows is a building full of memories, whispers, cries from the past. As Lewis and Isak learn more about the fate of Harriet, and Nurse Emma’s desperate fight to keep the little girl safe, it soon becomes clear there are ghosts who are still restless.
Are they ghosts the boys hear at night in the room above, are they the unquiet souls from the asylum still caught between the walls? And can Lewis and Isak bring peace to All Hallows before the past breaks them first.
My Thoughts /
Rounded up to 4.5
My first Louise Douglas novel, The Room in the Attic opens and ends in the present day. However, in between, we meander between 1903 with the story of Nurse Emma Everdeen and 1993 with the story of boarding school student, Lewis Tyler. The common thread throughout is – ‘All Hallows’ – a Grade II listed Victorian asylum/boarding school and its outbuildings, nestled on 50 acres of walled grounds in the Dartmoor countryside.
The story opens in 2021, Lewis, now working for a firm of architects is paying a ‘work related’ visit to the abandoned, All Hallows. He has been tasked with inspecting the property and photograph it for a client who has purchased the old relic with a view to renovate it. When he arrives, Lewis immediately falls back into the memories of his time spent here as a youth. Even now, as an adult, All Hallows still gives him a fear of foreboding – even in this derelict and forbidden state.
Right from the get go, I was hooked and knew this was going to be something special.
It was 1903, and fisherman out fishing came upon a shipwrecked boat. In it were the bodies of two people - a woman and a young girl. The woman, who had been badly beaten was found unconscious and the young girl so traumatized that she would not speak. An ambulance was called and the two survivors taken to All Hallows – an asylum which was hidden deep within the countryside on Dartmoor. The woman arrived at All Hallows in a comatose state and the young girl, thought to be the woman’s young daughter was taken and cared for by one of the nurses. Nurse Emma Everdeen was charged with the care of the young girl, whose name she discovers, is Harriet. Nurse Everdeen and her young patient are kept locked in the attic, out of the way, as it was thought that the child and her mother may be in danger. Nurse Everdeen’s only other contact apart from Harriet was with a trainee nurse, who came thrice daily bringing food and other supplies; as well as relaying any gossip.
In 1993, Lewis Taylor is sent to All Hallows boarding school by his father, following the death of his mother. Since his mother’s death, Lewis was floundering, he felt lost and alone. His father had remarried, and Lewis felt that sending him to All Hollows was basically a punishment to get him out of the way. Boarding school life was distinctly uncomfortable for Lewis. He was different from the others, found it hard to concentrate and understand a lot of the school teachings. Lewis found it hard to form friendships.
Regularly, I was hit with the ruler or cane during consecutive lessons and the palm of my left hand was burned and bruised. It made no sense. Hitting me would not make me cleverer.
Lewis was partnered in a room with a student called Isak and two forged an unlikely friendship which was to last a lifetime. It’s in this room that the boys quickly discover that the ‘ghosts’ from the past are still present. Lewis and Isak begin to learn more about the past of All Hallows and the tale of Nurse Emma Everdeen and the young girl in her charge, Harriet.
The stories in both timelines are equally heartbreaking and compelling. The author has done a wonderful job drip feeding us threads that join one timeline to the other. The chapters are short and alternate timelines. I wasn’t sure how I’d enjoy the ‘paranormal’ element in this story – however, the asylum setting with it’s dark and gothic history is itself eerie, and add to that the parallel timeline stories, is utterly absorbing so that the paranormal element just simply fits.
At the end, the author has both timelines mashed together – I was rivetted. totally absorbed, and entirely invested in the story.
The book was a library read, but immediately upon finishing, I purchased a copy and, purchased another of the author’s works to read in the future.
November 12, 2021
"if you love someone, they never really leave you.
Nothing that existed could ever be gone. She must be somewhere and I thought that if I looked hard enough, I would find her…"
I was reading this book with two other books and this was supposed to finish after others. I was supposed to reading it a little before sleep or on the subway. But not only did I finish it first also I found myself listening to it stared on my laptop but wouldn't do my work! I know I know this isn't related to the book so get to the story.
An aged nurse, Emma in the asylum, All Hallow in 1903, and a man, Lewis in 2020 who remembered when he was young in a boarding school, same old asylum in 1993.
"It was because of Isak and me, and everything that happened in those last months of 1993 when I was thirteen and Isak was fourteen and we shared the same bedroom at All Hallows. The time that began at the very point when my whole world had fallen apart."
This was a historical fiction story about two friends who are curious about the history of All Hallow but, this is not all, a mysterious child, skull, bones, ghost, murder, place for torture, and a nurse who was buried on the wrong side of the graveyard.
This was a heartbreaking and suspenseful story. I enjoyed the relationship between mother and son and two friends. The characters are touchable and pleasant. I loved it.
"Pain can be alleviated. Human beings are an optimistic bunch, but it’s disingenuous to think there will always be a happy ending."
Many thanks to Boldwood Books and NetGalley for giving me a chance to read The Room in the Attic by Louise Douglas, I have given my honest review.
Nothing that existed could ever be gone. She must be somewhere and I thought that if I looked hard enough, I would find her…"
I was reading this book with two other books and this was supposed to finish after others. I was supposed to reading it a little before sleep or on the subway. But not only did I finish it first also I found myself listening to it stared on my laptop but wouldn't do my work! I know I know this isn't related to the book so get to the story.
An aged nurse, Emma in the asylum, All Hallow in 1903, and a man, Lewis in 2020 who remembered when he was young in a boarding school, same old asylum in 1993.
"It was because of Isak and me, and everything that happened in those last months of 1993 when I was thirteen and Isak was fourteen and we shared the same bedroom at All Hallows. The time that began at the very point when my whole world had fallen apart."
This was a historical fiction story about two friends who are curious about the history of All Hallow but, this is not all, a mysterious child, skull, bones, ghost, murder, place for torture, and a nurse who was buried on the wrong side of the graveyard.
This was a heartbreaking and suspenseful story. I enjoyed the relationship between mother and son and two friends. The characters are touchable and pleasant. I loved it.
"Pain can be alleviated. Human beings are an optimistic bunch, but it’s disingenuous to think there will always be a happy ending."
Many thanks to Boldwood Books and NetGalley for giving me a chance to read The Room in the Attic by Louise Douglas, I have given my honest review.
December 4, 2025
All Hallows had a chequered history. In 1903, it was an asylum. A fishing crew discovered a boat carrying an unconscious woman and child, and the crew brought the woman and child to All Hallows. There, the woman and little girl were nursed until, in mysterious circumstances, the woman disappeared and the girl murdered. Although surrounded by controversy, a nurse was hanged for the murder. By 1993, All Hallows had become a boys' boarding school. At that school, two lonely boys become best friends. The pair, obsessed with the past mystery, eventually solve it.
This is a beautiful story, well-told. At first, I found the transitions abrupt. Once I got used to the author's approach, I enjoyed the read.
This is a beautiful story, well-told. At first, I found the transitions abrupt. Once I got used to the author's approach, I enjoyed the read.
September 12, 2021
One windy and rainy night in 1903, a fishing crew discovers an unconscious woman and a five-year-old child in a deserted boat floating at sea off the Devon coast. Once rescued, they are taken to All Hallows, an asylum on Dartmoor, and cared for by a 70-year-old woman, Nurse Emma Everdeen. In an effort to protect the child from the inmates, the nurse carries the child up to a room in the attic to care for her until her mother is nursed back to health.
Nearly 100 years later, misunderstood and grieving, 13-year-old Lewis and his equally lost friend find themselves billeted in this same isolated place. Now repurposed as the All Hallows Boarding School, Lewis Tyler is banished here when his father remarries. While the dorms are being repaired after a flood, Lewis and his friend, Isak, are relocated to a room in the attic corridor in the eaves of the boarding school. Immediately, they sense that something terrible must have happened here. They hear frightening noises in the middle of the night and the wails and moans keep them terrified. Is there something haunting the old school? Is there someone up there?
Thoroughly impressed with Douglas’s writing! This is my first introduction to this author and my first ghost story! Douglas keeps a tight reign on the bonds tying the plot, setting and characters together and has immense talent for capturing the mood and atmosphere of a place. Since this book was written during lockdowns, Douglas needed to rely on an image forever implanted in her memory. She was nine years old and riding in the back of her dad’s car when she remembers driving past a massive derelict old building. It must have had quite an impact for her to draw from this memory in crafting All Hallows.
Douglas’s characterization is phenomenal! I can understand why these characters are the most favourite of all she has written. They’re multifaceted, layered and I loved witnessing their growth when they experienced love. I think you’ll agree with me that All Hallows is itself a character! I also appreciated how she explored the different ways we cope with grief and the concept of motherhood. I was shocked to discover that Douglas prefers the organic approach to writing versus plotting because the story is cleverly orchestrated, and the mystery element is developed with such skill. I couldn't put the book down! Her homage to the Gothic classics was not lost on me! I spotted 4 references.
This ghost story set in a Victorian asylum-turned-boarding school on Dartmoor needs to make it onto your reading list this Fall.
Although not a fan of the romance genre, I will be purchasing her next novel which she describes as a complex love story. I can be sure that it’ll have a gothic element and that it will be extremely well written and feature well crafted characters.
Publishes October 12, 2021.
I was gifted this advance copy by Louise Douglas, Boldwood Books and NetGalley and was under no obligation to provide a review.
Nearly 100 years later, misunderstood and grieving, 13-year-old Lewis and his equally lost friend find themselves billeted in this same isolated place. Now repurposed as the All Hallows Boarding School, Lewis Tyler is banished here when his father remarries. While the dorms are being repaired after a flood, Lewis and his friend, Isak, are relocated to a room in the attic corridor in the eaves of the boarding school. Immediately, they sense that something terrible must have happened here. They hear frightening noises in the middle of the night and the wails and moans keep them terrified. Is there something haunting the old school? Is there someone up there?
Thoroughly impressed with Douglas’s writing! This is my first introduction to this author and my first ghost story! Douglas keeps a tight reign on the bonds tying the plot, setting and characters together and has immense talent for capturing the mood and atmosphere of a place. Since this book was written during lockdowns, Douglas needed to rely on an image forever implanted in her memory. She was nine years old and riding in the back of her dad’s car when she remembers driving past a massive derelict old building. It must have had quite an impact for her to draw from this memory in crafting All Hallows.
Douglas’s characterization is phenomenal! I can understand why these characters are the most favourite of all she has written. They’re multifaceted, layered and I loved witnessing their growth when they experienced love. I think you’ll agree with me that All Hallows is itself a character! I also appreciated how she explored the different ways we cope with grief and the concept of motherhood. I was shocked to discover that Douglas prefers the organic approach to writing versus plotting because the story is cleverly orchestrated, and the mystery element is developed with such skill. I couldn't put the book down! Her homage to the Gothic classics was not lost on me! I spotted 4 references.
This ghost story set in a Victorian asylum-turned-boarding school on Dartmoor needs to make it onto your reading list this Fall.
Although not a fan of the romance genre, I will be purchasing her next novel which she describes as a complex love story. I can be sure that it’ll have a gothic element and that it will be extremely well written and feature well crafted characters.
Publishes October 12, 2021.
I was gifted this advance copy by Louise Douglas, Boldwood Books and NetGalley and was under no obligation to provide a review.
September 20, 2022
Interesting, quick read that ties everything up with a nice little bow!
September 28, 2021
3 ⭐️⭐️⭐️ This is seriously one of the hardest reviews I’ve had to write. I don’t even know if I’m sure about giving it 3 stars. I just finished this book about 10 minutes ago and I’m just really annoyed. Not a feeling you want to have after finishing a book. Let me start by saying, this was a 4-5 star book all the way until about 85%. I’ve never been so disappointed in an ending like I was with this one. I am tempted to write this review with spoilers but I hate to tell endings so I’ll refrain from giving any details. Also, just because I hated the ending doesn’t mean someone else will. It was just way too unrealistic for me. I was looking for a creepy book and it started off that way but the ending was just a big fail to me! I would not have read this book had I known it would take such an unrealistic turn in the end. I am still overall giving it 3 stars but only because the first 85% of the book was really good!
Thank you to NetGalley and Boldwood Books for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.
Thank you to NetGalley and Boldwood Books for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.
February 19, 2024
This was a brilliant read; I could not get enough of it. It was creepy, atmospheric and had goosebumps a-tingling up my arm. It is, by far, my favourite read from Douglas.
There are three timelines in this story that merge climatically towards the end. However, for the most part, the story moves between 1993 when protagonist, Lewis, is sent to All Hallows boarding school. He is hearing strange sounds above his room and him and his roommate, Isak, soon learn about All Hallows’ history as an asylum. Moving back to 1903, Nurse Emma is looking after a mysterious child that has been found with her mother who is seriously ill. To keep this child safe, Emma is locked in the attic of All Hallows, to ensure the patients keep away and Emma can look after her.
Yet, nothing is what it seems. Emma’s connection to Harriet grows and she begins to question her relationship to her mother. On the other hand, the fact that Emma is a very old nurse means that few people believe her concerns and it is quite convenient when she is locked away each night. For me, I could not imagine anything worse, even if the characters see it as a safety measure. It is this imprisonment that merges into Lewis’s time at All Hallows and I loved how the two time periods crossed over.
Indeed, as the story develops, I liked how Douglas establishes parallels between the modern and Victorian characters. Both have become shunned by those around them and seek solace in new company. I enjoyed the school setting that Douglas portrays and felt that even in 1993, All Hallows as a boarding school was still very much trapped in the past. As the tension heightens in the story, Lewis begins to unravel more about the mysterious attic where a rocking chair appears to move on its own and strange noises are frequently heard.
I could not put this book down. It was so absorbing and I found I was addicted to both Emma and Lewis’s stories. The plot development was clever and I found I was racing through the chapters. Some of the chapters were incredibly short but I think this added to the intensity of the narrative, especially when more revelations come to light. This was a gothic ghost story through and through; I could vividly imagine the abandoned halls of the building and shared Lewis’s fears when he feels at his most vulnerable.
I would definitely read this book again because I enjoyed it so much. Atmospheric to the very end, this was superb writing from Douglas and I hope my next read from this author is just as enjoyable. I can’t recommend this book enough.
With thanks to Boldwood books and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
There are three timelines in this story that merge climatically towards the end. However, for the most part, the story moves between 1993 when protagonist, Lewis, is sent to All Hallows boarding school. He is hearing strange sounds above his room and him and his roommate, Isak, soon learn about All Hallows’ history as an asylum. Moving back to 1903, Nurse Emma is looking after a mysterious child that has been found with her mother who is seriously ill. To keep this child safe, Emma is locked in the attic of All Hallows, to ensure the patients keep away and Emma can look after her.
Yet, nothing is what it seems. Emma’s connection to Harriet grows and she begins to question her relationship to her mother. On the other hand, the fact that Emma is a very old nurse means that few people believe her concerns and it is quite convenient when she is locked away each night. For me, I could not imagine anything worse, even if the characters see it as a safety measure. It is this imprisonment that merges into Lewis’s time at All Hallows and I loved how the two time periods crossed over.
Indeed, as the story develops, I liked how Douglas establishes parallels between the modern and Victorian characters. Both have become shunned by those around them and seek solace in new company. I enjoyed the school setting that Douglas portrays and felt that even in 1993, All Hallows as a boarding school was still very much trapped in the past. As the tension heightens in the story, Lewis begins to unravel more about the mysterious attic where a rocking chair appears to move on its own and strange noises are frequently heard.
I could not put this book down. It was so absorbing and I found I was addicted to both Emma and Lewis’s stories. The plot development was clever and I found I was racing through the chapters. Some of the chapters were incredibly short but I think this added to the intensity of the narrative, especially when more revelations come to light. This was a gothic ghost story through and through; I could vividly imagine the abandoned halls of the building and shared Lewis’s fears when he feels at his most vulnerable.
I would definitely read this book again because I enjoyed it so much. Atmospheric to the very end, this was superb writing from Douglas and I hope my next read from this author is just as enjoyable. I can’t recommend this book enough.
With thanks to Boldwood books and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
October 19, 2021
The story introduces us to to an adult Lewis in the present day where he is sent, against his wishes, on a work trip to an abandoned All Hallows to carry out a recce on behalf of a client. It is still a forbidding place with bad vibes and he is convinced of a ghostly presence. His fear of the place still hasn’t subsided and he can’t wait to get out of there.
If you like stories set around old asylums, with more than a touch of the supernatural then this is one for you. Flitting between two timelines, 1903 and 1993, the earlier part of the story is told from the perspective of elderly Nurse Emma Everdeen, charged to look after a young girl bought into the asylum, All Hallows, with her mother who was found unconscious. Emma and her young patient are kept locked in the attic, out of the way, their only contact being with another nurse for daily supplies. Emma, still very much feeling the loss of her own son after many years, becomes increasingly attached to the young child and does all she can to protect her.
In 1993, Lewis is sent to All Hallows boarding school by his father, basically as a punishment and to get him out of the way. Following his mother’s death, Lewis is lost and the grim and austere atmosphere of the school certainly doesn’t help. His room mate Isak is in a similar position and a tenuous friendship and understanding begins between them whilst they try to find ways to make their situation more bearable and to beat the system if they can.
There is much mystery involving the girl and her mother. Who are they and where have they come from? With no identification, it is a slow process to discover who they really are and Nurse Everdeen gradually tries to coax any information out of her young patient.
Whilst this is a slow burner to start, there are some real shocks in both timelines with much suspense. Lewis and Isak have some disturbing experiences – the supernatural element has been done so well and the old asylum building is not giving up its secrets and ghosts so easily.
There is so much in this story that will intrigue and absorb the reader. I was constantly being surprised throughout. The hellish and grim atmosphere of the asylum comes over so well with patients being admitted for the most spurious of reasons and even 90 years later it feels as though their stories are imprinted in the fabric of the building.
There is a definite Gothic feel to the story – All Hallows has such a commanding presence over both timelines and the author has set the scene well with vivid descriptions giving a sense of place together with a haunting presence throughout. I thoroughly enjoyed it and would definitely recommend. If you’re easily spooked then I suggest you read with the lights on! 👻
If you like stories set around old asylums, with more than a touch of the supernatural then this is one for you. Flitting between two timelines, 1903 and 1993, the earlier part of the story is told from the perspective of elderly Nurse Emma Everdeen, charged to look after a young girl bought into the asylum, All Hallows, with her mother who was found unconscious. Emma and her young patient are kept locked in the attic, out of the way, their only contact being with another nurse for daily supplies. Emma, still very much feeling the loss of her own son after many years, becomes increasingly attached to the young child and does all she can to protect her.
In 1993, Lewis is sent to All Hallows boarding school by his father, basically as a punishment and to get him out of the way. Following his mother’s death, Lewis is lost and the grim and austere atmosphere of the school certainly doesn’t help. His room mate Isak is in a similar position and a tenuous friendship and understanding begins between them whilst they try to find ways to make their situation more bearable and to beat the system if they can.
There is much mystery involving the girl and her mother. Who are they and where have they come from? With no identification, it is a slow process to discover who they really are and Nurse Everdeen gradually tries to coax any information out of her young patient.
Whilst this is a slow burner to start, there are some real shocks in both timelines with much suspense. Lewis and Isak have some disturbing experiences – the supernatural element has been done so well and the old asylum building is not giving up its secrets and ghosts so easily.
There is so much in this story that will intrigue and absorb the reader. I was constantly being surprised throughout. The hellish and grim atmosphere of the asylum comes over so well with patients being admitted for the most spurious of reasons and even 90 years later it feels as though their stories are imprinted in the fabric of the building.
There is a definite Gothic feel to the story – All Hallows has such a commanding presence over both timelines and the author has set the scene well with vivid descriptions giving a sense of place together with a haunting presence throughout. I thoroughly enjoyed it and would definitely recommend. If you’re easily spooked then I suggest you read with the lights on! 👻
April 28, 2022
As another reviewer said, this was a 4-5 star book until the last 15% when it suddenly changed from a gothic tale to a timeshift tale and a happier ending. The book as a whole was very well written, told in two timelines 1903 and 1993. The characters were vivid in my imagination, I really cared about some and absolutely loathed others. The descriptions of conditions in late Victorian English asylums was (sadly), accurate from all I've read previously and made me root for Nurse Emma, Harriet and Thalia all the more. But the jump from gothic tale to timeshifting so close to the end was jarring to me and ultimately not really believable.
October 12, 2021
I absolutely loved reading this book! Another first class read by Louise Douglas.
2021. Lewis works for Redcliffe Architects and is asked to go to Dartmoor to All Hallows to take some photographs and look around the place before a meeting with its owners, an American company, the following week.
There is one problem. Lewis doesn't want to go there. Anywhere near there.
1903. 1 October 1903 a woman and young child are rescued from a lugger by the crew on the vessel, 'March winds,' just off the Devon coast.
The woman and child were barely alive and were taken first to a doctors house and then on to an asylum, All Hallows.
Who are they and where are they from? How did they end up in the lugger, and the woman with what appeared to be knife wounds?
Nurse Emma Everdeen is told very little but is tasked with looking after the little girl.
1993. Eighteen months after his mother's sudden death, Lewis, nearly 14 years old, is told that he's being taken to a boarding school. All Hallows.
I loved the different threads of the story; finding out how they became connected and my heart was bursting with sadness for what Lewis and Isak, his room mate, went through. Different circumstances but they had one thing in common that brought them immense sadness and anger, as well as them both being sent to All Hallows.
I loved the paranormal edge to the story, is Lewis hearing things or is it his mind being over imaginative?!
Nurse Emma grew on me. It was clear how even though she had suffered, and still was, she was prepared to protect Harriet. And it was frustrating to see how she was treated so unfairly.
I was really spooked at times, and love stories where I'm scared to read on!
I always look forward to a new book by this author, but I think this is her best yet. I can't wait for her next book!
2021. Lewis works for Redcliffe Architects and is asked to go to Dartmoor to All Hallows to take some photographs and look around the place before a meeting with its owners, an American company, the following week.
There is one problem. Lewis doesn't want to go there. Anywhere near there.
1903. 1 October 1903 a woman and young child are rescued from a lugger by the crew on the vessel, 'March winds,' just off the Devon coast.
The woman and child were barely alive and were taken first to a doctors house and then on to an asylum, All Hallows.
Who are they and where are they from? How did they end up in the lugger, and the woman with what appeared to be knife wounds?
Nurse Emma Everdeen is told very little but is tasked with looking after the little girl.
1993. Eighteen months after his mother's sudden death, Lewis, nearly 14 years old, is told that he's being taken to a boarding school. All Hallows.
I loved the different threads of the story; finding out how they became connected and my heart was bursting with sadness for what Lewis and Isak, his room mate, went through. Different circumstances but they had one thing in common that brought them immense sadness and anger, as well as them both being sent to All Hallows.
I loved the paranormal edge to the story, is Lewis hearing things or is it his mind being over imaginative?!
Nurse Emma grew on me. It was clear how even though she had suffered, and still was, she was prepared to protect Harriet. And it was frustrating to see how she was treated so unfairly.
I was really spooked at times, and love stories where I'm scared to read on!
I always look forward to a new book by this author, but I think this is her best yet. I can't wait for her next book!
October 26, 2024
3.5⭐
This books starts off with a bang! And then it drags for the next 28 chapters and when i was just on the verge of quitting, it becomes super interesting, suspenseful and addictive
And so i read the last 200 pages in a few hours tonight even though i had initially planned to just read a few and then go to bed (lol)
Loved how the story evolved and the characters of Nurse and the kid under her care in the past chapters, but the chapters written from the pov of Lewis felt distant and i didn't really care for him or anyone from his timeline and also the ending felt kinda rushed
This books starts off with a bang! And then it drags for the next 28 chapters and when i was just on the verge of quitting, it becomes super interesting, suspenseful and addictive
And so i read the last 200 pages in a few hours tonight even though i had initially planned to just read a few and then go to bed (lol)
Loved how the story evolved and the characters of Nurse and the kid under her care in the past chapters, but the chapters written from the pov of Lewis felt distant and i didn't really care for him or anyone from his timeline and also the ending felt kinda rushed
June 30, 2024
I wasn’t sure about this book at first but by about 50 pages in, I was hooked. Two timelines, three really if you count the present-day which is briefly written about, both very sad but so gripping. Very very very good.
October 4, 2021
Thank you to NetGalley and Boldwood Books for allowing me to read an advanced digital copy for an honest review...this are my honest review
Highly recommend
I found that the story started out great and interesting, by the middle I was a little bored with the story but I am so glad I stuck it out! It was spooky and I even cried.
The author got really narrative in the middle which is a big turn off for me but I had to see how the book ended. Everything came together.
The story is in dual time lines...it starts out in 1903 and then we jet to 1993 at the All Hallows Asylum then goes to All Hallows Boarding School...
The characters are likable and it was really easy to follow...
In the end I'm really glad I stuck with it.
I'm sure this won't be the last book I read by Louise Douglas
Highly recommend
I found that the story started out great and interesting, by the middle I was a little bored with the story but I am so glad I stuck it out! It was spooky and I even cried.
The author got really narrative in the middle which is a big turn off for me but I had to see how the book ended. Everything came together.
The story is in dual time lines...it starts out in 1903 and then we jet to 1993 at the All Hallows Asylum then goes to All Hallows Boarding School...
The characters are likable and it was really easy to follow...
In the end I'm really glad I stuck with it.
I'm sure this won't be the last book I read by Louise Douglas
October 23, 2021
Wow, oh wow! I LOVED it!!
I'm not usually a fun of stories with a kind of paranormal vibe, but I'm happily making an exception for this one.
The story is narrated in a dual timeline 1903 and 1993 and the setting is a spooky building former asylum and now (1993 that is) boarding school. The pace is very fast, with short, snappy chapters that adds to the "I'll just read another one" factor, which, in my case, ended up to reading it in almost one sitting.
The atmosphere is chilling and spooky, but the story will also move you and break your heart. Absolutely beautiful! It won't be my last Louise Douglas, for sure!
Thank you to NetGalley and Boldwood Books for providing me with an arc in exchange for an honest review.
I'm not usually a fun of stories with a kind of paranormal vibe, but I'm happily making an exception for this one.
The story is narrated in a dual timeline 1903 and 1993 and the setting is a spooky building former asylum and now (1993 that is) boarding school. The pace is very fast, with short, snappy chapters that adds to the "I'll just read another one" factor, which, in my case, ended up to reading it in almost one sitting.
The atmosphere is chilling and spooky, but the story will also move you and break your heart. Absolutely beautiful! It won't be my last Louise Douglas, for sure!
Thank you to NetGalley and Boldwood Books for providing me with an arc in exchange for an honest review.
November 15, 2021
All Hallows is a dark, brooding and crumbling building that has had many guises and holds many secrets.
The reader is introduced to the building in 2021 as Lewis returns to All Hallows after many years. Lewis is working for a large firm of architects and must visit All Hallows to look at how it can be developed. What appears to be a run of the mill, everyday assignment is something that will stir memories for him. All Hallows featured heavily in his younger life and he's loathe to return.
Lewis first saw All Hallows in the early 1990s. His beloved mother was dead and he'd been packed off to boarding school by his father and his new wife. Stripped of his identity and grieving, he and another boy Isak, form a friendship.
Back in 1903, All Hallows was an asylum and it was there that young child is taken after being found in a wrecked boat alongside an unconscious woman. The child is cared for by nurse Emma Everdeen.
The attic room of All Hallows is, as the title suggests, the central theme of all parts of this story and the author cleverly weaves the three time zones together, giving the reader the chance to experience different times, different characters and one mystery.
Louise Douglas always writes such beautifully detailed stories filled with a cast of richly imagined characters, theres a touch of Gothic, with a hint of Du Maurier to her writing which is always spellbinding and always enticing.
I found the story moved quite slowly at the start, but I was able to ease myself in and to appreciate each character and each time setting. As the story progresses the air of supernatural mystery deepens and it wasn't long before I was utterly hooked, quite desperate to know what would come next.
I really enjoyed the contrast between Nurse Everdeen's story and that of young Lewis and Isak, even though their stories link, there is a distinct difference in the telling. All too often in multiple time line stories, the settings and times can become blurred but this author has excelled here with two styles.
An entertaining story that draws the reader in and is filled with mystery and suspense. Beautifully imagined and a joy to read.
The reader is introduced to the building in 2021 as Lewis returns to All Hallows after many years. Lewis is working for a large firm of architects and must visit All Hallows to look at how it can be developed. What appears to be a run of the mill, everyday assignment is something that will stir memories for him. All Hallows featured heavily in his younger life and he's loathe to return.
Lewis first saw All Hallows in the early 1990s. His beloved mother was dead and he'd been packed off to boarding school by his father and his new wife. Stripped of his identity and grieving, he and another boy Isak, form a friendship.
Back in 1903, All Hallows was an asylum and it was there that young child is taken after being found in a wrecked boat alongside an unconscious woman. The child is cared for by nurse Emma Everdeen.
The attic room of All Hallows is, as the title suggests, the central theme of all parts of this story and the author cleverly weaves the three time zones together, giving the reader the chance to experience different times, different characters and one mystery.
Louise Douglas always writes such beautifully detailed stories filled with a cast of richly imagined characters, theres a touch of Gothic, with a hint of Du Maurier to her writing which is always spellbinding and always enticing.
I found the story moved quite slowly at the start, but I was able to ease myself in and to appreciate each character and each time setting. As the story progresses the air of supernatural mystery deepens and it wasn't long before I was utterly hooked, quite desperate to know what would come next.
I really enjoyed the contrast between Nurse Everdeen's story and that of young Lewis and Isak, even though their stories link, there is a distinct difference in the telling. All too often in multiple time line stories, the settings and times can become blurred but this author has excelled here with two styles.
An entertaining story that draws the reader in and is filled with mystery and suspense. Beautifully imagined and a joy to read.
May 8, 2022
Brilliant
Well told, good paced and brilliant twist.
Do yourself a favour and give it a go.
But don’t start at night in a dark room.
Well told, good paced and brilliant twist.
Do yourself a favour and give it a go.
But don’t start at night in a dark room.
October 3, 2021
Where do I begin? WOW! Just...WOW! This is my first foray into Louise Douglas and I wasn't sure what to expect...but THE ROOM IN THE ATTIC just blew me away! I can't even begin to categorise its genre...is it historical? Is it women's fiction? Is it a mystery? Is it even paranormal (which is not really my thing)? Basically, it's a bit of everything rolled into a gothic ghost story complete with a rambling asylum and strange noises in the attic. The plot is twisty, the scene is atmospheric and the characters are completely engaging. This book had me absorbed from the very first page right through the very last...so much so that I read it in one sitting! I began it when I went to bed, thinking I'd read for a couple of hours before hitting the hay, but noooo...I simply had to keep reading till the end...right up till 4.20am!
So the first thing that drew me to the book was the fact it was dual timeline. I love these types of books where two stories unfold and are seamlessly woven together by the end. But this one goes one step further than that which to say much more would be to reveal spoilers...and you really must read the book yourself to experience it. The other thing which drew me was the whole atmospheric setting of a creepy asylum on Dartmoor miles from anywhere and the mystery that unfolds there.
On a cold and rainy night in 1903, fishermen come across a seemingly deserted boat floating at sea off the Devon coast. Upon closer inspection they discover a young child and an unconscious woman laid out barely alive. Their rescuers take them to the local doctor who sedates the distressed young child and the two are transferred to All Hallows asylum on Dartmoor. There, the woman is given the Royal Suite where she is to be treated and recover in private away from the asylum's inmates whilst the child is taken into care by 70 year old nurse, Emma Everdeen who has lived most of her life at All Hallows. To protect the child from the inmates, both she and the nurse are secluded to the asylum's attic rooms until her mother has been nursed back to health.
But the child, whose name is Harriet, is reluctant to reveal any details about who they are or where they come from or where they may have been heading when they were found near death in the freezing waters. Emma slowly begins to extract information from the child and they form an unlikely alliance. Emma still grieves for the child she lost fifty years before and Harriet longs to be reunited with her mother. However, the woman shows no signs of waking from her comatose state and to reunite the pair now would only distress the child further. But the more time Emma spends with Harriet, the more she grows fond of the child and fears the time when she must hand her back to her mother.
But something sinister is lurking beyond the walls of All Hallows and Emma feels a malevolence she can't explain and a desperate need to protect little Harriet. But at what cost?
Ninety years later in 1993, 13 year old Lewis Tyler has been shipped off to boarding school and finds himself billeted at All Hallows, now repurposed as a boarding school for boys. Misunderstood and grieving the loss of his mother, Lewis finds himself banished here when his father remarries. The school has recently suffered flood damage and with part of the west wing closed for renovations, Lewis is given accommodation in an attic room with one other student, Isak Salen.
The boys begin a tentative friendship having been forced to share a room but soon find themselves sharing confidences and a shared interest in the history of All Hallows when it was an asylum, stemming from the skeletal remains Lewis uncovers in grounds outside of the asylum's graveyard. Lewis and Isak decide to solve the mystery of who the remains were and why they were buried in unconsecrated ground reserved for criminals. Added to that are the creaking noises they hear in the night as well as the shadows that pass their door. The wails and moans that appear to haunt the old asylum have them terrified and longing to uncover what is really rattling around up there. Their enquiries lead them to the school library where there is a nook specially devoted to the history of All Hallows and everything therein. And there they come across an old nursing manual that had once belonged to Emma Everdeen and an autobiography written by an inmate Thalia Nunes, as they endeavour to uncover what really happened in the room in the attic ninety years ago.
There are several themes highlighted throughout the story. The first being abandonment as Lewis, Isak and Emma were all abandoned by their families for one reason or another. All of them dumped at All Hallows for different reasons but abandoned all the same. Identity is another as Lewis was stripped of his goth clothes, piercings, hair and make-up and given the standard uniform that is issued to every student so that they all resemble each other. The same could be said for those in 1903 when patients were stripped of anything that defined them and women, particularly those who were seen as unruly and free-thinking, were simply thrown into asylums as punishment until they learned to conform with society and to be respectable. Then there is grief. Both Lewis and Isak lost their mothers whilst Emma lost her child as each of them struggle to come to terms with their losses. And finally there is isolation. This is something that can have a detrimental effect on even the sanest of minds in how it can play with one's definition of reality.
But what I love most about THE ROOM IN THE ATTIC is the chilling atmospheric feel. It has that real gothic sense in the classic Victorian building that brings that sense of foreboding in the form of an asylum where the demented are imprisoned, shackled and their souls tortured. It lends a creepiness to the story that is enough to leave you sleeping with the lights on. It is eerie without being scary but it is still chilling.
I also love the short snappy chapters - always a favourite of mine to keep a story moving at a fast pace. And fast paced it is.
Whilst reading this story, I was reminded of a movie I once saw called "The Love Letter" in which a man in the present day finds an old letter in an antique desk he purchases and he responds, placing the letter where he found the original one which then ensues a correspondence between himself in he present day and a woman from the 1800s. But there is nothing romantic here as this story is chilling and sinister with an atmospheric eeriness...but still one you just cannot put down.
THE ROOM IN THE ATTIC is a brilliant tale that sweeps you back and forth from 1903 to 1993 and back again until finally landing in the present day of 2021. The chapters alternate between Emma in 1903 and Lewis in 1993 at a fast pace that will have you turning the pages at the rate of knots.
There is so much to love about this book! And love it, I did! It totally consumed me and I cannot wait to delve into more of Louise Douglas' tales if this one is anything to go by!
Perfect for fans of gothic tales with the right amount of atmospheric creepiness as a ghostly page turner.
I would like to thank #LouiseDouglas, #Netgalley, #BoldwoodBooks and #RachelsRandomResources for an ARC of #TheRoomInTheAttic in exchange for an honest review.
This review appears on my blog at https://stinathebookaholic.blogspot.com/.
So the first thing that drew me to the book was the fact it was dual timeline. I love these types of books where two stories unfold and are seamlessly woven together by the end. But this one goes one step further than that which to say much more would be to reveal spoilers...and you really must read the book yourself to experience it. The other thing which drew me was the whole atmospheric setting of a creepy asylum on Dartmoor miles from anywhere and the mystery that unfolds there.
On a cold and rainy night in 1903, fishermen come across a seemingly deserted boat floating at sea off the Devon coast. Upon closer inspection they discover a young child and an unconscious woman laid out barely alive. Their rescuers take them to the local doctor who sedates the distressed young child and the two are transferred to All Hallows asylum on Dartmoor. There, the woman is given the Royal Suite where she is to be treated and recover in private away from the asylum's inmates whilst the child is taken into care by 70 year old nurse, Emma Everdeen who has lived most of her life at All Hallows. To protect the child from the inmates, both she and the nurse are secluded to the asylum's attic rooms until her mother has been nursed back to health.
But the child, whose name is Harriet, is reluctant to reveal any details about who they are or where they come from or where they may have been heading when they were found near death in the freezing waters. Emma slowly begins to extract information from the child and they form an unlikely alliance. Emma still grieves for the child she lost fifty years before and Harriet longs to be reunited with her mother. However, the woman shows no signs of waking from her comatose state and to reunite the pair now would only distress the child further. But the more time Emma spends with Harriet, the more she grows fond of the child and fears the time when she must hand her back to her mother.
But something sinister is lurking beyond the walls of All Hallows and Emma feels a malevolence she can't explain and a desperate need to protect little Harriet. But at what cost?
Ninety years later in 1993, 13 year old Lewis Tyler has been shipped off to boarding school and finds himself billeted at All Hallows, now repurposed as a boarding school for boys. Misunderstood and grieving the loss of his mother, Lewis finds himself banished here when his father remarries. The school has recently suffered flood damage and with part of the west wing closed for renovations, Lewis is given accommodation in an attic room with one other student, Isak Salen.
The boys begin a tentative friendship having been forced to share a room but soon find themselves sharing confidences and a shared interest in the history of All Hallows when it was an asylum, stemming from the skeletal remains Lewis uncovers in grounds outside of the asylum's graveyard. Lewis and Isak decide to solve the mystery of who the remains were and why they were buried in unconsecrated ground reserved for criminals. Added to that are the creaking noises they hear in the night as well as the shadows that pass their door. The wails and moans that appear to haunt the old asylum have them terrified and longing to uncover what is really rattling around up there. Their enquiries lead them to the school library where there is a nook specially devoted to the history of All Hallows and everything therein. And there they come across an old nursing manual that had once belonged to Emma Everdeen and an autobiography written by an inmate Thalia Nunes, as they endeavour to uncover what really happened in the room in the attic ninety years ago.
There are several themes highlighted throughout the story. The first being abandonment as Lewis, Isak and Emma were all abandoned by their families for one reason or another. All of them dumped at All Hallows for different reasons but abandoned all the same. Identity is another as Lewis was stripped of his goth clothes, piercings, hair and make-up and given the standard uniform that is issued to every student so that they all resemble each other. The same could be said for those in 1903 when patients were stripped of anything that defined them and women, particularly those who were seen as unruly and free-thinking, were simply thrown into asylums as punishment until they learned to conform with society and to be respectable. Then there is grief. Both Lewis and Isak lost their mothers whilst Emma lost her child as each of them struggle to come to terms with their losses. And finally there is isolation. This is something that can have a detrimental effect on even the sanest of minds in how it can play with one's definition of reality.
But what I love most about THE ROOM IN THE ATTIC is the chilling atmospheric feel. It has that real gothic sense in the classic Victorian building that brings that sense of foreboding in the form of an asylum where the demented are imprisoned, shackled and their souls tortured. It lends a creepiness to the story that is enough to leave you sleeping with the lights on. It is eerie without being scary but it is still chilling.
I also love the short snappy chapters - always a favourite of mine to keep a story moving at a fast pace. And fast paced it is.
Whilst reading this story, I was reminded of a movie I once saw called "The Love Letter" in which a man in the present day finds an old letter in an antique desk he purchases and he responds, placing the letter where he found the original one which then ensues a correspondence between himself in he present day and a woman from the 1800s. But there is nothing romantic here as this story is chilling and sinister with an atmospheric eeriness...but still one you just cannot put down.
THE ROOM IN THE ATTIC is a brilliant tale that sweeps you back and forth from 1903 to 1993 and back again until finally landing in the present day of 2021. The chapters alternate between Emma in 1903 and Lewis in 1993 at a fast pace that will have you turning the pages at the rate of knots.
There is so much to love about this book! And love it, I did! It totally consumed me and I cannot wait to delve into more of Louise Douglas' tales if this one is anything to go by!
Perfect for fans of gothic tales with the right amount of atmospheric creepiness as a ghostly page turner.
I would like to thank #LouiseDouglas, #Netgalley, #BoldwoodBooks and #RachelsRandomResources for an ARC of #TheRoomInTheAttic in exchange for an honest review.
This review appears on my blog at https://stinathebookaholic.blogspot.com/.
January 11, 2024
This one took me by surprise. It is a haunting story with mystery, a gothic feel, and a tad of spookiness. The story alternates between two timelines: 1903, with a badly beaten woman and her daughter being found. The mother is unconscious, and the daughter can’t remember her name. They’re taken to All Hallows, an asylum hidden on Dartmoor. The woman is in a coma while the little girl is put in the care of nurse Emma Everdeen. She’s given the name Harriet.
The story enters into the year 1993, when All Hallows is now a boarding school. The school has made some improvements to the asylum that’s now a school, but it still has an eerie feel. Lewis Tyler has been sent to the boarding school after the death of his mother. He befriends Isak, whose mother is also dead. The boys form an unlikely bond and help each other navigate their time at the boarding school. They are roommates staying in the attic as parts of the school are under construction.
It doesn’t take long for them to discover something isn’t right at their school. They start to make discoveries and try to solve the mystery of Emma and Harriet. What they discover about the history of the asylum is upsetting and compelling. Both boys are invested in discovering the truth.
In the end, the timelines blend together in a seamless way. It was hard to put this one down. I didn’t want to spill too many details, but was hooked on this story. I loved that the author gave All Hallows a gothic, foreboding presence for both timelines. Even with the 90-year time difference between the two timelines, the past keeps edging into the present. It has you believing that maybe the past can change the course of the future.
The story enters into the year 1993, when All Hallows is now a boarding school. The school has made some improvements to the asylum that’s now a school, but it still has an eerie feel. Lewis Tyler has been sent to the boarding school after the death of his mother. He befriends Isak, whose mother is also dead. The boys form an unlikely bond and help each other navigate their time at the boarding school. They are roommates staying in the attic as parts of the school are under construction.
It doesn’t take long for them to discover something isn’t right at their school. They start to make discoveries and try to solve the mystery of Emma and Harriet. What they discover about the history of the asylum is upsetting and compelling. Both boys are invested in discovering the truth.
In the end, the timelines blend together in a seamless way. It was hard to put this one down. I didn’t want to spill too many details, but was hooked on this story. I loved that the author gave All Hallows a gothic, foreboding presence for both timelines. Even with the 90-year time difference between the two timelines, the past keeps edging into the present. It has you believing that maybe the past can change the course of the future.
December 29, 2025
⭐️⭐️⭐️.5
A mildly entertaining story plotted along two time lines - oops, actually three time lines. The story open in 2021. When the main character visits the site of All Hallows Boarding School, which has been closed since 1993 when said main character was a student there.
The school had formerly been an asylum for mental health patients in derelicts in the early 1900’s. Chapters alternate between 1903, when a nurse known as Miss Everdeen comes to be in charge of a little girl named Harriet who was found in a boat with a severely injured woman, assumed to be the child’s mother, and 1993, when Lewis is a student.
Creepy stuff happens in both time frames. This is a Gothic mystery, with a touch of the paranormal, a touch of thriller and historical fiction rolled into it. Not my favorite combo of genres but a decent plot if you like this type of novel.
Goodreads 2025 Challenge
Book #124 of 115
A mildly entertaining story plotted along two time lines - oops, actually three time lines. The story open in 2021. When the main character visits the site of All Hallows Boarding School, which has been closed since 1993 when said main character was a student there.
The school had formerly been an asylum for mental health patients in derelicts in the early 1900’s. Chapters alternate between 1903, when a nurse known as Miss Everdeen comes to be in charge of a little girl named Harriet who was found in a boat with a severely injured woman, assumed to be the child’s mother, and 1993, when Lewis is a student.
Creepy stuff happens in both time frames. This is a Gothic mystery, with a touch of the paranormal, a touch of thriller and historical fiction rolled into it. Not my favorite combo of genres but a decent plot if you like this type of novel.
Goodreads 2025 Challenge
Book #124 of 115
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