Kayse’s Reviews > The Curse of Morton Abbey > Status Update
Kayse
is on page 149 of 397
I’ve read that this book is a combo of the Secret Garden and Jane Eyre. I’ll readily confess that I DNF’d JE in high school, so I can’t speak to the Brontë-ness of this book, but the parallels to SG are getting to be a bit too much. (Vaughan=Mary, Nick=Colin, Joe=Dickon, the Yorkshire setting, etc). Not sure if it’s as obvious to most, but I’ve read SG countless times, & it’s weirdly distracting.
— Oct 15, 2025 05:59PM
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Kayse’s Previous Updates
Kayse
is on page 209 of 397
Finally a bit more promising, and not so cut-and-paste from the Secret Garden. The Dickon character (Joe) is seemingly shifty, and it appears more likely that the FMC will go for the Colin-stand-in (Nick).
— Oct 16, 2025 05:49PM
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It’s just a lot, you know? It doesn’t feel so much an homage as it feels like a weird fan fiction Secret Garden. I’m hoping this improves soon, because authors I like gave this book good reviews ☹️
Also, it doesn’t feel as gothic/spooky as I thought it would be? Nothing too wild is happening here.
If anything, this book makes me want to just reread the Secret Garden, or maybe the Hound of the Baskervilles (which is set in Devon, not Yorkshire, but the descriptions of the moors makes me want to read about Stapleton getting sucked into the Grimpen Mire again for the millionth time).
1. Mary/Vaughan hears someone crying at night, it no one will tell her what it really is
2. Dickon/Joe pushes Colin/Nick around the garden in his wheelchair
3. The use of the very specific word “wick” (meaning alive)
4. The housekeeper is obviously keeping secrets from the heroine
5. Colin/Nick being certain that he will die soon, for no obvious medical reason
6. Mary/Vaughan sneaking around the manor into closed-off rooms