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Author- Beth Underdown
Series- N/A
Published- 2022
Page Count- 304
Publishing House- Penguin
Genre- Historical fiction, gothic, mystery
Rating- 3/5 stars
Note- thank you to Penguin for sending me an eARC via NetGalley to review.
About the Author
Beth Underdown was born in Rochdale in 1987. She studied at the University of York and then the University of Manchester, where she is now a Lecturer in Creative Writing.
The Witchfinder’s Sister, her debut novel, was published by Viking in the UK and Ballantine in the US in 2017, was a Richard and Judy bestseller and won the HWA Goldsboro Crown Debut Award. The Key in the Lock, her second novel, is out now with Viking.
Taken from Beth's website.
Plot
I still dream, every night, of Polneath on fire. Smoke unfurling out of an upper window and a hectic orange light cascading across the terrace.
For Ivy is sure that there is more to what happened all those years ago: the fire at the Great House, and the terrible events that came after. A truth she must uncover, if she is ever to be free.
Brimming with secrets, this lyrical haunting historical thriller is perfect for fans of Elizabeth Macneal, Sarah Waters and Diane Setterfield.
Taken from Goodreads
Opinions
I'd like to start this review by thanking the publishers for sending me an eARC to review via NetGalley. I received a copy in exchange for a review. Historical fiction is one of my favourite genres to read and one I find myself gravitating towards more. When I joined NetGalley, this was one of the first books I saw and thought that sounded interesting. I feel very lucky to have received an early copy to read.
Before I get into my actual review, I want to quickly talk about the format of the book. So I was sent a digital copy to review and while I'm grateful, I think this format attributed to some of my problems with the book. I've seen quite a few people on Twitter talk about the format of these documents and how it makes them difficult to read. I have to agree. The layout is really odd, with sentences being randomly broken. It isn't always clear when there's a new chapter. I think there's a way to fix it, but I personally don't know. I just wanted to add that to my review as that's part of the reason why I gave it 3 stars.
Now, let's get into the review. The first thing I want to say is that I found it difficult to get into. This is a dual narrative story, with one half being in 1918 as Ivy grieves for her son, and the other half in 1888, the events of Polneath fire. In the 1918 sections, I noticed the author would have quite lengthy flashbacks to 1888, which I found confusing. I couldn't always work out which time section I was reading about. For example, in the 1888 section, Ivy's future husband was referred to as Boscawen until the last few chapters. While in the 1918 sections, he was Richard. I think to ease confusion, it would have made more sense to keep him with the same name. I understand why the author did it as it led to a big reveal that they had gotten married, but they felt like two different characters.
Out of the two storylines, I preferred the 1888 one. The mystery around William's death and the creepy things that kept on happening at the house were much more intriguing to me. I also found Ivy a much more likeable character in the 1888 storyline. She felt more human, more compassionate. There was a focus on what was happening in the moment, rather than drifting between the two storylines. It was also a fairly compact story, with the events taking place over a week, rather than a year. The 1800s is a time period I gravitate towards reading anyway, so the 1900s one threw me a bit. This is entirely a personal preference.
I have mixed feelings about Ivy as a protagonist. At times, I found her compelling. In the 1888 storyline, she grew on me. She was intelligent, kind and fierce. In the 1918 one, she was very selfish. She didn't seem to care for Richard or the people that worked on her house. She was all over the place. Her connection with Edward felt really unhealthy. He was significantly older than her and took advantage of her. I think at around the halfway mark, Ivy became a more likeable character, but that was because it took me almost half the book to get into the book.
The reveal at the end that Edward was actually the villain rather than his father wasn't the most exciting twist. To me, it undermined the whole plot, which was about finding out why Tim had died and what had actually happened in 1888. I didn't really like Edward, he felt a bit off to me. He just wanted different women to sleep with and was not a very nice person. We learn quite early on that Ivy was involved in Old Man Tremain's (Edward's father) death. However, all she did was cover for Edward. I was expecting a bit more, that she had been partially responsible for the fire. It wasn't the best ending.
Overall, after a rocky start, this did grow on me. I think I enjoyed the last half more, apart from the ending. I can see why people liked this, but it wasn't entirely for me in the end. The Key in the Lock comes out today and I've included a link here where you can purchase a copy from Waterstones.
What did you think of The Key in the Lock??
