Lost Among the Living

By Simone St. James

IBSN: 9780451476197

Brought to you by OBS reviewer Una

Synopsis:

England, 1921. Three years after her husband, Alex, disappeared, shot down over Germany, Jo Manders still mourns his loss. Working as a paid companion to Alex’s wealthy, condescending aunt, Dottie Forsyth, Jo travels to the family’s estate in the Sussex countryside. But there is much she never knew about her husband’s origins…and the revelation of a mysterious death in the Forsyths’ past is just the beginning…
 
All is not well at Wych Elm House. Dottie’s husband is distant, and her son was grievously injured in the war. Footsteps follow Jo down empty halls, and items in her bedroom are eerily rearranged. The locals say the family is cursed, and that a ghost in the woods has never rested. And when Jo discovers her husband’s darkest secrets, she wonders if she ever really knew him.  Isolated in a place of deception and grief, she must find the truth or lose herself forever.
 
And then a familiar stranger arrives at Wych Elm House…

Review:

Although this book was completely out of my genre I found I enjoyed it.  I found in spite of myself I was turning pages engrossed in the characters, setting and dealing with the unexpected. I mean who can ignore a book that is spooky, has haunted houses, killer dogs, madness, morphine and misty woods as a setting for a love story.

Jo is clever and sharp tongued and I found myself rooting for her as she identifies with her sadness and loss of love.

This is a gothic novel with the right amount of mystery, creepiness, and a romance that leaves you longing for more. The story surprised me with how captivating it became as the story got darker and the lies and secrets became thicker.

Again this read was not my genre and I don’t know whether I would read another like it  however the great thing is  I don’t regret having read it.