This has been a bit of a roller coaster read for me. Had you told me at any time that one day I'd give a book that is very much based around Emily Brontë a 4 star review I'd have been sceptical. Ever since school, classical literature has just never been my thing.

I have never heard of Ponden Hall and as it was the only hint in the blurb that this is a place synonymous with the Brontë's then I wasn't aware when I requested the book on Netgalley of what I was getting myself into; I just thought it sounded good and might perhaps be a bit of a ghostly tale.

After the first few chapters in I decided that it was probably best to admit it wasn't what I was expecting and that I wouldn't be able to review it. But I kept reading, one more chapter, one more. The first ghostly apparition - mmm, maybe I will read it.

There are several strands and story lines associated with this book. The setting, as I already mentioned is Ponden Hall. Trudy Heaton grew up here but left at a young age to marry her true love. Her husband is a Doctor and after a plane crash over a Peruvian forest he is now missing presumed dead. He leaves behind Trudy and their young son Will. Devastated at losing her husband, Trudy returns to Ponden Hall to live with her estranged mother who she hasn't seen for 15 years. Whilst not strictly a time slip story there is the mystery of Agnes who lived at Ponden Hall in the 1600's. There are the many ghostly encounters within the house whilst Trudy is staying there which revolve around Agnes and her tragic story. There are the notes that Trudy finds hidden in different parts of the house which she recognises as being written in the hand of Emily Bronte herself. There's the architect who Trudy meets who seems eager to help her restore the hall and save it from its dilapidated state.

All these different strands are linked together by the house and its history over the last 400 years. I admit that at times I found it a little slow but Agnes's story was interesting and also some of the encounters that Trudy had with ghosts of the past actually made the hairs stand up on the back of my neck. It was a very atmospheric book with descriptions of the bleak Yorkshire Moors, the drab, damp and cold weather (that I can totally identify with). It is quite a creepy book at times.

The last part, when all the various strands are brought together is so good. I'm saying no more because I wouldn't like to spoil the book for anyone but I did enjoy the last part the most. I cannot honestly say that myself and the subject matter were a perfect match. It's quite possible that had it been in the book description on Netgalley that it was Bronte related, there's every chance I may not have requested it. Having said that I'm glad I stuck with it and read it all as thinking back over the whole book, it really was an excellent story and told in a very heartfelt way. Due credit must be given to Rowan Coleman as you can just tell she must have lived this story while she was writing it. A lot of research and a passion for the Bronte family has gone into its writing.

It might not all have been quite my kind of story but I am certain there are many readers who will absolutely love it.

I normally love the books by Rowan Coleman but this one seems to have beaten me. I lost interest fairly early in the book and haven't yet tried again. The story is slow to start. Obviously i dont know if it picks up as I didnt finish it .

Where do I start? I really believed that Rowan could not better her previous novel, The Summer of Impossible Things. But I was wrong.
This book has it all, history, mystery, ghosts, the wild moors, but above all, love. Romantic love, parental love, family love - even canine love!

It’s not a conventional love story by any means, it is far more than that. We follow the story of Agnes from centuries ago. Then it overlaps with the story of Emily Bronte, which in turn overlaps with Trudy’s present day life.

The characters are so vivid, especially Ma and Mab, the descriptive scenes made me feel I was right there, in whichever period of history they were set.

This book is a truly wonderful experience. Thank you, Rowan.

I really enjoyed this book. The characters were likable and believable. I especially liked Ma and her relationship with her grandson Will. Though I'm not a big history fan I did enjoy that part of the story. I've read a couple of Rowan Coleman's books and always enjoy them.

Thanks to NetGalley for my copy.

I really enjoyed this book. It was very atmospheric and even spooky in places. The characters were great and I like the way the storyline evolved. Definitely worth a read!

I loved this book. The scenery is wonderfully described and the historical references made everything seem more real. I was intrigued by the Bronte part of the story and I really liked the characters especially Ma. I didn’t want this book to end. I wanted to keep reading.

Thank you to Netgalley for my copy.

This story has been a pleasure to read having followed Rowan Coleman for a long time and learning of her love of Emily Bronte and of Ponden Hall.
This is the story of Trudy Heaton and her son Will, sadly her husband went missing, presumed dead from a plane that was brought down in the Rainforest. Trudy is forced to return home to Ponden Hall, a place she has once escaped from. Here lives her Mother - a miserable, grumpy woman who appears to have little time for her daughter. Ponden Hall is full of history and full of memories for Trudy - she is totally shocked by the condition of the house and by the way her mother is living. Will however finds things in common with her grandmother and the women softens as time goes on. In the meanwhile Trudy wishes to restore the house and sets about exploring. She is shocked to discover some secret letters, hidden and not expected to be found. Trudy needs to find out if the letters are originials or not - sadly the letter is not complete and Trudy will be forced to delve further to find the truth.

This story is full of history and weaves between the past and the present. A definite must for lovers of historical fiction!

Trudy Heaton grew up in her ancient ancestral home Ponden Hall on the Yorkshire moors. It is a house full of history that she left behind her when an argument with her mother caused a huge rift between them. Now she is ready to return home with her young son Will. She is grieving for her husband, who was on his last-ever humanitarian assignment as a doctor in faraway South America when his plane went down in the densest of rainforest. Despite exhaustive searches the recovery party had been unable to find any evidence of survivors. Trudy herself went deep into the jungle to try to discover the wreckage, their young son was distraught and had begged her to go to find and bring his Daddy back.
Trudy’s mother has been leading a lonely, quiet life and is very happy to be reunited with her daughter and meet her grandson for the first time, but Trudy is shocked at the state of the hall. It needs a massive restoration project to return it to its former glory, so Trudy arranges for a nearby neighbour to come and assess what work is a priority. Meanwhile she sets herself the task of tidying up the unused spare rooms that are full of junk. As an archivist she is interested to discover more about the history of her family and of their house and soon she finds some ancient papers that document the life of a young relative by marriage. She also makes a stunning discovery about an important visitor to the hall, one that will cause a worldwide sensation when it is made public. The collection of letters and documents were well hidden and both stories appear to be linked, even though they are not from the same timescale, but unfortunately the folio is incomplete. Trudy has a massive challenge to try to find more papers relating to these two engrossing stories, so she rolls up her sleeves and the hunt is on. What she discovers is totally awesome.
This new novel is set in a house full of well-hidden secrets that have survived centuries without discovery. It’s a story of love and hope mostly but the two historical elements are full of treachery, brutality, greed and darkness, although lightened by endearing love stories. This author is an extremely talented lady and I have always admired her lyrical descriptive storytelling. I enjoyed the modern story best of all; a story of family and a relationship mended, it was tinged with sadness and grief. What I disliked was the threatening presence of paranormal activity, although I accept that this was a tool to further develop the story to its thrilling conclusion. The character I like most was young Will, unable to grieve for his loss and move on because he believed the father he loved so much was lost not dead. I identified with this as I lost my father when I was very young and I did not believe he was dead – that it was just a story to appease me; I was in hopeful denial, I couldn’t accept or cope with the truth.
I received a complimentary copy of this story from publisher Ebury Digital and through my membership of NetGalley. Thank you for my copy sent in return for an honest review. I have followed Rowan Coleman for years and I always enjoy her novels. These are my own honest opinions without any outside influences. It’s a 3.5* from me.

Thank you to netgalley.co.uk for giving me a free copy of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review.

When I first saw this book, it was nothing like I thought it was going to be. However, I really enjoyed gothic undertones in this book. I felt that this book relied too much on Bronte's classics and began to copy too much of her work which is a shame but I thought there was so much potential in this book.

This is a haunting, beautifully written tale with the most gorgeous setting. Trudy's character was magnetic and immediately leapt off the page to me. The plot was gripping and engaging. Ponden Hall was a character all of its own and so much love was poured into every detail, from its stone walls to the ghosts and stories contained within them. Each emotion was sharp and rich, coming together to create a mixture of sorrow, hope and love. Rowan Coleman has knocked it out of the park once again!

An enchantingly beautiful and haunting tale. Set in the atmospheric Yorkshire moors, the story is truly mesmerising. The added historical reference to the Brontes is just the icing on the cake for this fabulous read.

Sometimes you can tell how much you’re going to like a book from very early on – and, for me, The Girl At The Window was a five star read right from the start.
I stayed up way too late and woke up way too early in a bid to keep hearing more of the story. I even thought about it when I wasn’t reading it. If anyone is looking for an example of spellbinding, I can confidently suggest Rowan Coleman’s latest is it.
For many Bronte fans, the name Ponden Hall will probably be familiar. Once home to the Heaton family, the farmhouse is said to have inspired various buildings within Bronte novels, including Wuthering Heights and Wildfell Hall.
The children were regular visitors, playing with the Heaton family and visiting the library, which was reputedly the largest private library in Yorkshire.
Instead of it being sold and eventually becoming a B&B, as it is now, in Rowan’s story it stays within the Heaton family.
Mixing fact and fiction (she explains what in notes at the end), Rowan creates a compelling tale which is set in the past and present, has a story within a story and perfectly blends endearing love, mysteries, ghostly tales and history.
Emily Bronte features throughout the book, which was a very welcome surprise. I got a sense that Rowan is a massive fan too - she certainly knows her stuff factually but it was more than that. I felt her passion through that of her characters. It made the book all the more enjoyable for me.

Ponden Hall is a centuries old manor house on the Yorkshire moors, purportedly used by the Bronte sisters. It has been the home of the Heaton family for generations. Trudy returns to her family home with her son Will when her husband goes missing in South America while on a humanitarian mission. The house is full of history, mystery and magic. A fantastic read stretching across the centuries as past crimes are uncovered and family ties are rediscovered.

I thought this sounded right up my street. A crumbling gothic manor on the Yorkshire moors, Bronte contry, populated with ghosts, and a mystery to be solved. Trudy, has decided to take her son and go to stay with her mother at Ponden Hall, after she loses her husband in a plane crash. She finds some letters and diary entries which sets her off in search of more of Emily Bronte's writing.
I was expecting more of a gothic mystery, but I found it much more sentimental than something I would usually read. As such, I was a little disappointed, but this was to do with my expectations, not the authors wrinting. I'm glad I managed to finish it though. It did get better.

*Many thanks to Get galley for a copy in exchange for an honest opinion*

The Girl at the window is a delightful, eerie, atmospheric multi timeline story with a haunting sense of romance and loss.
In a Yorkshire setting of a spooky and legend filled old crumbling family home called Ponden Hall, we find the main character Trudy returning to the home where she grew up. Her unconventional crotchety Mother still lives there and when tragedy strikes Trudys happy marriage, it is back to Ponden that Trudy brings her young son Will when both are left reeling with shock and disbelief that Wills beloved father Abe is missing believed dead and their happy family life is no more.
At Ponden Hall mysteries have lain hidden for centuries and Trudy’s skill as a book archivist, leads her to investigate the strong links within the Hall with the Bronte’s and it is this link which gives Trudy something to cling to and focus on to cope with her grief.
What unfolds is not the usual dual time historical romance but a triple timeline story, with the lives of 3 young women all linking with each other over time. Modern day Tru struggles to get on with the cantankerous Mother she has always found it difficult to relate to, Back in the annals of time we hear the voice of a young woman called Agnes who worked at the hall and had the very unusual skill of reading and writing in a time when such skills marked a woman out as a rebel and she finds herself in a dire predicament. She shares her thoughts with her journal snippets of which emerge centuries later to reveal glimpses of her life. Plus there is the story of Emily Bronte who used the library at Ponden Hall (now bereft of books) and even stayed there in a concealed window bed which still remains in the 21st century.
There is a really creepy atmosphere throughout, glimpses of the past coupled with legends of a black beast who appears when a family death is imminent, serve to create an eerie and haunting Gothic backdrop to this contemporary love story.
It’s a lovely uplifting and heartwarming story of family ties, loyalty and abiding love. Will is a great little lad, and the Bronte link makes it all the more realistic. Tru is fighting hard to cope with losing the love of her life and bring up a small boy and everything in her life is change and mayhem, little wonder she finds it hard to get by and is easy to spook when she imagines things that go bump in the night … or IS it her imagination?
This is just the perfect book to lose yourself in, whether you are on a sunny beach whiling away your holidays or cosied up indoors with the rain lashing outside. It’s got everything a thoroughly enjoyable read should have…. Great characters with plenty of depth, flaws and foibles, lots about books, legends and ghosts, a haunting old house I’d love to have a look around, grief and forgiveness and a damn good gallop along with it and gulp it all up story. Superb and so damned easy to get swallowed up in, I lost a couple of days in this book hardly even noticing life was continuing, just great escapism of the highest calibre.

This gothic novel is set in Ponden Hall on the Yorkshire Moors, the home of the Heaton family for centuries, and to which Trudy returns with her young son after her husband goes missing in a plane crash. It is a gripping story of injustices from four centuries earlier that echo through to the present day, and a treasure hunt for hitherto unseen and unknown letters and writings of Emily Bronte. As the tale unravelled it became harder to put this book down! I thoroughly enjoyed it.

This is the first book I have read by Rowan Coleman, but it has made me want to read everything she has written. I thought it was warm, atmospheric and intriguing. I can’t imagine how she came up with the idea, but I am very glad that she did.
I was keen to read The Girl at the Window as I am a fan of Emily Bronte and the fabulous Wuthering Heights. The book didn’t disappoint. Even if you don’t much like the Bronte’s you will still love this book. If you like ghost stories, thrillers, love stories, and strong modern female fiction, this is for you.
I am definitely going to be raving about this to my book club, our followers, and anyone who will listen. One of my favourite books this year.
Thank you to @NetGalley, the author and the publishers for the opportunity to read this lovely book. #TheGirlattheWindow

This is a great story with many layers, shifts back in time, and the Brontes! What not to like. Trudy Heaton is trying to put her life back together after the loss of her husband overseas and to look after her young son. She returns to the family home to heal but has to try to build bridges with her cantankerous mother. The history of the house and the area, her own love story and that of earlier generations are all interwoven with ghosts, and books and mystery. It is a good yarn that will be very popular.

A novel set during 3 times: historical, 10years ago and current time. It is well written and moves seamlessly through the eras. Romance and ghosts are the main theme and it is an enjoyable book

Thanks Netgalley and the Publisher. This is a truly beautifully written historical book this is both a romantic novel and a ghost story. Highly recommend.