A great, atmospheric read and fantastic debut novel. I really look forward to seeing what Jane Healey writes next.

The story is set during the second world war in a claustrophobic manor house away from the bombings in London. Hetty Cartwright has been evacuated to the manor along with a large part of the mammal collection from the natural History Museum. Shortly after her arrival, sinister happenings start to trouble her peace of mind.
This is a gothic tale of madness and obsession with quite a lot of elements from Jane Eyre thrown in.
I found it a slow story. The tension and suspense did grow but it took its time and the ending felt a bit forced.
Overall I did enjoy it and it was a quick read.

"Living amongst and above the specimens made it hard to escape from them; I felt them underneath me at night when I felt too nervous to sleep, a great crowd, a silent hum, so many eyes in the dark waiting. How many more Autumns would I spend here, I thought in the loneliest hours before dawn, how many more years of broken sleep and worry?"

It's 1939 and Hetty Cartwright has, by virtue of conscription of her male colleagues, been promoted to director of the mammal section of a natural history museum. Hetty follows the collection out of London, to rural home counties, for safekeeping away from Nazi bombs. They arrive at Lockwood Manor, home of irascible widowower, Major Lord Lockwood and his grown up daughter, Lady Lucy Lockwood. A vast Jacobethan manor house with over 90 rooms, which the small number of resentful servents are struggling to run.

Bright and forthright, Hetty loves her job and is determined show her superiors her capabilities. She finds the Major brusque and arrogant but connects with vulnerable and beautiful Lucy. Lockwood Manor is impressive but creepy and full of secrets. Hetty is warned about ghosts (a 'woman in white) and curses (the Major's 'mad' widow). It's not long before there are strange occurrences, including hummingbirds stolen from their case. There is a malevolent presence at Lockwood Manor, felt by all. As the disasters mount, will Hetty protect her charges, or is she at risk?

Infused with Hetty's love for her animals (she identifies people as an animal they remind her of), this is a beautifully crafted, spooky mystery. Hetty and Lucy are particularly well drawn, characters to invest in, as their relationship blossoms. Themes include feminism, mysogny and mental health, which are woven into the plot. It has shades of The Little Stranger and The Silent Companions and benefits from a beautiful cover. Part love story, part mystery, this is a gripping and atmospheric tale, an excellent debut.

I really wanted to like this – I thought that the blurb sounded fantastic, but unfortunately it just wasn’t for me. There were definitely positives – Hetty’s budding relationship with Lucy was beautifully done, and Healey’s writing is gorgeous, but unfortunately the story just didn’t grab me.

I never really found the novel unsettling. There’s a lot of potential with some of the museum exhibits and Hetty’s personal possessions going missing, as well as mentions of la diablesse and the woman in white, but for me this never became as creepy as I’d hoped. That said, that may not have been the intention with this tale.

A nice, gentle historical fiction that gives a different view on the Second World War, that I think will appeal to many, but sadly just wasn't for me.

During WW2, many museum collections were moved out of London to keep them safe, and curator Hetty Cartwright is going with her beloved animals from the Natural History Museum to Lockwood Manor. Lockwood is owned by the Major, who is not a particularly pleasant man, and his daughter Lucy - who is beautiful, yet haunted.

All is not well following the move, some of the animals disappear, others are damaged and no-one can explain why or how. Is it ghosts? Or is the malign influence human? Why does one local woman seem to hate Hetty so much? And can Hetty keep the animals safe?

I really wanted to love this, much more than I actually did. It's well-written, as other reviewers have said, but I found it didn't really keep my interest as much as I thought it should. It felt a little predictable, so whilst I enjoyed it, I thought it was a pretty light read and nowhere near as mysterious as it was trying to be,

Not what I was expecting but an interesting, unusual story. Some good characters to follow through the book, even if some were not very nice!

I found myself absolutely lost in this book. The atmosphere of Lockwood Manor just pulled me right into the story, following Hetty as she tries to keep the animal collection safe in its temporary home.

As the threat of bombing looms, the extensive animal collection of London's Natural History Museum is evacuated to a safer location at Lockwood Manor. Hetty Cartwright is appointed as the guardian of the collection, and moves alongside it to take up residence at Lockwood Manor. However, almost as soon as the collection arrives, pieces start to disappear. Hetty is treated with disdain by the housekeeping staff and by Lord Lockwood, but manages to find support from Lucy, the daughter of Lord Lockwood. As the story progresses, we follow Hetty's experiences navigating life in the manor, whilst simultaneously trying to uncover the truth behind the strange disappearances of pieces from the collection....

This isn't just an atmospheric mystery. The characters have a depth that had me wanting to know more about each one, even the pretentious Lord Lockwood. I couldn't wait to discover the reasons behind the behaviour of the staff, and I was gripped to learn about Lucy's life growing up in Lockwood Manor. We view Lucy from Hetty's viewpoint, feeling what she feels towards her, and learning the sad secrecy that people were forced into to hide their relationships. I didn't want to put this book down - as the dark secrets of Lockwood Manor were slowly exposed, I was absorbed into the world.

As the tension built throughout the story, I was torn between expecting a happy ending or a sad one, I just didn't know how it would turn out! Thanks to the beautiful descriptions and the way Hetty cares for her exhibits, I felt almost as protective towards the animals as Hetty towards the end, which made the events in the book even more climactic. I just loved this book - it was right up my street, a little spooky, very evocative, and with a sense of tension and foreboding building throughout, which I loved. A really, really good book.

This was a beautifully written, magical read.
I was swept away with Hettie and her animals, feeling as protective of them as she was. Well written characters, settings to get lost in, and a story that really drew me in.
Highly recommended.
Thanks to Netgalley and Jane Healey for the ARC copy of this amazing book.

spoiler alert ** I went into this book with high expectations,hearing favourable things on social media and it being likened to Sarah Waters.
Unfortunately,as so often happens,it didn't live up to high expectations.
There was never enough tension in the story of the woman in white,or enough menace in the theft/damage of the museum collection.
Also from the second candles were mentioned,I knew where the story was going.
It was a decent enough read,but for me,it didn't stand out.

I have enjoyed reading this book although I think it dragged a little at times, maybe because I was keen to see what happened and find out if my guesses at the beginning were correct! And they mostly were, not that it detracted from my enjoyment of this modern Gothic mystery which has some topical contemporary touches including examples of coercive and controlling behaviour. It leaves the reader with a lot to think about, and would be a very good book club choice.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for giving me a copy of the book in exchange for this honest review.

I started reading this book and had a feeling it was going to be rather similar to some other books I’ve recently read. However, I was very pleasantly surprised by it. It took some themes that seem to currently be popular, but then took them in a different direction. There were a couple of genuine surprises at the end and I enjoyed the changing voice of one of the narrators. I’d definitely recommend this book and will look for more by this author.

This truly is a book about animals, some wrapped in feathers, some wrapped in fur and some wrapped in skin and Oh what fun they have interacting with each other. Some interaction is passive and some is not but it is all of interest and it all combines to make this into a very readable story. Whilst I cannot say that this book gripped me from page one through to page end, it most certainly was a tale that reeled me in and kept me curious to that page end!

My summary is that this book really did make me wonder what/who should be in the museum's collection and I am far from certain that it should not be the live ones. Please do read the book and see if you agree.

I loved this book; it is beautifully written, full of intrigue, spookiness and slow-burning passion. Hetty, Lucy and Lord Lockwood are all well drawn, but perhaps Lord Lockwood was a little less vibrant than the two women. I adored the animals as well, they provided a unique backdrop to the story and their fate is entwined with that of Hetty and Lucy.

I highly recommend this book, especially for anyone who has enjoyed Jane Eyre or Rebecca or Brideshead Revisited as I think The Animals at Lockwood Manor has a flavour of all these books but without being derivative.

The book is published next year and it is bound to do very well. It’s definitely one of the best books I have read in 2019.

Thank You To Netgalley & Publishers For Granting My Request To Review This Book.
I Was Intrigued From The Start By This Book, Firstly By The Beautiful Cover And Then By The Synopsis.
Beautiful Use Of Language - The Scene Was Set Well And Was Very Atmospheric.
I Expected A Very Spooky Ghost Story But This Wasn’t What I Expected.
I Felt The Book Didn’t Really Take Off (For Me) Until The Last 10% When Everything Happened At Once And The Story Started To Make Sense.
I Enjoyed The Character Of Miss Cartwright And Her Past Really Adhered Me To Her. A Very Interesting Character Especially Set At That Time

A vivid, eerie and haunting tale of obsession and immobile objects...
FFO Sarah Waters & books of that ilk.

An easy read, a little bit creepy, a little bit historical, a little bit romantic, and also fairly predictable.

Hetty Cartwright is evacuated out of London as the war begins, with her the mammal collection of the Natural History Museum, which she curates. Arriving at Lockwood Manor, there's an air of mystery and soon some of her animals start going missing or being moved around the house. She embarks on a deep friendship with Lucy, the daughter of the house, and together they can only hope for a better future.

Recommended as a light read.

Firstly thank you to Netgalley and Pan Macmillan for a this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I absolutely loved this novel, and found myself thinking about it even after I had put it down.

Hetty Cartwright finds herself at Lockwood manor during ww2 with a collection of exhibits from the National Museum which she has been charged with keeping safe during the blitz. What follows is an intriguing , Gothic tale which I can honestly say went in a direction I was not expecting.

I really enjoyed Jane Healy's writing style, which I found to be wonderfully descriptive and really set the scene not only of the manor itself and the characters, but also the war playing out in the back ground.

I can't recommend this book enough, its definitely a contender for my favorite book of the year

I enjoyed this story of the Natural History Museum’s mammal collection being evacuated to the supposed safety of the country along with its self-conscious custodian, Hetty. The atmosphere of a large house that is at the same time claustrophobic reminded me of Sarah Water’s The Little Stranger – no small compliment. Perhaps even a feeling of Rebecca in there too. Is there an unknown person or presence lingering, or is it that the house has a life of its own?
I liked both the central characters of Hetty and Lucy. Each has an admirable determination but also some frailties. I also liked that I had no idea where the story might lead. I’m surprised looking back that it’s as long as 350 pages; it was an easy and engaging read.

I wanted to read this book because it was about a museum collection and I used to work in museums. I loved looking after historical collections and enjoyed reading about Hetty and her stuffed animals. The book is part historical novel and part mystery. Almost as soon as Hetty arrives at Lockwood Manor she notices strange things happening to her animals.

At first I thought it was something to do with the recently deceased Lady Lockwood, it was only towards the end that the story unravelled and you find out what, or rather who, was behind all the strange activity.

I have to admit that I was a bit surprised with the ending of the book. It seemed to take a bit of a twist to where I thought it was going, but it was a very clever plot and the clues were well placed throughout the story.

A surprising book not reflected by its title. The animals in question are stuffed mammals from a London museum that are evacuated to Lockwood Manor to be kept safe during the war. The person in charge of them is a woman, Hetty, serious, introspective and quite unable to deal with the brash and bullying Lord of the Manor. What develops is a tale of intrigue, unexpected love, spooky happening and a terrific climax. Well written, multi-layered, a satsifying, interesting read.