A delicious, brooding story of 2 women thrown into the same world, living in a crumbling old mansion during world war two.
I was a little disappointed to find the animals of the title are all dead!! ... Stuffed animals from a natural history museum which are sent for safekeeping during the outbreak of world war 2, to a rather dilapidated mansion house full of faded grandeur. Madness and mystery abound, with a profligate and dislikeable Lord of the Manor, his fragile daughter who seems to be a little crazy and the staid spinster Hetty, the keeper of said animals who comes to the country estate to guard her collection and befriends the haunted and frail lady Lucy despite their obvious differences in status and background.
It's a compelling and a rather bleak story with a slightly gothic air, forbidden love and some slightly spooky goings-on and it reminded me of The Little Stranger and similar "crumbling old house" stories.
One of those books where you think whilst reading it that nothing much is happening, yet it keeps you turning the pages well into the night and worms its way into your psyche as all really good books should, Very enjoyable and a new author who I will keep an eye open for.

I read The Animals of Lockwood Manor over a few days but trust me, I definitely wanted to read it every waking moment and did not want to put it down! I was utterly engaged and entranced by this dark tale of hidden family secrets set against the backdrop of the second World War and the rich country estate of Lockwood Manor. This book was reminiscent of all the best parts of my favourite classic novels, which I thoroughly enjoyed. For instance; the earnest protagonist is akin to Jane Eyre, the gothic setting and talk of ghosts and madness to Wuthering Heights. I’m not sure whether this is intentional but either way, I enjoyed reading a story which felt familiar but also entirely unique in it’s execution.

The novel is told through the perspectives of two characters; Hetty Cartwright and Lucy Lockwood. I liked both of them equally and enjoyed both their stories as they each offered different points of view and answers to the mysteries plaguing Lockwood Manor. Hetty is a deeply relatable character, we read as she suffers from anxiety and finds ways to overcome it. She is an intelligent woman who has a passion for the museum and it’s diverse collection of animals and is so capable but isn’t taken seriously due to the fact that she is a woman. Lucy on the other hand is a beautiful and rich heiress who is haunted by her past. Lucy suffers from terrible nightmares surrounding a mysterious room, and a lady in white who roams the halls of Lockwood…is she just imagining things?

I believe the writing style was genuinely impressive for a debut novel and there are some truly beautiful passages. Jane Healey creates such a dark and atmospheric tale and her descriptions of the imposing manor as well as the animals themselves creates such an immersive story which is intriguing and engaging. Stuffed animals are strange at the best of times but especially when there’s talk of ghosts, it just adds to the creepiness!

I thoroughly enjoyed how the mystery developed and everything was explained. For me it was pretty much the perfect level of suspense and tension as the truth was slowly revealed to the reader. The whole time you’re left wondering whether Lockwood Manor really is haunted or whether it’s an altogether more human cause. There are a whole host of characters from the egotistical Lord Lockwood, to the stern housekeeper as well as Lord Lockwoods jilted lover, Mary and the household staff who are all hiding their own secrets. All of these characters aid in heightening the tension and sense of foreboding.

As well as the mystery elements, I also enjoyed the budding romance explored within the novel and how the relationship developed in a realistic and touching way. The author doesn’t gloss over the challenges the characters face but finds a way to allow them to find happiness and it was a pleasant change in comparison to the way LGBT characters are often treated in fiction.

Overall, I would definitely recommend The Animals at Lockwood Manor to readers who enjoy the classics as well as dark or gothic mystery novels. This was such a great debut novel and I’m definitely going to be looking out for more of Jane Healeys’ writing in the future, she is definitely an author to watch out for!

Review to be posted on: 24th February 2020

A brilliantly original story with a great setting, fabulous characterisation and very well written.
I was drawn into this book from the start, it's well paced and very engaging. Would definitely recommend it.

It’s 1939 and Hetty Cartwright has been tasked with the evacuation and protection of The Natural History Museum’s Mammalian Collection. Excited for the opportunity to prove herself in the absence of so many of her male colleagues, Hetty sets out for Lockwood Manor, unaware of the scandal, intrigue and battles that await her. As her exhibits begin to mysteriously move or disappear altogether and finding nothing but scorn from Lord Lockwood and his staff and sympathy from his beautiful but troubled daughter Lucy, Hetty struggles to protect her future and the things that matter most.

Atmospheric, spooky, heart-warming, suspenseful... I thoroughly enjoyed this book set against a backdrop of the decline of the aristocracy (more specifically, their houses hemmorhaging money and their staff shrinking - very Downton) and the Second World War. It deals with themes ranging from mental health, gender, man’s relationship with nature and the changing role of women.

I loved the overall tone, the ongoing sense of helplessness and frustration and the battle between rational and irrational thought that characterises the novel as a whole. I think it could have perhaps been a tad shorter, there were times when I wanted to hit fast-forward, but that’s really my only complaint.

I highly recommend, I think it’s perfect for fans of Du Maurier or, more recently, Laura Purcell, Stacey Halls or Bridget Collins.

Many thanks for my e-copy! Reviews on Instagram and other social media to follow closer to the publication date.

The Animal's At Lockwood Manor is a vivid haunting story set against the backdrop of WW2.
Hetty Cartwright is tasked with the evacuation and safekeeping of the National History museum's collection of mammals to Lockwood house and away from the air raids that threaten London.
Lockwood is a grand manor steeped in history with rumours of madness that suggest it's cursed.
Hetty soon finds herself confused and out of sorts when some of the exhibits go missing, she's sure she's going mad with the feeling that somebody is watching her and haunting the corridors of the old house.
Lord Lockwood - a horrible entitled man used to getting his own way - has an agenda of his own. He covets the museum's collection for himself.
I found this a bit of a slow burner to start with.
Thank you Netgalley for the ARC.

It's 1939, and a young female museum curator is evacuated with the musems mammal collection to Lockwood Manor, where she will remain for the duration of the war, caring and watching over the collection.

Hetty soon finds herself clashing with Lord Lockwood who looks at the collection as something he can use to his advantage. She befriends Lucy, Lord Lockwood's daughter who is dealing with the death of her mother and grandmother and who is haunted by her past and the secrets held within the walls of Lockwood Manor.

This novel is part love story and part mystery, it deals with the fading aristocracy, dark family secrets, women breaking free from the bonds which society place on them and hidden love.

An atmospheric novel which reminded me of The Miniaturist in how it looks at the life of women.

“It had been living here that had turned my mother and I mad... I was sure that something still lurked here inside these walls, something hidden, something - someone - malevolent and wrong.”

As German bombs threaten London, Lockwood Manor receives some unusual evacuees - the animal exhibits of a London natural history museum, presided over by museum worker Hetty Cartwright.

The house, inhabited by unpleasant Major Lockwood and his fragile daughter Lucy, has seen its own recent tragedies: Lucy’s mother - a deeply troubled, clearly mentally unwell woman terrified of a “woman in white” only she can see - and grandmother were recently killed in an accident. Lucy herself is haunted by strange dreams and fears of something monstrous stalking the house. And when Hetty and her animals arrive, more strange occurrences accompany them: animals inexplicably move or even disappear.

Lucy’s mother Heloise, the mad wife from the West Indies, evokes echoes of the first Mrs Rochester, and indeed, Hetty herself, a young woman largely alone in the world, has some similarities with Jane Eyre, even describing herself at one point as “poor and plain”. There are other similarities, too. But there’s certainly no love affair on the cards with the master of the house, although this is a love story.

Although Hetty asserts she doesn’t think of her animals as alive, this is never entirely convincing - early on, for instance, she refers to them as “muffled and blinded” by their wrappings for transport to the Manor. Her litany of names is hypnotic at times: the okapi, the platypus, the hummingbirds’ nests, the polar bear, the Sumatran tiger, the white-tailed mongoose, the capybara, the giant golden-crowned flying fox...

The Animals at Lockwood Manor is an entrancing, unsettling and ultimately very satisfying read... I loved it.

During the war, it was common to move valuables and museum collections out of the city ,as well as people of course. This is a fictional story but one which tells of the way an entire collection of stuffed animals from the Natural History Museum in London is brought to a manor home for protection. The house in the novel is fictional but what a place! Gothic, spooky and endless corridors....nooks...crannies......

Hetty is the female museum director. Her hosts who live at Lockwood Manor are a widowed man, his daughter and their staff. She's responsible for their care so when one goes missing, when one is moved, when another is destroyed.....she must find out who and why it's happening. But there are few people in the house. The statues seem to move in the dead of night. And what are those strange noises?

Stuffed animals can be spooky and sinister at the best of times so imagine when they are put all together in a manor house!?

If there's one quibble about the novel it's that there are two plot points I would have loved more about and maybe less of the moving animals. Hetty's relationship and the answer behind what the house is hiding. There was tons for development here that I wanted to know more about, but that's maybe just me. There was lots of character development, interesting gothic overtones and some dark moments indeed.

Atmospheric and gothic!

This is a very well written book that is steeped in strange happenings; a female museum director moves with several of London's Natural History Museum animals to stay at Lockwood Manor during the war, to protect them from bombings. It's a Gothic inspired setting, and the story itself is a substantially dark one. This is a detailed and focused narrative on this time and draws in relationships within the house, from parental loss and parental control, to the female plight to female relationships. The stuffed animals themselves are integral characters, as is the Manor house itself, with its dark corridors and secret places.
I enjoyed it; I didn't love it as it seemed to be missing something and seemed to meander along without real direction for a while. But I'd recommend having a read.

A beautiful chilling book which was very moving
This book is very well written and kept my attention
Different from my usual style of book but liked it all the same

This book was so much darker than I expected. From the title and cover, I expected a much more lighthearted read.
A London museum has its collections dispersed and sent away from the capital in the early days of World War II. The mammal collection (plus a few other random items) ends up at Lockwood Manor (we do not find out where it is), a huge, rambling house occupied by Major Lord Lockwood, his daughter Lucy and a dwindling number of servants. Hetty, a relatively junior member of the museum staff, finds herself appointed director of the collection at Lockwood. But it is not a smooth transition; Lockwood is an uncomfortable house, where following the sudden 'accidental' death of the mother and grandmother, Lucy and her father live unhappily together.
Strange sightings, disappearances and relationships occur; what dark secrets does the house hold?
I felt that this book was rather too long - from about half way through, I just wanted to know a conclusion, and had lost interest in how the book was going to get there. It would benefit from an editor's hand to stop it meandering to its finale.

I really enjoyed this book and read it in one sitting. Great characters and a great plot line. I would highly recommend this book to anyone.

Beautifully written, this novel is a wonderfully satisfying read. Brimming with exquisite detail, relecting the WW2 era perfectly and a masterful depth of evocative prose, this book deserves to be a huge success.

The cover had me hooked and I was so pleased to be given the opportunity to read it. I love children’s fiction and rarely stray from that path but this book was worth the detour.
It is haunting, spooky at times but so heart warming too that I was enthralled!
Hetty, a female museum director, moves her mammal collection out of London for the safety of a country house during WWII. Her hosts are a widowed man, his daughter and their staff. Hetty doesn’t have the strongest social skills and ends up arguing with much of the house over her animals. She takes her job incredibly seriously, almost to the point of obsession.
Over time, Hetty develops a friendship with Lucy, the daughter of the house. It enables them both to feel safe as there is a madness in the house and it disturbs sleep for both women. Mysterious things happen to the animals and you almost think they are alive, but it isn’t until the end that light shines on the events at the house.
The book is full of intrigue, mystery, spooky sightings, a mad mother and a dangerous liaison.
It is beautifully written and completely enjoyable.
Highly recommend.

A very moving book. The damage that our parents can do to us - that never goes away. Fear of being trapped - turns out to be a forgotten remembrance f being locked in a room by a parent. Love and loss to the backdrop of the early days of World War 2.

I read a free advance review copy. This review is voluntary, honest and my own opinion.