Stacey Halls is now one of my favourite writers, so I couldn't wait to get stuck into this new book! The storyline was completely gripping and I loved all the twists and turns in the tale. It keeps you guessing right till the end, and it's beautifully atmospheric just like Stacey's previous two books. Highly recommend this one if you're a fan of historical fiction, it's brilliant.

Ruby May is a nurse with the Norland Institute. She’s been working for a family in London and when they are given the chance to live abroad Nurse May decides she can’t leave the country, she’d be too far away from her family so she must resign from her position.

When she speaks to the Principal she makes it quite clear that resigning is not something that should be done and if done three times she will no longer be allowed to work for the Norland Institute. She begs for another job and is given a chance, one that will take her from the big city to the country, in Yorkshire.

All starts off well but over time the England family seem strange to her. She’s not sure what’s going on or who it is she should trust. Is Mrs England ill or is there something more disturbing going on behind closed doors?

I’m so pleased I was given the opportunity to read this book early, It was once again another brilliant book by Stacey Halls. I love how she intertwines fact with fiction in her books. There were secrets and mysteries from all angles and it kept me hooked and wanting more. Such a fascinating read and I love to read the acknowledgments at the end because it gives you an insight into parts of the story that are based on fact. Just a totally fantastic book.

Set in 1904, Ruby May is a professionally trained nanny who finds herself employed in a remote mill town in Yorkshire. Slowly it becomes apparent that all is not as it seems with the family who employ her. The mother, Mrs England, is remote and timid and the father is taking on roles that the mother would have been expected to perform. As the story progresses, Ruby's own history is gradually revealed. Nothing is as it seems.
This is a very atmospheric story with strong characters. At times you feel that you know how events will turn out but there is always a surprise around the corner to shake you out of your complacency. Very enjoyable and at times quite moving.

Mrs England
By Stacey Halls

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

🌸 It’s 1904 and Norland Institute children’s nurse, Ruby May has been forced to say goodbye to the beloved family she works for in London. After leaving her previous placement abruptly she has been left no other option than to hastily accept an offer to work for the England’s in West Yorkshire. The England’s are a wealthy family, from a powerful dynasty of mill owners - their home, Hardcastle House is located amongst the darkly isolated and wild wooded landscape of West Yorkshire. Once at Hardcastle Ruby finds herself smitten with the children, captivated by the Master and his friendly nature but strict rules, ostracised by the other staff and almost completely ignored by her Mistress. There seems to be secrets and strange goings on in the England household. Secrets that perhaps are mirrored in Ruby May’s own traumatic past. 🌸

“Pacy, highly atmospheric and tantalisingly gripping from the very first page.”

Stacey Halls has a clear talent for storytelling - I don’t think I have ever read a historical fiction novel so instantly engaging and beautifully drawn. Ruby May’s narration was fascinating and really allowed me to easily visualise the era and setting.

This book explores themes of childhood, marriage, education, motherhood and power expertly. I enjoyed the development of the characters and found them to be likeable and beguiling. As a reader you are held in suspense, always feeling that you are just on the edge of discovering a twist in the tale.

This was my first book by Stacey Halls and I’m happy to say I loved it! I will be sure to read her other books soon. I was kindly gifted this advanced reader e-copy by Net Galley.

Mrs England is released in the UK on June 10th and is available to pre order now.

🏞️ Set against the backdrop of the moody moors of Edwardian Yorkshire, Mrs England follows the appointment of a children's nurse to a new family, in a household where everything is not what it seems.

👥Harbouring a mysterious past herself, Nurse May begins to notice something afoot between her master and mistress which will ultimately have devastating consequences for the family.

🕯️A slow burner, Stacey Halls steadily builds tension and feeling of unease. For me the plot felt a little thin at times but the quality of writing was enough to keep me interested throughout.

📚 This is not the type of book I would normally go for, I'm not one period dramas, but I enjoyed Halls' beautiful writing in The Familiars so much I was willing to give it a go and I am glad I did! Also, anyone who has seen her books in print will know how gorgeous they are!

I love Stacey Halls' writing - accessible and readable while creating a excruciatingly real sense of place and time. Her mastery of setting is exquisite. You won't be disappointed by this eerie, menacing novel, with more than one mystery at the heart of it. Every book of hers gets better and better.

When children’s nurse Ruby May finds herself in need of serving a new family, she strikes gold with the England Family of four children in Yorkshire. When she arrives, she’s quickly smitten with the children and enthralled with the master of the house. However, the mistress of the house, Mrs England, is another matter altogether. With Mr England’s strict rules regarding his wife, and Mrs England’s apparent absent mindedness, Ruby is captivated by the ongoings of this dysfunctional marriage. As Ruby’s curiosity and caring responsibilities clash, and her own past traumas resurface, the tale of Mrs England promises to make us think twice about what we think we know about families and what goes on behind closed, locked doors.

Stacey Halls returns with her third novel, and in true Halls style, the story enveloped me with every chapter, and caused my mind to blaze with rife suspicion and dread. Just like The Familiars and The Foundling, Halls writing is cosily ensnaring and tugged back and forth at my heart. One minute it lulled me forward and pushed away, then pulled me in once more and pushed away again. It’s a story about devotion, power, family, harmony and survival.

The England’s family home and the time period was so well drawn I felt it vividly as if I’d travelled in time and was in the midst of it all. I felt the hollowness and coldness of the house, then on the other hand, I felt the love and care of Ruby attending to the children by indulging their childhood fancies of stories and hide and seek.

The characters were likeable and compelling, evoking warmth and sympathy or mistrust and anxiety throughout. My thoughts kept shifting on all of them - even our narrator Ruby - as Halls cast doubt at every door. I felt the building undercurrent of suspense throughout, as it becomes increasingly clear both Ruby and the England family has secrets that will upturn everything as the story builds toward a menacing end.

My only quibble is I wish the story went farther and delved deeper. I wish Ruby’s background had ran adjacent to the England family’s, or wasn’t left so close to the novel’s end, for it felt underserved and I ultimately desired more. However, it was enjoyable and tied in and contrasted well with the family’s story to provide such dimensions of adversity it made the climax devilishly ominous.

Mrs England feels enigmatic and oppressive yet utterly beguiling. It captures the serene landscape of wealth and family that is something idyllic, probably even enviable, but behind and underneath it all, there’s more than meets the eye and all is not as it seems. A thoroughly enjoyable piece of historical fiction I’m sure other Halls fans will adore too.

Thank you kindly to the publishers for providing me with an e-ARC in exchange for this honest review.

Thank you Netgalley for sending me this ARC ebook. I was so pleased as I absolutely loved Stacey Halls previous two books and couldn’t wait for Mrs England. So here’s my spoiler-free review....
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I adore the authors quality of writing for historical fiction and with her attention to detail we are transported to 1904, West Yorkshire where Ruby May travels from London to take a job with the England Family. While Ruby settles into the isolated life being nurse to the Mr & Mrs England’s four children, she senses things aren’t as they appear and starts to cotton on to what goes on behind closed doors. During this we see Nurse May struggling with her own mysterious past and all comes to light at the end.
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I found this book to be a satisfying read. It has a hint of mystery/thriller, not on the edge of your seat kind of feeling but you can feel there’s a darkness looming throughout the book. I did find some of the chapters were like dead ends, flat? I don’t know how else to explain it, but apart from that I liked it, even felt myself start to well up at the end. It’s a 4 star rating for me.
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This is the authors third Novel of bringing to life a historical female. Ruby May is based on Ruby Browne from Birmingham in 1896. Her fictional character in the book is about her rebuilding her life after a traumatic life event that happened when she was 12 years old. I always Google the people Stacey Halls base her characters on. And I enjoyed reading her authors note and acknowledgements.
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This is Stacey Halls’ third novel and it just as good as good as The Familiars and The Foundling you will not disappointed.
Set in West Yorkshire in Edwardian England this is a fabulous depiction of marriage, love, family, courage and control. The novel has a gothic feeling and I love the scenes on the crags with Mrs England and Ruby it reminded me a little from the scenes on the moors in Wuthering Heights.
Ruby is a wonderful heroine, bringing life and love into the household. She clearly adores the England children and will do anything for them. She has had a troubled past and doesn’t want the children to suffer as she did. She will put her job on the line by standing up for herself and doing what she thinks is best for them. Ruby is definitely my favourite character as she is brave, courageous and secretly full of power and considering her past, she has come along way.
This atmospheric novel will have the you enthralled throughout especially as you know someone is up to something in the household but you only find out who towards the end. My opinion changed constantly throughout. Mrs England is full of twists and turns and it is almost difficult to write a review about the plot without giving too much away….and I don’t want to include any spoilers in this review, all I can really say is you will love it!

I read The Familiars and The Foundling by Stacey Halls. I loved them both, so I was thrilled when NetGalley offered me an eARC of Mrs England.
I was not disappointed. Another 5* read for me. It tells the story of a children’s nurse, Ruby May. After working in London, for a family who decided to emigrate, she was sent to Yorkshire, to wealthy Charles and Lilian England, to look after their four children. Throughout the book, there are hints that something sinister is lurking, a facial expression, a hand gesture, or the locking of doors. Why is Mrs England so quiet, so fearful, so uninterested in her children? Stacey Halls uses a likeable character in Ruby May and gradually little scenes from both Ruby’s past and Lilian England’s past are revealed. I was kept guessing right until the end. I did suspect Charles England as being other than he appeared, but the story kept me enthralled throughout. I am already looking forward to Stacey’s next book.

A lovely gently paced novel,that puts you firmly in the home as new nanny Ruby settles in and learns the ropes.
Theres just the hint of everything not being right on all sides.
For me,I very much enjoyed the setting,and the look into the lives of the upper class and their staff.
The mystery aspect felt a bit too vague for the majority of the book,and then blink and its all over.
Stacey Halls writes historical fiction so well though,an incredibly likeable main character,full of love for her family and her charges , that you can't help but feel drawn in by her.
If you've read and enjoyed the authors previous books,this should be on your tbr pile too.

Having read and enjoyed the authors previous books I jumped at the chance to review Mrs England and I’m so glad I did. A well written and thoroughly enjoyable read.

The Foundling by Stacey Halls was one of my recent stand out reads and so I was thrilled to be able to read Mrs England. In Mrs England Stacey Halls moves on to another landscape and period of history- West Yorkshire in the Edwardian era . It is gorgeously written, the character of Ruby is beautifully drawn and I loved the menacing Gothic feel of the novel. It is gripping, compelling and atmospheric and as with the author's previous novels I felt myself completely transported to the era and in this case to the isolated Hardcastle House and the landscape of West Yorkshire The novel looks at class, at the position of women during this time, and successfully weaves together Ruby's past and present. I adored this novel and would highly recommend it.
Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a digital ARC.

Mrs England by Stacey Halls

Thank you to Netgalley for an advance reader copy of this book.

I was very much looking forward to this third novel from Stacey Halls having read and enjoyed her first two novels ( The Familiars and the foundling). For me, this novel continues Halls' progress as a good writer to watch. She writes compassionate, historical novels with women in the lead and 'Mrs England' is about Ruby, a Norland nurse, and the title character, Mrs England. I kept looking out for the reason why it wasn't called 'Ruby May' and the answer comes in the final chapters.

Ruby is a Norland trained nurse with a mysterious background who doesn't want to emigrate when her first family are posted to the USA and instead takes a position on impulse with a Northern mill owning family who have 4 children. As is usual with Halls' novels, no one is who they at first seem and we gradually learn more about Ruby's story and the family she grows to love. Mrs England seems very unhappy and Ruby doesn't immediately get on with the few other servants so we spend some time unravelling what is on. Ruby seems a little naive but she is young and not long away from her family. Her background is poor, her family are shop keepers in Birmingham, and she only gets a place at the Norland because she wins a scholarship. Her relationship with the children and Mrs England are nicely drawn and the little bits we learn of her sister are intriguing. Miss Simpson from Norland always keeps a motherly eye on her, and this is also rather touching

There's a huge unexpected plot development which draws the novel to a close allowing Ruby some peace and quiet to herself for the first time and brings Mrs England's story to a satisfying conclusion.

All in all, I enjoyed this latest novel and would recommend it. Halls is developing into a fine historical novelist writing about periods of history I know little about so find interesting as well as giving us a good story. I read the very fast and imagine most people will race through this as well.

Utterly delightful. Flows so beautifully and gorgeous storytelling. Nurse Ruby May clearly has a secret to be unearthed and the narration makes you crave to know exactly what. The England family have some unusual characters that take a while to suss out.
Mysterious, packed with characters to keep you interested too.

I was so excited to get the chance to review an ARC of a Stacey Halls novel, especially as I now consider her one of my favourite authors.

I am so pleased to say that she didn’t disappoint! The way the authors brings her characters to life is like nothing else I’ve ever read, they feel like people I truly know after just a few pages.

Ruby, a Nurse brought in to care for the England children, was a fantastic narrator. The descriptions of the nursery, the games she plays with the children in her charge and her dark backstory all come together to make her story alone totally absorbing.

Adding the Mr and Mrs England into the mix was the cherry on top of the cake! Mrs England was fascinating, as the author included tiny details of facial expressions and hand gestures to hint at something sinister. Mr England was equally interesting in this way.

As another reviewer has stated, the blurb gives the impression that this novel is a thriller. I would suggest that it is, in some respect, however the story incorporates elements from so many genres that it would be hard to pin this one down.

All in all, a terrific read that fans of Stacey Halls will definitely love. I’m giving this one 5* and will add it to my “must read again” pile!

Thank you to Netgalley and Bonnier Zaffree for the ARC.

Stacey has done it again, another fabulous book.
I loved the characters so much and the atmosphere that was brought was encompassing. I really adored this book!