What a great book this was! Refreshingly different with a brilliant storyline.
Set in an old asylum the book is a dark and creepy tale that kept me gripped.

This was a brilliant read; I could not get enough of it. It was creepy, atmospheric and had goosebumps a-tingling up my arm. It is, by far, my favourite read from Douglas.

There are three timelines in this story that merge climatically towards the end. However, for the most part, the story moves between 1993 when protagonist, Lewis, is sent to All Hallows boarding school. He is hearing strange sounds above his room and him and his roommate, Isak, soon learn about All Hallows’ history as an asylum. Moving back to 1903, Nurse Emma is looking after a mysterious child that has been found with her mother who is seriously ill. To keep this child safe, Emma is locked in the attic of All Hallows, to ensure the patients keep away and Emma can look after her.

Yet, nothing is what it seems. Emma’s connection to Harriet grows and she begins to question her relationship to her mother. On the other hand, the fact that Emma is a very old nurse means that few people believe her concerns and it is quite convenient when she is locked away each night. For me, I could not imagine anything worse, even if the characters see it as a safety measure. It is this imprisonment that merges into Lewis’s time at All Hallows and I loved how the two time periods crossed over.

Indeed, as the story develops, I liked how Douglas establishes parallels between the modern and Victorian characters. Both have become shunned by those around them and seek solace in new company. I enjoyed the school setting that Douglas portrays and felt that even in 1993, All Hallows as a boarding school was still very much trapped in the past. As the tension heightens in the story, Lewis begins to unravel more about the mysterious attic where a rocking chair appears to move on its own and strange noises are frequently heard.

I could not put this book down. It was so absorbing and I found I was addicted to both Emma and Lewis’s stories. The plot development was clever and I found I was racing through the chapters. Some of the chapters were incredibly short but I think this added to the intensity of the narrative, especially when more revelations come to light. This was a gothic ghost story through and through; I could vividly imagine the abandoned halls of the building and shared Lewis’s fears when he feels at his most vulnerable.

I would definitely read this book again because I enjoyed it so much. Atmospheric to the very end, this was superb writing from Douglas and I hope my next read from this author is just as enjoyable. I can’t recommend this book enough.

With thanks to Boldwood books and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This had such a gothic eerie feel to it. It had interesting characters. It was suspenseful. The story is told over a dual timeline.

The Room in the Attic is a duel time novel set in 1903 and 1993. In 1903 All Hallows is an asylum on Dartmoor and in 1993 a boys boarding school. The novel follows two distinct storylines in both timelines but both are linked with a spooky twist to the plot.
In 1903 am injured woman and child are brought to the asylum to recover. Nurse Emma Everdeen is put in charge of the child Harriet, and becomes increasingly suspicious of the woman who arrived with her. In 1993 Lewis is sent to All Hallows after the death of his mother and after hearing strange noises in the attic above his room, investigates the history of the building.
I absolutely loved this book and found it both gripping and unique in its plot. I’ve read several Louise Douglas books and will continue to recommend them and look forward to any new releases.

What a fantastic read this was! Absolutely loved the two storylines running through it and the twists and turns at the end. Very well written with some harrowing insights of the asylum but its balanced out with strong characters and a feel good outcome.

Highly recommended and absolutely deserves the 5 stars.

Thank you Netgalley.

I am not sure where to begin with this, so I will say first off I loved it. The story flips between two boys, Lewis and Isak, both rebellious, having issues with family, sent off to boarding school to get them out of the way. This is shared with the story of Nurse Everdeen and young Harriet in 1903, and their stay in an attic room in a mental asylum.
The story follows Lewis as he tries to navigate his new school in the middle of a term, after barely getting over the death of his mother, and his fathers remarriage. The school is located in the old asylum, and some of the rooms are linked to events over 100 years previously.
The events of 1903 focus on the young child who was found with a woman half dead floating in the sea. They are recovered and due to the jewellery found on the woman, taken to a presitigious mental asylum to be treated, believing she will donate generously when she recovers. The woman is in a coma and its not sure if she will recover.
There is an ongoing tension, as to what the truth is in the story of 1903. Throughout both time periods there is a strong message of friendship, the belief and shared experiences that lead to life long bonds. Two boys who want to be different, and fight the system. There is also the abuse of power, both by the heads of the hospital and the school. Finally there is the abuse of those with a lot of money, paying their way out of problems, or paying to make their problems go away.
There is a lot of tragedy, and shared grief, the tension of the relationship between father and sons, and the obvious strong bond between mother and child that never ends. Despite all the hardships there are a lot of light hearted moments, and I particualry enjoyed the fact the book continued on after the events and gave a glimpse into the lives of the main characters

Psychological/horror drama is not that high on my to-read list, but this author's previous work (that I read) was quite satisfying. This is what had me interested in picking this up in the first place.
It is hard not to compare, and I must admit I preferred the previous book to this, although this was quite unexpected and fascinating in its own way. This is a dual(not taking into account the present day) time story with a few quirks, something that, if discussed in detail, would count as a spoiler.
Our central narrator, an unassuming man with a normal family life (now), has to visit the site of his old boarding school. A school that functioned more as a punishment than anything else. Only when he gets to the abandoned site, do we know how toxic the environment was. Parallelly, we hear about the events that occurred ninety years previously when the location was an insane asylum/institution. The mystery of the past is what determines the tone and the passage of the narration in both 1903 and 1993. The actual time of the events in 1903 is not spread over a long period. It just feels that way because we are brought out to watch how two boys in 1993 trying to figure things out. If for no other reason, these efforts are a way for them to confirm that they were not going insane themselves.
The narration is tight, although a healthy acceptance of the concept of ghosts would definitely make it easier to go along with the plotline. The atmosphere is well set, and especially as an infrequent and frankly choosy reader of this genre, I really enjoyed it. After everything that we encountered, I kind of expected that final twist in the present day, despite which I found myself excited.
Books like this work better and more potently with a lot less information than I have already provided. I highly recommend this book for someone looking for a book with a menacing aura. I will definitely read more books by the author if I get the chance.
I received an ARC thanks to NetGalley and the publishers, but the review is entirely based on my own reading experience.

What a brilliant read from start to finish. Just the right amount of mystery, thriller and ghostly content, to make it believable. I liked the way each chapter flipped between 1903 and 1993 and how each piece of the story fitted so well into the rest. I was completely drawn into the story. Well done.

Thrilling. When his firm is commissioned to renovate an old asylum turned boarding school Lewis is forced to return and face what happened there when he was a student. Told in past and present tense (1903, 1993 and 2021) this book takes you on a roller coaster of a ride as you piece together what happened and how it affects the present. The characters are wonderfully written and the story grabs your attention and holds it until the very end.

I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. Thank you NetGalley, Louise Douglas and Boldwood Books for this edition and hearing my honest review. Looking forward to reading more with you
#partner

Love this author! The characters were really well written and the story held me gripped. For most of the novel each chapter switched between 1903 and 1993 which was really interesting but because each chapter was so short I felt I was just getting immersed in that time period when it switched. I would definitely recommend and I really enjoyed the ending. Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for allowing me to read a preview copy of this novel. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Deliciously creepy, disturbing, unputdownable, are just a few words to describe The Room in the Attic.

The blurb caught my eye. It sounded chilling and right up my street! After just the first few pages I was hooked. I had a feeling it was going to be a goodun! And it totally was! The story is told from multiple timelines. It takes place in the 1900s, the 1990s, and events that take place in the present day. Multiple timelines can be hard to keep up with, but this is not true with The Room in the Attic. It flowed gloriously!

The characters are very well developed and interesting. The setting is an old asylum which then became a boarding school. You couldn’t really get a much creepier setting! You have twists, turns and secrets at every corner. It really is a chilling page-turner and one I thoroughly enjoyed.

This book flits from one time to another.

It starts in 1903 in a really harrowing way, a mother and her child are found injured and the child doesn’t know her own name.

Then it flits to 1993 where two motherless boys are sent off to boarding school

The hospital the females went to is the same place the boys are sent to when it’s a school. The building is called All Hallows and it’s brimming with memories from the past.

It appears there are ghosts who won’t let the past rest. The boys are keen to find out what happened in the past.

I had so many questions running through my head as I read this book- I just couldn’t put it down.

Wow. This book really gets the heart going and reals you right into the attic along with those two boys. The story spans two time frames, lives from the past and lives from the present. It really brings together the horrors and eeriness of old asylums and how the past can come back to haunt however is in its path.

I started reading and just couldn't stop, This book has everything, the story is great, the emotional tones are great, all the characters are great. The author sets you up and reels you in for a tale full of suspense, ghosts from the past and the atmosphere of this book is electric to say the least.

A great read that will keep you on the edge of your seat and you won't want to put it down until you get to the end.

The Room in the Attic
by Louise Douglas

Synopsis:
"In 1903 fishermen find a wrecked boat containing a woman, who has been badly beaten, and a young girl. An ambulance is sent for, and the two survivors are taken to All Hallows, the imposing asylum, hidden deep on Dartmoor. The woman remains in a coma, but the little girl, Harriet, awakens and is taken to an attic room, far away from the noise of the asylum, and is put in the care of Nurse Emma Everdeen.

In 1993, All Hallows is now a boarding school. Following his mother’s death and his father’s hasty remarriage, Lewis Tyler is banished to Dartmoor, stripped of his fashionable clothes, shorn of his long hair, and left feeling more alone than ever. There he meets Isak, another lost soul, and whilst refurbishment of the dormitories is taking place, the boys are marooned up in the attic, in an old wing of the school.

All Hallows is a building full of memories, whispers, cries from the past. As Lewis and Isak learn more about the fate of Harriet, and Nurse Emma’s desperate fight to keep the little girl safe, it soon becomes clear there are ghosts who are still restless.

Quote:
"Novels were very big in Victorian times. Not everyone approved. Indeed, I read an article that cited one of the reasons women were admitted to asylums in the nineteenth century was because they read too many books."

Review:
Teenaged boys living in an old scary asylum, now boarding school, hear noises in the night? Their investigations reveal events that occurred at the asylum ninety years prior. What really happened in 1903 with Nurse Everdeen and her young charge, Harriet, hiding out in one of the attic's rooms? We need to listen to the children more! A vivid, entertaining and spooky story, sure to entertain! Well-written characters and surroundings. Expect some twists!

I was gifted this advance copy by NetGalley and was under no obligation to provide a review.

Wow, what a wonderful read this book was. I really enjoyed the dual time line 1903-1993 story. It was a real page turner and had me hooked from the beginning to the end. I loved the characters particularly Lewis and the lovely Emma. All Hallows asylum and later boarding school was creapy in both eras. Did I detect a bit of Daphne du Maurier? This was a beautifully written and well researched book. I never wanted it to end but couldn't wait to get to the end to find out what happened. Quite a dichotomy.

This story follows the story of Lewis as he is sent to do some business at the old All Hallows Asylum. A place well know to Lewis as he spent some time there when in was a Boarding School in 1993. Whilst on his business trip, a supernatural event makes him recall his days boarding there in 1993 and the strange events that happened at that time that link back to the Asylum Days of 1903 and the story behind Nurse Emma Everdeen.
As the story progresses, we see how the events of 1993 and 1903 are forever linked and why the place still has such a hold over Lewis. A really enjoyable tale.

This author writes books that usually wouldn't be of my taste, yet I always love them. She must just have a way with mystery that really works for me. This is another haunting read, gripping and strange in a great way.

This book is one of my top reads for 2021! Just reading the synopsis I was completely intrigued so I was thrilled when I got approved. I usually steer clear of anything to do with Asylums as they just give me the heebie jeebies but as this was a historical fiction read I thought it’ll be tame compared to horror. I’m so happy I read this. The writing and story telling in this was just sublime. I will be recommending this to everyone!

Returning to the site of the boarding school he attended in the 1990s to assess its suitability for redevelopment, Lewis recalls the events that took place while he attended the school, and how he and his friend uncovered a mystery that took place 90 years earlier, when the school was an asylum. There are a satisfying number of strands to this plot, which makes for a story that is both satisfying in terms of the characters and relationships between them, in terms of the historic mystery/thriller that is uncovered, and by also being an eerie and chilling ghost story too. I really liked it.

With thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for a copy of this book in return for an honest review.

"if you love someone, they never really leave you.
Nothing that existed could ever be gone. She must be somewhere and I thought that if I looked hard enough, I would find her…"

I was reading this book with two other books and this was supposed to finish after others. I was supposed to reading it a little before sleep or on the subway. But not only did I finish it first also I found myself listening to it stared on my laptop but wouldn't do my work! I know I know this isn't related to the book so get to the story.

An aged nurse, Emma in the asylum, All Hallow in 1903, and a man, Lewis in 2020 who remembered when he was young in a boarding school, same old asylum in 1993.

"It was because of Isak and me, and everything that happened in those last months of 1993 when I was thirteen and Isak was fourteen and we shared the same bedroom at All Hallows. The time that began at the very point when my whole world had fallen apart."

This was a historical fiction story about two friends who are curious about the history of All Hallow but, this is not all, a mysterious child, skull, bones, ghost, murder, place for torture, and a nurse who was buried on the wrong side of the graveyard.

This was a heartbreaking and suspenseful story. I enjoyed the relationship between mother and son and two friends. The characters are touchable and pleasant. I loved it.

"Pain can be alleviated. Human beings are an optimistic bunch, but it’s disingenuous to think there will always be a happy ending."

Many thanks to Boldwood Books and NetGalley for giving me a chance to read The Room in the Attic by Louise Douglas, I have given my honest review.