This is a fantastic dark and creepy story that pulled me in from the very first chapter! I absolutely loved the mix of mystery, ghost story, history and thriller that kept me turning the pages!

The story is told from three different timelines: the present day, the early 90’s when it was a boarding school and then the early 1900’s when it was a lunatic asylum. It’s also told from two different characters points of view – Lewis Tyler and Nurse Emma. I absolutely loved how to the story unravelled and how all the parts linked together.

The setting is creepy from the start and will have the hairs standing on the back of your arms! Absolutely perfect for this time of year!

I haven’t read any of Louise’s previous books, and really enjoyed her writing style. The descriptions are fantastic and will bring the story to life; a story is easy to follow and enjoyable to read. I will most definitely be looking to read more from her, that’s for sure!

So if you’re looking for a brilliant, creepy mystery/thriller with a fantastic story then this is for you! Highly recommended be me!

This author has a brilliant way of drawing the read in and keeping them engage with her atmospheric writing style, Written over two timelines this book brings a spooky feel to its description of what was a asylum and now a boarding school. Over all I enjoyed the book but was left a little disappointed by the ending

This is a multi timeline book, and we begin by meeting Lewis Tyler, an adult in present day. Lewis is sent on a work trip to look over All Hallows, a building from his past which brings back many memories for him. The storyline takes us through Lewis's childhood, alternating with a separate storyline involving Emma Everdeen, an elderly nurse working in a Victorian asylum in 1903. I began the book wondering how the two stories link together, and whilst the first part of Lewis's story slowly explains how he ends up at All Hallows, the pace quickens as both storylines move on, becoming clearer where their stories are heading.

I didn't expect the book however to be as spooky as it was, so a word of warning if that's not your thing! I wouldn't class it as a horror book though, but it's definitely one which will get your heart beat rising and have you avoiding looking into mirrors as you pass. The two storylines are cleverly written and thought out, drawing you further in with each turn of the page. I liked Lewis's character and his story moved me to tears, just wanting to take him home. Nurse Everdeen was also a great character, who had another sad story as she becomes attached to a little girl in her charge when she is required to look after her in the attic room of All Hallows.

Their stories are full of ghostly mysteries and there were lots of shocks and twists to the plot as it moved on. All Hallows sounded a grim and desperate place, both in Lewis and Nurse Everdeen's stories, and the eerie atmosphere sent shivers down my spine. The storyline went down some roads which I hadn't expected, and I found myself reading faster to find out what was happening. I have read many books by this author, but none that set my nerves on edge as much as this one! Great characters, set in a superb location and with a hauntingly unexpected plot!

The Room in the Attic by Louise Douglas is a mystery that takes place in the All Hallows asylum/school over three timelines.

The first timeline is that of Lewis Tyler in the present day. This timeline is really only visited at the opening and closing of the book. Our primary timelines are:

Lewis, 1993, has been sent to All Hallows boarding school following the death of his mother. When Lewis hears movement in the attic above his dorm room, he is sent down a trail to uncover a mystery from almost a century before. He befriends Isak and while the two develop a friendship they also work to discover the secrets of the past.

Nurse Emma Everdeen, 1903, has worked at All Hallows asylum for centuries. When an unidentified woman and girl arrive at the asylum, she is put in charge of the girl's care. The two are locked into the attic for safety, but an evil presence seems to still linger around them.

What this book definitely has in both of the main timelines is an eerie, creepy factor. The entire time I was reading I felt like something was not right. Short, compelling chapters with hooks at the end keep the pages turning and the pace quick. Douglas is a bit heavy on the foreshadowing, so plot wise the mystery isn't very strong. The mystery lies in how the book is going to resolve.

I had trouble with the last 15-20% of the book when it took a science fiction turn that hadn't been introduced otherwise. As a reader I was supposed to accept that this "plot twist" provides a good resolution with very little explanation. If Lewis and Isak can access this kind of sci-fi ability, has anyone else at All Hallows? While the resolution certainly made the overall story sit well with me, the method of getting there was a bit confusing.

For the most part I found this book sinister and ominous enough to want to know what would become of Lewis, Isak, Emma, and Harriet.

This was a story told across two timelines and both had me turning pages to find how the stories were going to end.
In 1903 a young woman and a girl are found by fisherman and taken to the asylum to recover. The little girl, Harriet, is taken upstairs out of the way of the dangerous inmates and cared for by Nurse Everdeen.
In 1993 the asylum is now a private school. Lewis and Isak are students who keep hearing noises in the abandoned rooms above them. Are they being haunted?
I liked the history of the asylum and how they were run in the 1900’s. The book was well researched and I loved the characters. Both stories kept me hooked until the last page.
Can’t wait for the next book from this author.
Thanks to Boldwood books and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
#TheRoomintheAttic #NetGalley

What a wonderful read! This book had all of the things I typically look for in a novel: a mystery, a historical component, strong writing, good character development, interchanging points of view, true creepiness, and a good, solid ending. Throw in the fact that it was a ghost-story and I had myself the perfect book for Halloween! My absolute favorite book as a child was a young-adult ghost novel called “Time Windows” by Kathryn Reiss, and this book gave me similar vibes. Like “Time Windows”, I have a feeling I’ll be thinking about “The Room in the Attic” for years to come!

The Room in the Attic, by Louise Douglas, is a true ghost (not horror) story filled with dysfunctional family drama and love of many kinds. The setting is a place called All Hallows and shifts between 1903, when it was an Asylum and 1993, when it was a no nonsense boys school. In 1993, Two students discover a secret that the place has held since 1903 and the mystery unravels 1 piece at a time (short chapter after short chapter) until the end. We know the past has a direct influence on the future and...no spoilers here! If you enjoyed reading mysteries as a child, like Nancy Drew or the Hardy Boys, you will enjoy this book. It was a page turner and I easily read it in an afternoon.

My first book by Louise Douglas and it was a great spooky read, perfect for Halloween!

This is a dual time line story. In 1903 we meet Nurse Emma Everdeen, working in an asylum she is tasked with caring for a five year old whilst a woman presumed to be her mother recovers from an attack.

When we meet Lewis he is tasked with visiting All Hallows, a former asylum and boarding school, to see whether it is architecturally sound for development. With trepidation he approaches, this is not the first time that Lewis has visited this gothic building as this is where he was sent as a boy in 1993 after the death of his mother and this is where our second story plays out.

Sleeping in the attic, with Isak, the troubled kid, nocturnal noises lead them to a tragedy that occurred in 1903. Can a little bit of help from them in 1993 save those from the fate that befell them all those years before.

Unsettling in places but moving with a swift pace to its final conclusion. The only let down for me was the swift dismissal of building works and I felt this was brushed over when the rest of the book was so rich in detail.

This was a well written book with a great plot. The characters arcs are believable and true to nature. I really like the way Louise Douglas gives you the back story and little bits are revealed over time. A great suspenseful mystery with a great setting of a closed asylum becoming a private boys school!

t’s 1903. Fishermen find a boat containing an unconscious, badly beaten woman and a young girl. They are both taken to All Hallows, an asylum on Dartmoor.

As the woman remains in a coma, the young girl, Harriet is taken to an attic room and put into the care of Nurse Emma Everdeen.

In 1993, All Hallows is now a boarding school for boys. Lewis is sent there after the death of his mother. He feels alone and isolated.

He then meets his new roommate, Isak. Their room is in the attic, located in the old part of the building.

The boys begin to learn more about each other and about the school’s past as an asylum.

It soon becomes clear that the past is restless and that many ghosts still linger.

From the moment I read the premise for this book, I knew it was going to be a book I would find intriguing.

Mental Health is a subject that I have both personal experience in and am fascinated by, especially how it was dealt with in the early 1900’s. It’s mad that the woman and the child, one of them in a coma, would be sent to an asylum rather than a hospital.

Told from the point of view of Emma in 1903 and Lewis in 1993, this duel point of view and timeline drew me in immediately.

All Hallows jumps out of the page. It becomes its own character with its spooky, imposing, gothic demeanour. I could imagine myself standing outside, looking up at it with Dartmoor surrounding me. You wonder what secrets it’s hiding.

Emma is wise. She’s been a nurse for a long time. She’s known what it’s like to lose a child and so she becomes very protective of Harriet and how this develops over the course of the novel is interesting.

Lewis is a lost soul and I felt so sorry for him; to be sent away knowing that the only parent you have left doesn’t really want anything to do with you. Both his and Isak’s lives are tragic in similar ways and I can see how they were drawn together as friends. Lewis, as well as what he faces at All Hallows, has his own ghosts that he needs to lay to rest.

There really are some heartbreaking moments in this novel that has you questioning your faith in people but it’s also full of strong characters and a clever plot.

Louise Douglas does a really good job at keeping the suspense, pace and tension going throughout the novel as the two time lines become more connected. Both Emma and Lewis’s stories kept my interest. There have been some duel timeline novels where I have favoured one section of the story over the other but this did not happen here. I was eager to find out what happened overall.

There’s really not much more I can say without giving huge elements of the plot away, especially when it comes to the fate of Emma, Harriet and Lewis but this novel really did mess with my nerves, had me on the edge of my seat and engaged right up to the end.

This supernatural novel is spooky, creepy and enthralling. It’s a perfect read, especially as we head toward Halloween.

(Thank you to Louise, Rachel’s Random Resources and Boldwood Books for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.)

Harriet and her mother were found shipwrecked and brought to live in an asylum. Nurse Everdeen is tasked to care for them. The brutal and cruel treatment endured in the asylum were sad and shocking. The asylum is now a boarding school called All Hallows. The story is narrated by Lewis Tyler who used to be a pupil at All Hallows and is set in dual time and story lines however both aspects of the timeline and it flows seamlessly.

This book is well written and the characters are interesting and hooks the reader right into the story, a definite page turner.

This well-written, suspenseful novel will have you guessing until the end.

Well written and spooky, perfect for the season !!

Thank you Netgalley, Boldwood Books and Louise Douglas for the opportunity to review this book in exchange for a fair and honest review.

In 1903, a woman is found by some fisherman, badly beaten, accompanied by her young daughter. They are taken to All Hallows, an asylum on Dartmoor where the woman falls into a coma, but her young daughter, Harriet, is taken to an attic room in the care of Nurse Emma Everdeen.

Ninety years later, in 1993, after the death of his mother, young Lewis Tyler is sent to All Hallows, which is now a boarding school. Finding a kindred spirit in Isak, they find out about Nurse Everdeen and her charge and soon they are determined to find out what happened back in 1903.

The introduction to the book grabbed me instantly as we see Lewis Tyler, in the present day, visiting All Hallows as part of his work. It is clear to see that he has a past with this building and we are left with a hint as to what it may be. This took us nicely to the two timeframes that form the majority of the book, Lewis featuring in the events of 1993.

I liked the character of Lewis immediately and had great sympathy towards his plight. An outsider, it was good to see him find a friend in Isak, another boy with a troubled life. I enjoyed the scenes they shared as they tried to discover the mystery behind the strange noises coming from the room above theirs – was it their imagination or something a bit more ghostly?

The part of the story set in 1903 had a huge sense of foreboding. Nurse Everdeen was a character who grew on me as the book progressed, her story tugging at the heartstrings on more than one occasion. Louise Douglas paints a very damning picture of life at the asylum and I almost felt relieved that Nurse Everdeen was in her claustrophobic room in the attic.

There were numerous shocks along the way, the denouement being a very pleasant surprise. I like it when a book suddenly takes you somewhere you were not expecting and The Room in the Attic definitely does this! This is an engrossing multi-genre read that kept me gripped right until the end.

4.5 Stars

Readers looking for the perfect Halloween read need look no further than award-winning author Louise Douglas’ latest chiller, The Room in the Attic.

In 1903, a group of fisherman found a wrecked boat containing a badly beaten woman and a young girl called Harriet. The two survivors are taken to an asylum called All Hallows deep in the Dorset countryside and while the woman shows no sign of waking up from her coma, the child is taken up into the attic and put under the care of Nurse Emma Everdeen. Harriet is hidden away from all the noise and terror of the asylum, yet it does not escape her notice that she is being held prisoner in a house full of dark shadows and restless spirits…

In 1993, after the death of his mother and his father’s hasty remarriage, Lewis Taylor is sent to All Hallows, which has been transformed into a boarding school. However, the corridors of his new home still echo with chilling whispers and sinister threats from the past. Grief-stricken Lewis feels more alone than ever, but when he befriends fellow misfit Isak, the two of them quickly establish a tight bond that will stand them in good stead as they find themselves marooned in the attic while the school is being refurbished and plunged headlong into a terrifying mystery.

Disturbed by the strange noises they hear from the room above, Lewis and Isak start looking into the past and become intrigued by the fate of Harriet and Nurse Emma. Could they still be haunting the halls of All Hallows? Determined to untangle the twisted threads of this spine-tingling puzzle, will Lewis and Isak manage to lay the past to rest and bring peace to All Hallows? Will old ghosts ever be vanquished? Or will All Hallows destroy everything in its wake all over again?

Louise Douglas is a master storyteller who writes enthralling Gothic tales that draw the reader into a world of danger, suspense and intrigue from the very first page. The Room in the Attic is a haunting, lyrical and unforgettable page-turner with characters that will linger in the mind long after the last page is turned, nail-biting tension that keeps readers engrossed throughout and spine-chilling atmosphere.

A spellbinding and enjoyable tale, The Room in the Attic continues to cement Louise Douglas’ standing as an outstanding writer of popular fiction.

Thank you to Rachel at Random Resources tours for my invitation to the tour and for my copy of the e book in return for a fair and honest review.

Lewis works for an architect and he is asked to visit All Hallows on Dartmoor for a client. What he does not let on is that he has a history with All Hallows. He was sent there to school by his father and step mother after his mother dies. We know from the outset that it was not a happy place for him and something traumatic happened there.

We go back to 1993 when Lewis is sent to All Hallows and there he meets Isak.

The second timeline of the story is about a young woman who is found with her child in the sea and is also taken to All Hallows but this time it is in 1903 when it is an asylum. The child is called Harriet and Nurse Everdeen is sent to look after her and her mother. No one knows what happened to Harriet and her mother, but she is badly injured.

The two stories run concurrently and it was easy to follow and switch between All Hallows in 1903 and 90 years later.

All Hallows gave me the chills, and poor Lewis he has had such a tough time and going to the awful school is the final straw for him. Brutal and unrelenting the school believes it will break any boy who does not adhere to the rules. Lewis makes a shocking discovery which leads him to investigate who Emma Everdeen was and why she was at All Hallows. Isak and him become engrossed with her story.

This is a really compelling read, it is dark and atmospheric. I could imagine the bleak and gothic setting on Dartmoor which is full of legends of ghosts and folklore. It particularly resonated with me as I have lived with Dartmoor in sight my whole life and my maternal grandmother was born in Scarborough so also have connections to North Yorkshire. It is a story full of mystery and suspense and it’s a great winter read for long dark nights!

5 stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

I was hooked since the first line as it reminded me the start of De Maurier's Rebecca.
The book kept all the promises and it was an enthralling and gripping read, creepy and well written.
The plot is complex as there're multiple stories and different timelines. The author did an excellent job in keeping the plot consistent and easy to follow.
Excellent character development, good stortelling.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine

4.5
I’m a huge fan of this author so you can imagine my excitement when I discovered she had a new book out. As I might have mentioned once or twice I love books that involve spooky houses with a history so this book instantly appealed to me. Even better the house used to be an asylum which has always fascinated me. It was really interesting to learn more about this history and trying to piece together how the two timelines were connected.

The author has clearly done her research and I drank in all the vivid details which really helped me imagine things in my mind. There are a lot of interesting topics discussed in this book not least the attitude towards women in the 19th century which made me very indignant to read about but also very grateful to realise how far we had come.

Overall I really enjoyed this book and will be recommending it to everyone. I was griped from the beginning and had to keep reading as I was very intrigued by the characters and wanted to find out what would happen next. The two timelines are told in alternate chapters and I liked the way they complemented each other, gradually revealing all the clues to the reader.

Huge thanks to Rachel from Rachel’s Random Resources for inviting me onto the blog tour and to Bold wood for my copy of this book via netgalley.

ook Review “The Room in the Attic” by Louise Douglas
OCTOBER 24, 2021 ~ NIKIPRESTON ~

SYNOPSIS/BOOK BLUB

The Room in the Attic

A child who does not know her name…

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.

Two motherless boys banished to boarding school…

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.

Cries and calls from the past that can no longer be ignored…

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.

Are they ghosts the boys hear at night in the room above, are they the unquiet souls from the asylum still caught between the walls? And can Lewis and Isak bring peace to All Hallows before the past breaks them first…

Praise for Louise Douglas

‘A brilliantly written, gripping, clever, compelling story, that I struggled to put down. The vivid descriptions, the evocative plot and the intrigue that Louise created, which had me constantly asking questions, made it a highly enjoyable, absolute treasure of a read.’ Kim Nash on The Scarlet Dress

‘A tender, heart-breaking, page-turning read’ Rachel Hore on The House by the Sea

‘The perfect combination of page-turning thriller and deeply emotional family story. Superb.’ Nicola Cornick on The House by the Sea

‘Kept me guessing until the last few pages and the explosive ending took my breath away.’ C.L. Taylor, author of The Accident on Your Beautiful Lies

‘Beautifully written, chillingly atmospheric and utterly compelling, The Secret by the Lake is Louise Douglas at her brilliant best’ Tammy Cohen, author of The Broken

‘A master of her craft, Louise Douglas ratchets up the tension in this haunting and exquisitely written tale of buried secrets and past tragedy.’ Amanda Jennings, author of Sworn Secret

‘A clammy, atmospheric and suspenseful novel, it builds in tension all the way through to the startling final pages.’ Sunday Express, S Magazine

Purchase Link – https://amzn.to/3kWii6u

REVIEW~ NIKI PRESTON ~ 5 STARS

A suspenseful chill ran right through me whilst reading The Room in the Attic. An eerie tale of All Hallows, once an Asylum in 1903 turned no nonsense Boy’s School in 1993. The two central characters, in 1993, Lewis and Isak are pretty much loners who get thrown together as they share a room in a part of the old School that is only being used because of damage to the dorms. Lewis begins to hear and feel a presence, a “something” that he can not explain. Isak begins to get drawn into this other worldliness and a chilling sequence of events begins.

Nurse Everdeen, appears a calm and caring Nurse in 1903 to a small child whose life is literally in her hands. The lives of all the characters become intertwined and the two worlds collide with some shocking outcomes.

Each chapter deals with a year in turn which lends to a cleverly written story that intricately weaves the characters stories together. creating a wonderfully emotive read with just enough danger to keep your attention. There is a touch of sadness running through everyone’s back story that only leads to a book that is impossible to put down until its finished. A superbly created ending that leaves no loose ends. There was one moment where Lewis has an encounter that literally made me jump so much that I nearly threw my kindle across the room.

I highly recommend this outstanding Novel, for thriller lovers and those who just enjoy a well written intricate book that takes you on an emotional journey, which has clearly been written with love and attention to gripping details that keep you turning the pages until you finish the whole book without realising you’ve been reading for hours. I loved it!!

Author Bio


Louise Douglas is the bestselling and brilliantly reviewed author of 6 novels including The Love of my Life and Missing You – a RNA award winner. The Secrets Between Us was a Richard and Judy Book Club pick. She lives in the West Country. Louise’s first book for Boldwood, The House by the Sea was published in March 2020.

Social Media Links –

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Newsletter Sign Up Link https://mailchi.mp/boldwoodbooks/hfpo47db7v

Bookbub profile https://www.bookbub.com/authors/louise-douglas

'The Room In The Attic' by Louise Douglas is an atmospheric and chilling story that grabbed me from the start. My first book by this author and definitely not the last! …
The Room In The Attic is overflowing with mystery and so much intrigue that I could not put it down, I was that captivated that I read it way too quickly.
The characters are created so well, Louise Douglas has made them so lifelike I felt connected to them and really felt what they experienced throughout the book.
There are multiple threads that were interwoven so skillfully they added so much to the atmospheric feeling of the story. It was quite an emotional story too, and I felt everyone of them.
A book that is perfect to settle down with on one of these dark nights that are fast approaching that is unless you prefer this type of book in the daylight. A dark gothic read for this time of the year.
Thanks to Rachel's Random Resources and Boldwood Books for the copy of the book.

The Room in the Attic by Louise Douglas is exactly the kind of book I love to read as Halloween approaches. A spooky former asylum full of secrets from the past, All Hallows is now a boarding school located deep in the heart of Dartmoor. It’s 1993 and motherless Lewis Tyler has been banished to the school by his father, making him feel more alone than ever. There he meets Isak, a boy as lonely as he is, who is moved with him into the attic room while the dormitories are being refurbished. But All Hallows is a building full of memories, whispers and cries from the past and it soon becomes clear that these can no longer be ignored…

Told in alternating timelines the story moves seamlessly between 1903 and 1993, revealing a dark and creepy story that kept me enthralled from beginning to end. In 1993 the ghosts from the past are making themselves known to the two young boys now sleeping in the attic and the story of Harriet and Nurse Emma begins to be revealed.

In 1903 a group of fishermen find a badly beaten woman and a young girl. Taken to All Hallows asylum the woman remains in a coma but the young girl, Harriet, is taken to the attic room and put in the care of Nurse Emma Everdeen. Harriet is hidden away from the noise and mayhem of the asylum, locked away with only Nurse Emma for company. At first Emma comes across as stern and unyielding, but soon softens towards Harriet and will stop at nothing to protect her. But where did Harriet and her mother come from? And can Nurse Emma get the young girl to reveal the truth?

The Room in the Attic is a deliciously creepy story with more than a hint of the supernatural. There are shocks and surprises throughout as the old asylum slowly begins to give up its secrets, the intrigue and suspense rising as the story moves towards its conclusion. I love a dark and spooky ghost story that keeps you guessing and this one is a beautifully written gothic mystery that does just that.

An atmospheric, richly detailed ghost story that I would highly recommend.

Intriguing read with gothic mystery that haunts you! Definitely one I recommend to those who like historical gothic mysteries.
Thanks to NetGalley for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.