The Room in the Attic by Louise Douglas is a turn-of-century ghost story full of intrigue and mystery.
In short, it’s a dual timeline novel set around the room in the attic at All Hallows, an asylum in 1903 and later a boys boarding school. In 1903 we follow the haunting story of nurse Emma Everdeen…”two five year olds, fifty years apart, who had no connection with one another save this woman, Emma Everdeen, who had promised to do the best by them.” Interwoven with Emma’s story is Lewis’s story which is his reflection back at his unhappy time which when after his mother tragically died he was sent to All Hallows boys boarding school by his indifferent father and his new wife. At the core of both storylines is the special bond of deep friendship.
I thoroughly enjoyed The Room in the Attic with it’s nod to the Gothic classics. It’s a fast paced page turner with great characters and a captivating story. What I also appreciated was that the dual storylines were both told in short bursts which enabled an easy, fluid read.
Big thanks to Louise Douglas, Boldwood Books and NetGalley for this eARC which I chose to read in return for my honest review.

All Hallows is a gothic property on Dartmoor which housed an asylum in 1903 and a boys boarding school 90 years later. There is a story at each period which then overlap in a chilling tale involving two boys in the school, who are both mourning their mothers. The brutal treatment in the asylum , particularly of women, is vivid and well researched and quite horrific and the boarding school is not much better! A difficult but rewarding read.

The story introduces us to to an adult Lewis in the present day where he is sent, against his wishes, on a work trip to an abandoned All Hallows to carry out a recce on behalf of a client. It is still a forbidding place with bad vibes and he is convinced of a ghostly presence. His fear of the place still hasn’t subsided and he can’t wait to get out of there.

If you like stories set around old asylums, with more than a touch of the supernatural then this is one for you. Flitting between two timelines, 1903 and 1993, the earlier part of the story is told from the perspective of elderly Nurse Emma Everdeen, charged to look after a young girl bought into the asylum, All Hallows, with her mother who was found unconscious. Emma and her young patient are kept locked in the attic, out of the way, their only contact being with another nurse for daily supplies. Emma, still very much feeling the loss of her own son after many years, becomes increasingly attached to the young child and does all she can to protect her.

In 1993, Lewis is sent to All Hallows boarding school by his father, basically as a punishment and to get him out of the way. Following his mother’s death, Lewis is lost and the grim and austere atmosphere of the school certainly doesn’t help. His room mate Isak is in a similar position and a tenuous friendship and understanding begins between them whilst they try to find ways to make their situation more bearable and to beat the system if they can.

There is much mystery involving the girl and her mother. Who are they and where have they come from? With no identification, it is a slow process to discover who they really are and Nurse Everdeen gradually tries to coax any information out of her young patient.

Whilst this is a slow burner to start, there are some real shocks in both timelines with much suspense. Lewis and Isak have some disturbing experiences – the supernatural element has been done so well and the old asylum building is not giving up its secrets and ghosts so easily.

There is so much in this story that will intrigue and absorb the reader. I was constantly being surprised throughout. The hellish and grim atmosphere of the asylum comes over so well with patients being admitted for the most spurious of reasons and even 90 years later it feels as though their stories are imprinted in the fabric of the building.

There is a definite Gothic feel to the story – All Hallows has such a commanding presence over both timelines and the author has set the scene well with vivid descriptions giving a sense of place together with a haunting presence throughout. I thoroughly enjoyed it and would definitely recommend. If you’re easily spooked then I suggest you read with the lights on! 👻

I really enjoyed this very clever book. Set with two timelines, it managed to interweave both sets of characters and bring all to a unforeseen and brilliant conclusion. Full of intrigue, suspense and emotion. Highly recommend!

EXCERPT: He took hold of the knob and turned it. The door swung open and the ice-cold air trapped behind it spilled out.

Isak gasped. I blinked; looked again.

Inside the room was nothing but darkness; not even a silvering of moonlight.

And it was empty.

No light was glowing, no flame flickered, nobody was there.

Only the rocking chair moved, rocking forwards and backwards as if whoever had been sitting in it had, a moment earlier, got up and left the room.

ABOUT '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, who the staff name 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…

MY THOUGHTS: I became totally absorbed in The Room in the Attic, the first book I have read by author Louise Douglas. She has written an eerily atmospheric book that took me quite by surprise.

I was sitting in my reading chair, totally engrossed, when my cat, who had been asleep across the top of the back, jumped down onto the arm of the chair, then my lap. My husband swears that I shot a good foot into the air and squealed in fright. It's not often that a book has that effect on me. The cat, Tighe, while disgruntled, was unharmed. My pounding heart took a little longer to recover. My husband is unlikely to let me forget this any time soon.

An old lunatic asylum is the perfect setting for this story; A large, old, gothic building, full of unexplained sounds and dark corners with a tragic history is a fitting backdrop for the story Louise Douglas tells.

The story is told over two timelines: 1903 when All Hallows is still an asylum and takes in a woman who is found unconscious, and a child presumed to be her daughter; and 1993 when Lewis and Isak are pupils there, sleeping in the room directly under the room in the attic where the young child was murdered.

An asylum in the early 1900s was no refuge. There was no treatment for mental illness. Violent or troublesome patients were chained to the walls, and most were heavily sedated. Some of the drugs given actually caused hallucinations. Such places were very easy to be admitted to; few people got to leave other than in a coffin.

All Hallows as a school was not a much more inviting establishment than it was as an asylum. Bullying and corporal punishment are the norm; the staff border on brutal.

The characters in both time frames are beautifully crafted. 1993 - Lewis and Isak, both motherless, have been sent to All Hallows by their fathers basically to get them out of the way. Lewis's father has remarried and Lewis is not liked nor understood by his new stepmother. Isak's father simply hasn't the time for him - he is far too busy in politics to be bothered with a grieving son.
1903 - Nurse Emma is getting on in years and no longer able to carry out the heavier duties of her job. She is still grieving for the loss of her young son many years previously and so she is given the task of caring for the young child who was admitted alongside the unconscious mystery woman. There are no shifts, no relief. It's a 24/7 task, locked in the attic with only another nurse, Maria, to bring meals, clean linen, and gossip from the wards below.

The tie-in between these two threads is incredibly clever; the resolution immensely satisfying. The writing is haunting and emotionally apt. I can't wait to read more from this author.

⭐⭐⭐⭐.8

#TheRoomintheAttic #NetGalley

I: @louisedouglas3 @bookandtonic

T: @LouiseDouglas3 @BoldwoodBooks

#fivestarread #gothic #historicalfiction #mystery #paranormal #suspense

THE AUTHOR: Hello and thank you for visiting my profile page. I write contemporary Gothic novels which are usually inspired by places close to where I live in the Mendips, close to Bristol in the UK, or by places I've visited, especially Italy and Sicily.

DISCLOSURE: Thank you to Boldwood Books via Netgalley for providing a digital ARC of The Room in the Attic by Louise Douglas for review. All opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own personal opinions.

For an explanation of my rating system please refer to my Goodreads.com profile page or the about page on sandysbookaday.wordpress.com

This review is also published on Twitter, Amazon, Instagram and my webpage

The story begins with the now adult Lewis Tyler revisiting the boarding school he attended he was 13. After the death of his mother, the relationship between his father and stepmother had broken down to the point where the young Goth is sent away to All Hallows in Dartmoor in 1993. At first he finds it hard to settle and only has the one friend, his unhappy roommate Isak, but at least Lewis still has the comforting voice of his mother in his head as she regularly encourages him through life. The story is set running concurrently along two timelines, 1993 as Lewis and Tyler start to hear strange noises in the attic room above them and get drawn into a 90-year-old mystery, and that of 1903 when an elderly nurse, Emma Everdeen, is given the job of caring for a young girl who has been rescued from the sea along with her unconscious mother. In 1903, All Hallows was an asylum and monetary constraints meant that it was certainly not one of the better ones, as the descriptions of some of the awful treatments and care of patients there bears out. Emma becomes determined to find out the truth about the girl, Harriet, and what has happened to her, but the further she digs, the more she fears for the girl’s life. As the boys also make some startling discoveries, they soon find themselves on an explosive crash course with restless ghosts from the past.
I thoroughly enjoyed this story which contained some great and very well drawn characters. The plot itself is both spooky and also an excellent mystery story which soon became completely engrossing as past and present merged with some startling and very satisfying outcomes all round. 5*

Fantastic characters, brilliant setting, GREAT descriptions - this is a wonderful book! I will buy Louise's books without a second thought now - she's so talented and never disappoints!

The Room in the Attic is a detailed fast paced story that is well thought out with a good flow. I was unable to put down as I was completely swept into the story from the first page...
I like how Douglas has created a great atmosphere with lots of suspense and tension...with the added effect of seeing what happened in mental asylums!
The character development of The Room in the Attic is good. The characters are realistic and interesting. I felt a great deal of empathy for Lewis in particular... after loosing his mother 18months prior his dad and stepmother send Lewis to a boarding school for being a "delinquent". Although each character stays with you till the end and impact the reader in an emotional way....
I would recommend reading The Room in the Attic to lovers of Historical Fiction, Women's Fiction and Gothic Fiction, as it is a gripping emotional story that takes the reader down a road of isolation and torment as they follow ghosts of the past....

The Room in The Attic - Louise Douglas

1903, fishermen find a wrecked boat containing a woman, who has been badly beaten, and a young girl. 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.

1993, All Hallows is now a boarding school. Following his mother’s death, Lewis Tyler is banished to Dartmoor. There he meets Isak and whilst refurbishment is taking place, the boys are marooned up in the attic. 

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. 

‘𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐠𝐨𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐧 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐨 𝐧𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐢𝐭.
𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐠𝐨𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐧 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐨 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞.’

Well, the opening scenes with Lewis as an adult visiting All Hallows’ just creeped me out! The woman appearing and getting closer reminded me of the Weeping Angels in Doctor Who ‘Don’t Blink’ and scared me senseless, setting the tone for a superbly spooky read. Such a tense of foreboding and tension is created, it ramps up as we go back, moving between 1903 and 1993 we follow Nurse Everdeen and Harriet, the child from the boat and then Lewis and Isak stuck in the school.

‘𝗜 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝗯𝘆 𝗺𝘆𝘀𝗲𝗹𝗳; 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗲𝗱 𝗯𝘆 𝗺𝗲𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝗜 𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝘀𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗲, 𝘁𝗿𝘂𝘁𝗵𝘀 𝗜 𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝗻𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝘁𝗲𝗹𝗹.’

There are chairs that rock themselves, the smell of smoke but no fire and Lewis discovers the bones of Nurse Everdeen outside the graveyard. I desperately wanted to know what happened to Emma Everdeen and why she was buried outside the churchyard. We are given little hints and it is so twisting and heart rending, I felt a punch to the gut when I discovered her fate. I think I connected most with Lewis as a young boy though, I really felt for him, grieving and trying to fit in. His voice is so clear and I felt so sorry for him dumped at All Hallows’ boarding school.
As the mystery begins to unravel, the threads of the story converge. I was holding my breath as I read, such was the hold the author had me in, I was unable to stop reading and stayed up late to finish it and actually shouted when my Kindle ran out of battery and I was sat with it plugged in to finish!

A fabulous concept, with originality and the right amount of spookiness to keep you wanting more. This is such a perfect ghostly page turner for the autumn, get it on your list!

✩✩✩✩✩

5☆ A Hauntingly Good Mystery

The Room in the Attic is a book that is full of Intrigue and Mystery and once you start reading it's very hard to put down. Although for me it was a spooky read ( I'm one of those that can't watch horror as I'm too scared)  I still couldn’t stop reading as I wanted to know what happened next!

I'm not going to write about the plot as the blurb gives you just enough insight to draw you in perfectly.

There are many threads to this  haunting story, which makes it perfect, if you love a good ghostly Mystery, that is shrouded by a dark gothic feel that is very atmospheric.
The characters are superbly written and I really felt for them and all that they had been through.
Not only is this story gripping and eerie, it's also very emotive, which I loved.
This is my first book by Louise Douglas and I'm very excited to discover more!

The Room in the Attic by Louise Douglas
Published by Boldwood Books
Published date: 12/10/2021

What happens?
Lewis returns to his old boarding school and it stirs up difficult memories. The story jumps back to 1903 where Nurse Everdeen is sent to help with a woman and young girl found in a small boat, barely alive. They are taken to All Hallows, which was then an asylum. All is not as it seems. The story runs alongside Lewis’s, as a teenager sent to boarding school at All Hallows in 1993. He experiences ghostly disturbances and sets out to discover their meaning.


My thoughts
Dark, chilling and richly gothic. The setting was perfect, so creepy and a great back drop for this gothic story. I loved the way the author blended traditional gothic tropes and psychological elements. It put me in mind of Jane Eyre, The Woman in White and The Turn of the Screw. The two narratives ran along seamlessly and the characters were so vivid and distinguishable. There was great attention to detail in regards to creating early 20th century life, especially for women. The author cleverly interwove the themes into the book across the narratives, such as abandonment and grief. A palpable sense of claustrophobia and confinement ran throughout the book. The ghostly elements were not overly done, creating just the right amount of fear and tension for me.
It kept me reading until late as I tried to guess what would happen next - a great ending but I won’t spoil it. An imaginative gothic story which kept me turning the pages. With thanks to Netgalley, Rachel's Random Resources and Boldwood books for this ARC, which I received in exchange for an honest review.

In a Nutshell: Great characters, great plot, great writing. What are you waiting for? Read this book!!!!!

Story:
I am determined not to give anything away from this tricky story. So trying my best to just give the bare bones.
1903: Emma Everdeen is an old nurse who works at the All Hallows asylum in rural Dartmoor. When a boat with two unconscious people in it—a woman and a child--is discovered by the locals, thee survivors are brought the asylum and the child is put in the care of Nurse Everdeen. They spend their days in a room in the attic, away from the rest of the patients. The child, Harriet, soon makes her place in the lonely nurse’s heart.

1993: Lewis Tyler’s life has turned topsy-turvy after his mother’s sudden death eighteen months ago. His father has remarried, his new stepmother hates him, his elder sister has gone away to college, and Lewis himself is bundled off to the All Hallows boarding school, which is nothing like a good school should be. Here, Lewis meets another lonely boy, Isak, and their mutual pain bonds them in a true friendship. Both of them share a room in the attic, in the old wing of the school, while the actual building is being refurbished. But this room seems to contain some spooky memories, and the boys soon find themselves caught in a weird situation.

The third (minor) timeline is that of Lewis in 2021, with the 1993 narrative coming as his flashback. How the 1903 narrative connects with Lewis’ story is what you need to read the book and figure out. My lips are sealed.


Ever read a book that hooked you so much that you are ready and willing to forgive teeny plot holes? That’s me for this story. It is thematically so complicated that some logical loopholes are inevitable. But the way the author has handled most of them deserves credit.

Right from the very first page, the atmosphere is very firmly created. It's creepy, it’s eerie, it’s suspenseful, and it’s addictive. The story took its time to develop, but it developed in such a way that I couldn’t keep the book aside! The initial part of Lewis’ story gave me David Copperfield vibes. (The Charles Dickens book, not the magician!) But it is much, much darker. The gothic feel is maintained throughout the narrative.

The main characters are well-sketched. Some of the secondary characters too make a mark, though they appear only in a few scenes.

The only complaint I have about the writing is that the perspective changes are too frequent. While this helps in maintaining suspense, it also means abrupt in-between-scene shifts between Lewis and Emma’s stories. A slightly longer duration for each character perspective would have worked better for me.

This is my very first book by this author, and I assure you, it won’t be the last!

4.5 happy stars.

My thanks to Boldwood Books and NetGalley for the ARC of the book in exchange for an honest review.

My thanks to NetGalley and Boldwood Publishers for a copy of “ The Room In The Attic”;for an honest review.

This is not my normal genre of reading but I was gripped from the start. Told from two time periods it was really easy to get into , and the characters were really well written..
.The book had a gothic feel , was very suspenseful and is a perfect read for Halloween
. I think this would make a really interesting read for a book club.
Recommended without hesitation

A really enjoyable read that was set in dual timelines, 1903 All Hallows is an asylum where an injured woman and her child are taken to recover. With her mother in a coma, Harriet is cared for by kind elderly Nurse Emma. In 1993 All Hallows is now a boys boarding school where two misfit boys come together. While the school is being refurnished their room is in the old school wing but strange noises an occurrences are taking place.
I did enjoy the short sharp chapters of each era, it didn’t take anything away from becoming involved in each storyline. I felt it took a little bit if time to set the storyline up but it certainly grew for me as it continued. The last 25% was devoured in one sitting, I wasn’t sure were it was going but loved they way it unravelled and came together in the end.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for a copy to read.

I read the synopsis for ‘The Room In The Attic’ and it certainly sounded intriguing. The story sounded dark and creepy. I couldn’t wait to dive in so without further ado, I grabbed a cup of tea, grabbed my Kindle and settled down for what proved to be one hell of a read and then some. Oh boy, I thoroughly enjoyed reading ‘The Room In The Attic’ but more about that in a bit.
It didn’t take very long at all for me to get into ‘The Room In The Attic’. In fact by the time I got to the end of the first chapter, I knew that I was going to seriously enjoy this book. For me, part of the appeal of this story was the fact that an old lunatic asylum is a big part of the story. The history of mental health treatment and the old system of asylums fascinate me. I was drawn into the story from the very start and I found it very difficult to put this book down for any length of time. I was intrigued by the characters and curious as to what direction the story was going to take. I just had to keep reading. I became so wrapped up in the story that I lost all track of time and just how quickly I was getting through the book. All too quickly I reached the end of the story. I found ‘The Room In The Attic’ to be a gripping and tense read, which kept me guessing and which kept me on the edge of my seat.
‘The Room In The Attic’ is very well written. The author certainly knows how to grab your attention and draw you into the story. Louise has one of those writing styles that is easy to get used to and easy to get along with. For me, the story hits the ground running and maintained a fast pace throughout. The story is told using three different timelines – one timeline takes place in the 1900s, another timeline takes place in the 1990s and the third timeline involves events as they take place in the present day. I did think that perhaps this might prove to be a bit confusing but I needn’t have worried because the timelines interlinked and the story flowed seamlessly as a result. Reading this book felt like being on a scary and unpredictable rollercoaster ride with several twists and turns along the way. I felt as though I was part of the story and that’s thanks to Louise’s very vivid and realistic storytelling.
In short, I thoroughly enjoyed reading ‘The Room In The Attic’ and I would recommend the book to other readers. I will certainly be reading more of Louise’s work in the future. The score on the Ginger Book Geek board is a very well deserved 5* out of 5*.

The Room in the Attic is a fascinating Gothic tale which ends with a twist that makes it even more satisfying. It is eerie and evocative, and will send shivers down your spine from the very beginninng. It is an absorbing story which kept me flipping the e-pages to the end.

Atmospheric and chilling, The Room in the Attic brings All Hallows to life in a disturbing and resonating way. The story is told predominantly in dual timelines. 1903, when All Hallows was an asylum and 1993 when it housed a draconian boarding school. Lewis returns in the present day as a grown man, but the past makes him want to run.

The character-led stories are emotional with elements of gothic fiction and psychological suspense. The characters are believably vibrant and immerse the reader into their world. The social history and social injustice explored in the 1903 story is disturbingly poignant. The plight of the two boys in 1993 is equally harrowing, and their grief makes them susceptible to paranormal occurrences.

The mysterious plot's clever twists let the characters shine and enthral the reader. The author captures perfectly the sense of fear, hopelessness and sadness that pervades, All Hallows.

I received a copy of this book from the author in return for an honest review.

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.

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.

This book had everything I love in a book, duel timeline, a great atmosphere with fantastic characters.
I could not turn the pages fast enough and ended up reading this well past my bedtime.
This is a great spooky read that has a gothic vibe to it with a few surprise twists at the end.

Goodness, what did I just read? From the very opening chapters of this new book by Louise Douglas, my heart was pounding, I was holding my breath, the hairs on the back of my neck were standing on end, and I was absolutely glued to the page.

I started reading this book very late one night just after I had gone to bed, which was a mistake because the book creeped me out right from the off. As soon as you crawl between the pages, you know you are reading something that is going to keep you on the edge of your nerves, so it may not be recommended for readers of a very nervous disposition. Set in an old asylum which then became a strict boarding school in the midst of the brooding expanse of Dartmoor, there could not be a creepier setting for a story. When I was young, I was addicted to the Famous Five books by Enid Blyton. The thirteenth (coincidence?) of these, Five Go To Mystery Moor, involved spooky goings on on a deserted moor and it scared the bejesus out of my as a kid, so any ghost story set on a moor is guaranteed to give me the wiggins. The author does an absolutely amazing job of bringing the very disturbing setting to vivid life, both in its incarnation as an asylum and a boarding school, a little too vividly for those with active imaginations perhaps!

The story line is divided between three timelines – modern day, 1993 when All Hallows was a boarding school, and the turn of the twentieth century when it was an asylum for those people deemed insane. The narrator in the first two timelines is Lewis Tyler, as a grown man and when he was a pupil at the school. Back in time, we are following the story of Emma Everdeen, a nurse at the asylum. The book switched between the stories with ease, never breaking the tension, and deftly entwining them to great effect. Each of the characters hooked me in, and I was truly feeling genuine fear for all of them by the end. The storytelling is so skilful that it is impossible not to become fully invested in the outcome for all involved.

The story is a clever and intriguing mix of thriller, mystery, ghost story, family drama and exploration of social issues affecting women in the early 1900s. There is something here to appeal to every type of reader, and I can’t imagine there are many people who would not enjoy it (other than those who really don’t enjoy being kept on the edge of their nerves throughout a book.) You can tell that the author did a lot of research into the historical aspects of the book, it is beautifully rich in detail, but this is only used to enhance and not detract from the story. I am honestly so impressed with the authors skill in balancing all the different aspects of this novel to deliver an engrossing, affecting and thrilling story. I think my heart has only just slowed back to its normal speed after finishing it.

I absolutely loved this book, I cannot recommend it highly enough. Perfect October reading, buy it immediately.

The room in the attic by Louise Douglas.
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…
A very good read with some good characters. Likeable story. 4*.