Thank you to NetGalley and Boldwood Books for allowing me to read an advanced digital copy for an honest review...this are my honest review

Highly recommend

I found that the story started out great and interesting, by the middle I was a little bored with the story but I am so glad I stuck it out! It was spooky and I even cried.
The author got really narrative in the middle which is a big turn off for me but I had to see how the book ended. Everything came together.
The story is in dual time lines...it starts out in 1903 and then we jet to 1993 at the All Hallows Asylum then goes to All Hallows Boarding School...
The characters are likable and it was really easy to follow...
In the end I'm really glad I stuck with it.
I'm sure this won't be the last book I read by Louise Douglas

Where do I begin? WOW! Just...WOW! This is my first foray into Louise Douglas and I wasn't sure what to expect...but THE ROOM IN THE ATTIC just blew me away! I can't even begin to categorise its genre...is it historical? Is it women's fiction? Is it a mystery? Is it even paranormal (which is not really my thing)? Basically, it's a bit of everything rolled into a gothic ghost story complete with a rambling asylum and strange noises in the attic. The plot is twisty, the scene is atmospheric and the characters are completely engaging. This book had me absorbed from the very first page right through the very last...so much so that I read it in one sitting! I began it when I went to bed, thinking I'd read for a couple of hours before hitting the hay, but noooo...I simply had to keep reading till the end...right up till 4.20am!

So the first thing that drew me to the book was the fact it was dual timeline. I love these types of books where two stories unfold and are seamlessly woven together by the end. But this one goes one step further than that which to say much more would be to reveal spoilers...and you really must read the book yourself to experience it. The other thing which drew me was the whole atmospheric setting of a creepy asylum on Dartmoor miles from anywhere and the mystery that unfolds there.

On a cold and rainy night in 1903, fishermen come across a seemingly deserted boat floating at sea off the Devon coast. Upon closer inspection they discover a young child and an unconscious woman laid out barely alive. Their rescuers take them to the local doctor who sedates the distressed young child and the two are transferred to All Hallows asylum on Dartmoor. There, the woman is given the Royal Suite where she is to be treated and recover in private away from the asylum's inmates whilst the child is taken into care by 70 year old nurse, Emma Everdeen who has lived most of her life at All Hallows. To protect the child from the inmates, both she and the nurse are secluded to the asylum's attic rooms until her mother has been nursed back to health.

But the child, whose name is Harriet, is reluctant to reveal any details about who they are or where they come from or where they may have been heading when they were found near death in the freezing waters. Emma slowly begins to extract information from the child and they form an unlikely alliance. Emma still grieves for the child she lost fifty years before and Harriet longs to be reunited with her mother. However, the woman shows no signs of waking from her comatose state and to reunite the pair now would only distress the child further. But the more time Emma spends with Harriet, the more she grows fond of the child and fears the time when she must hand her back to her mother.

But something sinister is lurking beyond the walls of All Hallows and Emma feels a malevolence she can't explain and a desperate need to protect little Harriet. But at what cost?

Ninety years later in 1993, 13 year old Lewis Tyler has been shipped off to boarding school and finds himself billeted at All Hallows, now repurposed as a boarding school for boys. Misunderstood and grieving the loss of his mother, Lewis finds himself banished here when his father remarries. The school has recently suffered flood damage and with part of the west wing closed for renovations, Lewis is given accommodation in an attic room with one other student, Isak Salen.

The boys begin a tentative friendship having been forced to share a room but soon find themselves sharing confidences and a shared interest in the history of All Hallows when it was an asylum, stemming from the skeletal remains Lewis uncovers in grounds outside of the asylum's graveyard. Lewis and Isak decide to solve the mystery of who the remains were and why they were buried in unconsecrated ground reserved for criminals. Added to that are the creaking noises they hear in the night as well as the shadows that pass their door. The wails and moans that appear to haunt the old asylum have them terrified and longing to uncover what is really rattling around up there. Their enquiries lead them to the school library where there is a nook specially devoted to the history of All Hallows and everything therein. And there they come across an old nursing manual that had once belonged to Emma Everdeen and an autobiography written by an inmate Thalia Nunes, as they endeavour to uncover what really happened in the room in the attic ninety years ago.

There are several themes highlighted throughout the story. The first being abandonment as Lewis, Isak and Emma were all abandoned by their families for one reason or another. All of them dumped at All Hallows for different reasons but abandoned all the same. Identity is another as Lewis was stripped of his goth clothes, piercings, hair and make-up and given the standard uniform that is issued to every student so that they all resemble each other. The same could be said for those in 1903 when patients were stripped of anything that defined them and women, particularly those who were seen as unruly and free-thinking, were simply thrown into asylums as punishment until they learned to conform with society and to be respectable. Then there is grief. Both Lewis and Isak lost their mothers whilst Emma lost her child as each of them struggle to come to terms with their losses. And finally there is isolation. This is something that can have a detrimental effect on even the sanest of minds in how it can play with one's definition of reality.

But what I love most about THE ROOM IN THE ATTIC is the chilling atmospheric feel. It has that real gothic sense in the classic Victorian building that brings that sense of foreboding in the form of an asylum where the demented are imprisoned, shackled and their souls tortured. It lends a creepiness to the story that is enough to leave you sleeping with the lights on. It is eerie without being scary but it is still chilling.

I also love the short snappy chapters - always a favourite of mine to keep a story moving at a fast pace. And fast paced it is.

Whilst reading this story, I was reminded of a movie I once saw called "The Love Letter" in which a man in the present day finds an old letter in an antique desk he purchases and he responds, placing the letter where he found the original one which then ensues a correspondence between himself in he present day and a woman from the 1800s. But there is nothing romantic here as this story is chilling and sinister with an atmospheric eeriness...but still one you just cannot put down.

THE ROOM IN THE ATTIC is a brilliant tale that sweeps you back and forth from 1903 to 1993 and back again until finally landing in the present day of 2021. The chapters alternate between Emma in 1903 and Lewis in 1993 at a fast pace that will have you turning the pages at the rate of knots.

There is so much to love about this book! And love it, I did! It totally consumed me and I cannot wait to delve into more of Louise Douglas' tales if this one is anything to go by!

Perfect for fans of gothic tales with the right amount of atmospheric creepiness as a ghostly page turner.

I would like to thank #LouiseDouglas, #Netgalley, #BoldwoodBooks and #RachelsRandomResources for an ARC of #TheRoomInTheAttic in exchange for an honest review.

Review featured at www.books-n-kisses.com

What an interesting story. I enjoyed this story most of the time. The ending was a bit of a disappointment.

I found the gothic story spooky and creepy but in a good way. I enjoyed the two different timelines of 1903 and 1993 well written.

This book is pretty long. And there are certainly parts that went a bit over the top in description and but the scariness of the story was high.

Disclaimer:
I received a complimentary copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

Louise Douglas never fails to delight me with her writing.
In this novel we are in All Hallows Asylum in Dartmouth in 1903 with Nurse Everdeen who is charged with caring for Harriet a 5 year old found in a boat with her mother who is seriously injured. In 1993 All Hallows is now a boarding school and Lewis has been sent by his Father as he has recently remarried and there is conflict with Lewis's Stepmother. There Lewis shares an attic room with Isak. Above them at night they hear strange noises and cries. As they discover the fate of Harriet and Nurse Everdeen through journals they try to bring peace to their souls
I love dual timeline novels and if they have a ghostly theme then even better. This book is very atmospheric and also frustrating on behalf of the residents in the asylum and the barbaric methods of "treatment " for them.
What makes this novel even more special is it was written during the covid lockdown when Louise was unable to do her usual research and visits to the settings of the book.
Many thanks to Netgalley and Boldwood Books for allowing me the opportunity to read this advanced copy in exchange for my honest review

Set between two timelines but one building. Formally an asylum now a boarding school, The book follows the story of Lewis in the present day whi has been sent to boarding school after his stepmum makes out hes troubled. He dresses as a goth, which is stripped from him when he starts life at the school He makes a friend and they uncover the schools murky past.

Hariet and her mother are brought into the Asylum after they are found on a shipwrecked boat. Nurse Everdeen is tasked to care for them. Life in the asylum is brutal.

This book is very atmospheric and gave me the chills reading it. The barbaric treatment that was endured in asylums were quite shocking and really sad that this was normal and, even worse, thought to help. I enjoyed both aspects of the timeline and it flowed seamlessly. It was one of those books that you didnt want to put down.

This is my sixth book by Louise Douglas and it is obvious that I am a fan. I have enjoyed every single book but this one is by far my favourite of all. I love Louise Douglas ' writing style, she tells a story with feeling and sets up the setting perfectly, in two timelines no less. She also has an ability to write such interesting characters that her tales are both plot and character driven.

I loved that this book is told in 1903 and 1993. In 1903 we read from Nurse Emma's point of view and in 1993 it is from student Lewis' point of view. This was such a unique premise mixing mystery with a gothic ghost story. This is a perfect read for autumn and Halloween. <spoiler>It kind of remind me of the movie The Others</spoiler>

It was a good book that made you want to keep reading. I would gladly read other books by this author and will search some out. Well done.

The Room In The Attic is set in 1903, 1993 and present day.

In 1903 nurse Emma is caring for Harriet. Harriet is a child who was found in a boat with her injured mother. They are brought to the asylum for lack of a better place to help them recover.

In 1993 the asylum is now a boarding school (All Hallows) that Lewis attends

In the present day, Lewis is assigned to take pictures of the building and make recommendations on how to transform the ancient building into something modern. Lewis has no desire to ever go back to All Hallows.

I am not usually a historical book reader, but I thoroughly enjoyed this one. I loved the connections made from the different era's.

This book is creepy, sad, disturbing and yet still heartwarming at the same time.

I will be looking for more books by this author.

Many thanks to netgalley and Boldwood books for the opportunity to review an advance copy.

Wow what a creepy atmospheric novel. 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.

Thank you NetGalley and Boldwood Books for the chance to read an early copy of this book.

I enjoyed this book immensely. A book that hooked me right from the start.

All Hallows is hidden away deep on Dartmoor. In 1903, fishermen found a wrecked boat containing a beaten woman and a young girl, both were taken to All Hallows.
In 1993, Lewis is sent to All Hallows Boarding school on Dartmoor.
Ghosts from the past still haunt All Hallows, will Lewis and his friend Isak be able to bring peace to these souls.

A bit of a chilling read, and a bit of a 'guessed it' ending, but overall all it is a good 5 star read for me.

This was such a creepy book . It gave me the shivers , it was so good and the descriptions of the asylum were so vivid. I don’t usually read gothic type books but I really enjoyed this one. It was a real page-turner. I do enjoy Louis Douglas’s books and this one was on the top of my list. My thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for giving me the opportunity to read this book in return for an honest review.

3 ⭐️⭐️⭐️ This is seriously one of the hardest reviews I’ve had to write. I don’t even know if I’m sure about giving it 3 stars. I just finished this book about 10 minutes ago and I’m just really annoyed. Not a feeling you want to have after finishing a book. Let me start by saying, this was a 4-5 star book all the way until about 85%. I’ve never been so disappointed in an ending like I was with this one. I am tempted to write this review with spoilers but I hate to tell endings so I’ll refrain from giving any details. Also, just because I hated the ending doesn’t mean someone else will. It was just way too unrealistic for me. I was looking for a creepy book and it started off that way but the ending was just a big fail to me! I would not have read this book had I known it would take such an unrealistic turn in the end. I am still overall giving it 3 stars but only because the first 85% of the book was really good!

Thank you to NetGalley and Boldwood Books for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

To see other reviews I’ve left, check out my Goodreads and Instagram pages:

*Goodreads - Cherihy808
*Instagram - bookworm_traveler808

love stories that cross between two different timelines so this was right up my street.

All Hallows gave me the creeps from the outset and this story is brilliantly written. I couldn't put it down, so much so I devoured it in one day.

This is the first book I've read by Louise Douglas and I'm really excited to look out for some more of her work.

The characters in this book are really well developed and you can see why these characters are some of Louise's favourite.
⭐⭐⭐⭐

Thanks to NetGalley and Boldwood Books for this ARC!

This was my first novel by Louise Douglas. I give this book 4.25 stars. We are introduced to two timelines, 1903 and 1993. Both of these timelines interact back and forth with our main characters, who are both living in what was an asylum in 1903 and a boarding school in 1993. I loved the descriptive writing style, especially how the gothic, creepy atmosphere of the old asylum was described. In 1903, Nurse Emma, who is in her 70's, is commissioned to take care of a little girl, Harriett, who was washed up on shore with her "mother". You could not help but feel empathy for both of them, and I enjoyed the heartwarming relationship that they eventually had. In 1993, I also enjoyed reading things from Lewis' perspective, being somewhat of a goth outcast, finding himself pretty much alone in the school until he befriends Izak. There is a mystery for Lewis and Izak to solve, and in doing so, the fate of the past for Harriett and Emma is changed. I really enjoyed this one, though, when things got going with the physics of time, it got hard to believe, but having bonded with the characters earlier in the story, I just rolled with the ending. I will definitely be reading more books by Louise Douglas, as all in all, I loved her writing style.

This is the first book I’ve read by this author and i must say it is a beautifully well written story. It is set in two time periods 1903 and 1993 the story is told by two different characters Nurse Emma who works in All Hallows an asylum in 1903 and Lewis 1993 a boarder in a boys boarding school (previously the Asylum All Hallows.) This is an intriguing story and kept me captivated as the characters lives became more intwined.
I would defiantly recommend this author and will be looking to read some more by her.

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, 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…

Note - Thanks to Netgalley and Boldwood Books for this eARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book opens with a BANG! It’s got a scary opening hook that draws you in immediately and doesn’t really let go until the very end.

As a lover of gothic ghost stories, this one is pretty good. Told in dual time, the author starts in the present, then flips back and forth between 1993 and 1903 unraveling the mystery of a young woman and child washed up on the shore and brought to All Hallows Asylum/Boarding School.

It’s 1993 and Lewis Tyler is a young teenage boy still mourning the loss of his mother when his father, an emotionally challenged man, and his new wife decide to send Lewis to All Hallows Boarding School in the hopes of turning him from his goth ways. So, right off the bat, we’re emotionally involved. Lewis is rejected, unwanted and discarded. Once at school, he meets up with Isak, another rejected teenage boy, and together they begin to weather the hauntings of All Hallows.

Then we go back in time to 1903 where the mystery begins with the arrival of a young woman and small child at All Hallows back when it was used as an asylum. We meet Nurse Emma Everdene who assumes care of the child and becomes very attached to her. In order to keep the child safe from other asylum inmates, Emma and the child, Harriet, are kept sequestered in an attic room directly above where Lewis and Isak’s room is. As Emma’s own story unfolds, we discover she also is an outcast, thrown away by her parents at a time when “unruly, free-thinking” women were put in asylums as punishment until they learned to be respectable.

The story leads us to events that took place on Boxing Day 1903 which results in a skeleton Lewis finds on the grounds in 1993. Lewis and Isak take to solving the mystery as they make an attempt to change the past.

Several themes are going on here. The first is abandonment with the main characters of Lewis, Isak and Emma all being abandoned by their parents in one form or another. Individuality is another theme. Back in 1903, patients were brought in and those with their faculties were quickly stripped of them, along with their hair, clothes and anything else that defined them. The same happened to Lewis in 1993. He arrives fully in goth gear where quick judgments are made against him. He is forced to discard his goth attire and given a uniform while his hair is cut short, stripping away his own identity. Grief is another theme. Both Lewis and Isak have lost their mums unexpectedly. Emma lost her child. All parties are struggling to recover. Last is the theme of isolation and the result it can have on a sane mind. Douglas explores this fully with the character of Emma as she and Harriet are isolated from the rest of the asylum and how that thwarts and plays with her definition of reality. I really love how the author writes these as history repeating itself. It’s almost like it’s an effect of being at All Hallows.

The scare factor is decent. After the opening scare, it’s not a huge theme nor are there a lot of jump scares but there is a creepiness steeped deep in the story and its eeriness is enough to leave you sleeping with the lights on. The story does slow up but only in a few places and it doesn’t last long. I was concerned about that since there’s 100 chapters to this book.

Overall, I’d recommend it as a good Halloween read.

I am not normally a ghost story sort of person but this really hit the spot for me. Split time scale, engaging characters, twisty plot, spooky building featuring as an asylum and brutal boarding school, and a bit of a science fiction thrown in at the end.

If you are in need of a page turner to take you away from the rather grim goings on in the real world then I thoroughly recommend 'The Room in the Attic', suitably removed from the modern day but with enough peril and excitement to keep you on the edge of your seat.

As we turn into autumn reading, there’s less lounging in the garden with a cold flask of squash and more snuggling by the log burner with my books. For some reason, that cosiness and the darker evenings draw me towards haunted or magical stories. So I was keen to read this time slip story with ghostly goings on. In 1903 we visit All Hallows’ Asylum on Dartmoor and Nurse Everdene has a new charge to look after, away from the usual inmates in an attic room. A mother and young daughter are found by a fisherman, the woman completely unconscious from a blow to the head. While she is transferred to one of the best private rooms and remains in a coma, her traumatised daughter is left in the care of Nurse Everdene. The little girl is clearly shocked and exhausted, so a room is made up with a single bed and a rocking chair near the fire so she can be monitored. She is completely mute, so the nurse doesn’t pressure her but makes sure she is warm, dry and fed. For comfort she gives her a small toy rabbit that once belonged to her son Herbert, who died when he was small.

In 1993 we meet two boys sent to All Hallows’, which is now a boarding school. Lewis is coping with grief after losing his mother and in an attempt to express himself has started dressing as a Goth. His Dad has quickly married again, and his stepmother clearly wants Lewis out of the way. She reports on how difficult he is and manipulates his father into thinking boarding school is his best option. Once there, Lewis is shorn of his Goth persona and is feeling very vulnerable, especially when he has to share room just under the attic with another boy, Isak. Isak, he finds out, is also an outcast and he gives Lewis some tips to survive. They also share an interest in a nurse who was buried outside the consecrated ground of the churchyard thirty years before. What does this have to do with the abandoned room above them on the attic floor, containing only a rocking chair and a single bed? A rocking chair that the two boys can hear rocking in the middle of the night, thumping against the floorboard, as if someone is sitting in it.

It’s hard not to feel for Lewis, as he ends up with all his armour taken away from him. Without his goth gear he’s just a boy with ears that stick out a bit too much. Luckily he finds another outsider to be with in Isak, although at first we don’t know why he is so ostracised. Emma Everdene is also fascinating and because I hate the practice of burying people outside of consecrated ground I really wanted to keep reading to find out why. The journey she takes in life is incredible, elevating herself to becoming a nurse, from very little in monetary and status terms. I also found her very resilient, having come through the deaths of both her husband and her son. I liked how her nursing manual showed working women supporting other women in their journey. When it is found in the library in 1993 the dedications show that it was passed from woman to woman, possibly because books were out of reach for women in poverty. The author also makes the point that many women were in the asylum for little more than thinking differently, or being in the way of their husband’s next conquest. Thalia is an example of a woman who has pushed the boundaries for someone of her class and gender. Staff talk about her cutting her hair short like a man and habitually wearing trousers, not to mention being a suffragette.

Emma sniffed. ‘And why shouldn’t she do those things if that’s what she wants to do? Because by doing so she causes embarrassment to her family? Because they’re hoping to marry her off to some chinless wonder with more money than manhood, some… some milksop who would be humiliated to stand beside a woman who shone more brightly than he?’

I found her father’s request that she be punished severely much more chilling than whatever was going on in the room upstairs. Emma talks about the asylum as a last resort for men who want to control and silence their women. The thought of all these people falling victim to early 20th Century asylum ‘treatments’ is terrible. It really hits home when Lewis finds iron fitments on the floor and wall in one of the classrooms in 1993. The manacles may be gone, but it still paints a picture of human misery. When Emma talks to the girl who brings their food, they talk about the treatments that are commonplace in the asylum such as the ice cold baths. Then there’s the less commonplace. When a new doctor arrives and is given the case of Mrs March, mother of Emma’s charge, he wants to try new European treatments. The staff gossip about the time he spends touching her, moving all of her limbs in turn and bending her spine in order to keep the flexibility while she’s in a coma. Emma can see that it would make sense to keep her supple, but when he moves his desk into her room so he can work there and spend more time in her company it starts to feel strangely voyeuristic. Her complete vulnerability becomes worrying.

The supernatural goings on are genuinely scary, Lewis finds the creaking rocking chair a bit unnerving but is able to be in the room and stop it moving. At first he thinks of obvious explanations like a draft setting it off, but after a few weeks he can’t brush it off any longer. The dark presence felt by both Lewis, and Emma 90 years earlier, seems to fill the room with its power. Lewis feels as if something huge is in the room and Emma feels it’s malevolence. The jump scares are unexpected and add to the mystery unfolding before the boys. The surrounding isolation creates a claustrophobic atmosphere and as Emma starts to feel more unnerved and more attached to the little girl we now know is called Harriet, I felt I was being rushed towards some terrible event. I thought the way both the asylum and the school were painted as places to dump inconvenient people was very apt. Even some of the techniques they used were the same, such as taking away the patient or pupil’s identity through removing their clothing and shearing their hair off. There’s a strong feeling of trying to break individuals and make them conform. The author has created an interesting and unnerving tale, that has the tension of a thriller and creates a need to keep reading to find out all the building’s secrets. It has also reignited a childhood terror of looking into the bathroom mirror!

Louise Douglas has written a marvelous tale with The Room in the Attic. A book with themes of loss, love, and friendship, this novel follows two different timelines. The first, a nurse and her small charge. The second, two motherless boys away at a boarding school. The Room in the Attic shines a light on some of the horrid practices of asylums in the 20th century. It also gives glimpses into the highly regulated place of women in the early 1900s. In summary, a very enjoyable read.

A story told in two timelines with a good touch of atmosphere added to it. The conclusion satisfies two types of readers, gothic and thriller, by leaving it to their choice. The emotional undercurrent in the 1903 time is handled satisfactorily. A must read.