I feel bad giving this 2 stars when it wasn’t so bad but it just wasn’t my sort of book. I found it incredibly boring and really difficult to get through, I may try again one day as I’m in a bit of a slump atm but for now … DNF at around halfway through, but for what I have read - 2 stars

Very atmospheric, very gothic, very dark but I felt it was slightly drawn out with so many different PoV in the various parts. The setting and premise were great, but it was a little slow for me.

Dispatched to rural Yorkshire, Aesthetic artist Samuel Etherstone has been commissioned to build a mausoleum within the sprawling, nonsensical mansion. The house’s owner, heiress Mrs Chesterfield, her staff and guests, all have their own relationship to the ever-growing building. The original architect, Francisco Varano might have gone insane, but as Samuel’s stay is extended, the truth of the influence of the house is made chillingly clear.

Palace of Shadows by Ray Celestin is as chilling and twisty as the house in which it is set. I love a Gothic tale, and this story is as classic and atmospheric as it comes. The language, descriptions, and references all put the reader firmly in the year before the turn of the last century, and I found myself immersed in the story from the off.

From Samuel’s own dreams and arts, to his first impressions of the house and his vertiginous experiences navigating it, Celestin fantastically conveys the labyrinthine disposition of the house. In my mind, everything happens in the dark; even in candle light the dark corners grown, and even in daylight the moors are overcast.

A perfect example of a modern gothic novel, and my favourite of 2023.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for a copy of the e-book in exchange for an honest review.

An excellent gothic novel, dark and twisty. I was fascinated by the descriptions of the setting and the complex plot.
Well developed characters, good storytelling, atmospheric and gripping.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this ARC, all opinions are mine

Immersing readers in a captivating and wonderfully atmospheric Gothic tale, this book draws inspiration from the enigmatic Winchester Mystery House, introducing a compelling change of scenery that adds to its allure. Perfectly suited for the colder and darker months, the narrative invites readers to curl up at night, delving into the mysterious world crafted within its pages.

The book stands as a stellar example of the Gothic genre, skillfully weaving an intricate mystery that keeps readers engaged and enthralled. The atmospheric elements contribute to the overall experience, creating a sense of suspense and intrigue that aligns seamlessly with the genre's conventions. As a reader, the pleasure of disappearing into this enigmatic world is heightened, making it a thoroughly enjoyable and immersive journey.

For those seeking a riveting Gothic experience with a touch of mystery, this book delivers on all fronts. It captures the essence of the genre, providing an ideal escape for those who relish the combination of dark settings, atmospheric storytelling, and compelling mysteries.

The E-Book could be improved and more user-friendly, such as links to the chapters, no significant gaps between words and a cover for the book would be better. It is very document-like instead of a book. A star has been deducted because of this.

This is a first for me by the author and one I enjoyed and I would read more of their work. The book cover is eye-catching and appealing and would spark my interest if in a bookshop. Thank you to the author, publisher and Netgalley for this ARC.

I enjoyed this story, but oddly enough it was the setting that was something I enjoyed a lot! The Yorkshire moors was a perfect setting for a darker and gothic feel for the novel and its mystery/horror elements. It was so vivid and strong, that sometimes I found myself getting lost within it rather than within the characters! The story generally was well written and the prose itself was poetic and entrancing.
A story that varies in pace but it definitely is worth the read!

[REAL RATING: 1.5/5] By the blurb, I stupidly thought it would be inspired by the H.H. Holmes legends, just with more weird and confusing twists. Turns out it took an extremely weird fantasy twist, and it got me disappointed.

I don't really know what to think about this book honestly. The story itself felt like it was getting everywhere and nowhere at once, that there were ideas but we would never see the idea developped to its fullest. It was slow and tiring. In the end I wasn't even much invested in the ending.

Also the storytelling is weirdly executed, very inconsistent : Samuel was telling his point of view, found Varano's diaries → we read Varano's diaries entries (some as real entries-like, some are way too fictionalized), who find Mr G (forgot his name already)'s letters → we read Mr G's letters (here again real letters-like, some too fictionalized), who find some priest letter in a book → we read that full letter (fictionalized) → we go back to Mr G's letters, then Varano's diaries entries, then FINALLY back to our original Sam POV. It's extremely confusing and gets your back from a "omg I know I'm in immediate danger" to... the beginning of a boring entry. 3 times.

I requested this book as the synopsis had my was curious … why did Mrs Chesterfield keep adding to her labyrinth of a house which is said to have been built on haunted land and after being warned why would Samuel still want to stay there!

Palace of shadows is an eerie but gripping Gothic story, the perfect autumnal read

If atmospheric gothic horror is what brings you joy, then you are in for a treat with Ray Celestin's beguiling historical fiction, set primarily in the remote, eerie and deadly Yorkshire moors and smuggler's coast. Impoverished artist Samuel Etherstone's friend, Oscar Wilde is in exile in Paris, and he is struggling to get any work after tragedy and scandal. He specialises in 'impossible objects', optical illusions that play tricks on the mind. Sam is offered work by the wealthy Mrs Chesterfield that takes him to her monstrous leviathan of a never ending gothic home which is constantly being built on. It can't be said that Sam was not warned, but there is nothing for him to return to in London, and he signs the peculiar contract, that requires him to live-in, to build a disturbing mausoleum.

Ominous rumours abound, fear and strange chilling stories proliferate locally, of deaths, disappearances of the Marsden girls, ghosts, sacrifices and more, in a desolate landscape of caves, mists, bogs and marshes waiting to claim unwary bodies. The malevolent house appears to have its own powerful spirit of confusion that induces madness, as Sam finds himself with sketches that he has no memory of drawing, distilling the house into its most potent form. This drives the intensity with which he approaches his assignment. He is forced to attend a harrowing seance and sees an apparition. Sam cannot help but find himself consumed with the fate of Italian Francisco Varano, the original architect of the house, stumbling across his journals that outline what happened to him.

What is the purpose of the house? So much begins to become clear to Sam as he descends into a state of insanity, including the mortal peril he finds himself in. Celestin writes a beautifully plotted and well written spellbinding story that unsettles, drawing on the darkest traditions of the horror genre, at the heart of which is a voracious, out of control, house that you will never forget. The author connects and mirrors with skill and style what happens to Sam with Varano's fate, linked through time with the sinister Palace of Shadows, the art, and the ghosts. I can see a wide range of readers enjoying this, particular as it makes for perfect reading fare as the nights begin to darken. Many thanks to the publisher for an ARC.

I would like to thank Netgalley and Pan MacMillan for an advance copy of Palace of Shadows, a stand-alone gothic thriller set mostly on the Yorkshire moors in 1899.

Struggling artist Samuel Etherstone is invited to Yorkshire for a commission. He paints surreal pictures and the very rich Mrs Chesterfield likes his vision. She is building Chesterfield House and has been for over fifty years, continually adding wings and embellishments. When he arrives at the local pub he is warned off the house with suggestions that it drove the original architect mad, it is haunted and causes death. Sam can see what they mean when he sees the house, but can’t get a straight answer on why Mrs Chesterfield keeps building.

I am a big fan of the City Blues Quartet and was therefore keen to read Palace of Shadows. I applaud the author for trying something different and think that it is a fine example of modern gothic writing. Unfortunately it is not a genre that appeals to me as the supernatural seems silly to me.Having said that, I think that this a very well constructed and written novel. The author creates a strong sense of dread and tension, gradually building the novel to a strong conclusion, with so many little questions as well as the big one - why does Mrs Chesterfield keep adding to the house - and some strange events that defy not just my logic, but any kind at all. He also has a very readable style that draws the reader in and makes them comfortable with his narrative. The way the novel is constructed is also a pleasure as it ends up answering a lot of questions in an easily digestible format and suits the style of the story. The novel opens with an elderly Samuel Etherstone looking back on the past, then switches to his early experiences at Chesterfield House - in one word, strange. As the tension and unease build he finds an old diary from 1948 belonging to to the architect that details his first experiences at the build site of Chesterfield House, again strange, and includes some letters from a man who disappeared at the time, the psychic Gosterwood.

Palace of Shadows is not for me, but don’t let my taste put you off. It is a work of great imagination with an even pace and a evocative atmosphere.

Palace of Shadows by Ray Celestin
I have read and loved the City Blues Quartet but this novel is very different in tone and structure. It is a Gothic novel set in 1899 and revolves around the penniless artist Samuel Etherstone who is offered the commission of creating a mausoleum based upon the strange paintings he has created.
The commission if offered by Mrs Chesterfield, whose family have died, who is an heiress whose money came from the production of the Chesterfield gun. Etherstone arrives in Yorkshire and is warned by locals not to spend too much time at the strange house which Mrs Chesterfield is building. Warning are made about what has happened to others who stayed too long and the locals tell stories of people sent mad by the house.
The house is said to have been built on haunted land and young girls have gone missing from the nearby village. An air of menace pervades the novel and we are aware that Sam is being drawn deeper and deeper into the mysteries of the house. It is disturbing Gothic story which is beautifully created with lyrical prose.
The house and its location in a deserted part of the York moors with the mists continually swirling around it and the eerie songs which emanate from the depths of the caves enhance the ominously beguiling nature of the story.
The house itself is continually being added to and developed and whilst some parts are new other parts are falling into disrepair. There are doors that open onto nothing, staircases that lead to nowhere; the house appears to move and change shape during the night.
It is a fascinating Gothic story and is very well written I will be recommending it to others at my various book groups. I would like to thank the author, the publishers and Net Galley for the opportunity to read the book in return for an honest review.

This is a wonderfully atmospheric gothic book! It pulls from the Winchester Mystery House which I found very interesting in the change of scenery. A great read for the colder and darker months, I enjoyed curling up at night and disappearing into this mystery. A great example of the genre and I’m keen to explore the authors other works.

Palace of Shadows by Ray Celestin is an atmospheric gothic novel, with a paranormal twist.

Samuel Etherstone is a surrealist artist who is failing to make ends meet in London and struggling on a personal level following the tragic loss of his wife. When he is contacted by the mysterious heiress of an arms manufacture and offered a commission to design her mausoleum in the North Yorkshire moors, he accepts the offer.

When he arrives on site he finds a sprawling mansion, where the owner continues to build wind after wing, adding seemingly more curious extensions to the property for unknow reasons. Warned not to venture outside of his bedroom of an evening Samuel begins to become more concerned about the owners chilling obsession and the real reasons for the ongoing development of the house.

Celestin is an engaging author and manages toe create a realistic atmosphere to his historical novels but personally I found this one not to have the panache of his early 20th Century New Orleans set series following The Axeman's Jazz.

An author I'll continue to follow though, as his books are refreshingly different.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Its dark gothic atmosphere was perfect for autumnal reading.

the writing fit the genre, and using journal entries etc made the book feel like a somewhere more modern version of a fin de siecle gothic novel

A perfect example of a gothic novel! The bleak and grim setting of the Yorkshire moors (in this context) as a backdrop and the house as the most important character. A great story to read in the run up to Halloween. Many thanks to Netgalley for an arc of this book

— 𝐁𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐑𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰 —

𝐓𝐢𝐭𝐥𝐞: Palace of Shadows
𝐒𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬: N/A
𝐀𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫(𝐬): Ray Celestin
𝐆𝐞𝐧𝐫𝐞: Historical Horror/Mystery/Magical Realism
𝐃𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐏𝐮𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐝: 12th October 2023
𝐃𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝: 14th September 2023
𝐑𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠: 3.75/5

”‘If I was to ask you to imagine a house that was filled with storms, floods, infernos, dangerous animals, poisonous insects, a numberless array of the most hideous diseases; would you say this was a good house?’ he asked. ‘Would you say this was a house where you’d want to live?’
‘Of course not.’
‘But this house is exactly the world we’re thrown into at the moment of our birth. A house full of danger and peril. And the true horror is, there’s only one way of escaping it. And maybe that’s the most monstrous thing of all.’”

Ultimately, this is a very clever book featuring a vast, labyrinthian house nestled into the Yorkshire moors and overlooking the sea. As quaint as that sounds, there really is nothing quaint about this novel. There’s a constant aura of trepidation and uneasiness, in part due to the house that seems malevolent in spirit, in part due to the eerie moors that are safe one minute, and a consuming marshland the next, and lastly a consequence of the characters that are undoubtedly keeping foreboding secrets.

The house itself is described like the recursive and illusionary Droste effect, also known as ‘mise en abyme’ which literally translate into ‘placement in abyss’ and is scarily fitting for the architectural monstrosity in this book.

There are elements of horror, mystery, and magical realism in this historical fiction novel which create an atmospheric storyline of something metaphysical and ancient at play, whilst the character of Mrs Chesterfield—rich land owner, presumed mad—adds to the mystery of the story leaving readers constantly wondering, is she the victim or the predator?

My favourite aspects of this novel that really elevate the story, is its explorations and it’s ideology. One of the themes Celestin explores is artistry, consistently alluding to the aesthetic art movement, and of course the head of the movement: Oscar Wilde, and his two year imprisonment. It was interesting that there was such focus on this movement, with how art transcended from moral implications to a surface beauty, whilst the palace of shadows seems to forego surface beauty for moral implications instead.

The ideology was certainly interesting and poignant, whilst also being appropriate for its time period. It challenged treatment of mental health, British colonialism, and religion, which I will demonstrate with three powerful quotes to end this review on:

”The mad are allowed to take their place in society and act in it as any other sane person as long as they cause no damage. They are not shunned, nor segregated, nor locked away, nor is any attempt made to cure them. Rather it is the society that must make room for them, and they all seem happy with the arrangement. If madness is simply what falls outside the social mind, then why not expand the social mind to encompass it?”

”’I am a witch from a long line of witches, if a witch is someone who worships a god older than yours, a religion truer than yours, a belief more compassionate than yours.’
‘There is no religion more compassionate than Christianity.’
‘Then why I am to be hanged for not believing in it?’”

”’Because these same countries we say are populated by savages are the same countries we’re subjugating. If we admitted they’re human beings just like us, then it would make us the invading barbarians.’
’We paint others as monsters to stop ourselves from being the monsters,’ I said.”

—Kayleigh🤍

Palace of Shadows is a well-structured supernaturally influenced mystery, coming on rather like a North Yorkshire reworking of the premise of the Winchester Mystery House in California- but running with the idea much further.
The layering of timelines, supported by the discovery of hidden documents, avoids clunky exposition and instead creates a real sense of history, and building of the threat to our main character.
Very enjoyable

Samuel Etherstone, a penniless artist is called from London to a sprawling yet unfinished house on a remote coast in Yorkshire for a commission by an eccentric elderly heiress: “I’m not asking you to build something impossible. I’m asking you to build something that contains all the strangeness and confusion that you can muster.”
There’s foreboding and disturbing warning signs: previous employees going insane or going missing, the vast house filling him with spine-freezing dread. But then there is the prospect of a much more comfortable life after fulfilling his commission - the design for a mausoleum.
The idea of a house possessing a spirit/life of its own, of warping, of creating and disappearing rooms is used here similarly to Danielewski’s brilliant “House of Leaves”.
The plot borrows heavily from the post-aesthetic artworld, the protagonist is modelled on M.C. Escher and the house seems to be loosely based on the Winchester Mystery House in California, but it still manages to construct an intriguing scenario. Is this a weaving of folklore with horror, architecture with the paranormal or is it all just a fever dream or down to the liberal use of opium?

This is an excellent read by Ray Celestin.

A story rich in myth and scares, it’s a gothic, atmospheric ghost story set at the turn of the 20th century.

A constant feeling of foreboding and doom settles on to you as you turn the pages. It’s dark at times and the house that becomes the main character is extremely unsettling.

There are a host of characters that are quite difficult to really like much about but they just add to the feeling of discomfort and fear that this superb book leaves you with.

The writing itself is absolutely outstanding, beautifully written, it’s quite literary in its way and it’s just sublime.

I had it nailed on for a 5 star most the way, but the ending just kind of pulled it back from elite levels. Needless to say though it’s brilliant and up there with the best books of my reading year.

This book was just quite simply amazing. A true gothic story set around the building of a house to fulfill a prophecy from a by gone age, but for what purpose. I have read all of the authors previous work but this one stands head and shoulders above the others. I found the story telling of the building of the house and the way it affected the builders and inhabitants and the real reason for the house being built in the first place so believable based in the time line that the story is set, that it just felt so real.
I could see this book being made into a film as long as any screenplay honoured the book itself.
A recommended read for a winters night,