The Ladie Upstairs
A dark and twisted tale of ambition and desire
by Jessie Elland
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Pub Date 22 May 2025 | Archive Date 22 May 2025
John Murray Press | Baskerville
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Description
Scullery drudge Ann longs to become a lady's maid. Ann can't quite remember how or when she arrived at the grand Ropner Hall, but she loathes spending her days toiling in the dank kitchen.
When a chance meeting with Ropner's Lady Charlotte leads to the opportunity to become her personal maid, Ann is convinced she has finally escaped her own version of hell. But has she? As Ann's new life above stairs takes a sinister twist, will it turn out that the terrors lurking up there are worse than the devils she knows below?
A bold new voice in femgore, Jessie Elland’s deeply visceral
debut is a dark and twisted tale of ambition and desire.
Perfect for fans of Mariana Enriquez, Angela Carter and
The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman.
Available Editions
| EDITION | Other Format |
| ISBN | 9781399817769 |
| PRICE | £16.99 (GBP) |
| PAGES | 320 |
Available on NetGalley
Featured Reviews
Angelica S, Bookseller
This was such a weird and wonderful book I will be thinking about it for a while! Luscious prose and wicked humour, it offers a darker telling of the country house and it is perfect for fans of Bridgerton and horror fans!
Emily D, Reviewer
Ooooooh wow. What a disturbingly beautiful book. There was something so unnerving about this, between Ann and Ladie and their constant commentary, this felt suffocating to read. I adored the writing, it felt like I was drowning in sentences and paragraphs full of earthly descriptions. Elland has a real talent, her writing leaps off the page, so much so I could taste the food and smell the awful scents of the house.
Around 60% in I knew something was wrong. The narration got even more unreliable and I was on the edge of my seat. The ending caught me by surprise, I couldn’t believe how clever and well written this entire novel was. I loved it, for all of its awful descriptions of the human body and sin, I couldn’t put it down. A truly devious book, this was unrelenting and thrilling to read.
Roman C, Reviewer
Firstly, this is the *perfect* cover for this audacious and enigmatic story. Elland's writing is the star of the show: luscious, grotesque, hallucinatory, and with more than a touch of Angela Carter about it.
The story itself plays effectively with our expectations: with deceptive nods to all the 'big house' classics, to Fingersmith, to Lady Chatterley's Lover and - of course - the Brontes... and yet it remains subversive to the end.
Bookseller 1550988
If you like fever dream structured books, then this book is definitely for you!
Our main narrator of the story is Ann who works as a maid at Ropner Hall who develops this strange and unhealthy obsession with the Lady of the House.
The cover design is stunning, and it fits this book perfectly! The cover was also the reason I decided to request this book in the first place, and I was not disappointed because weird female fiction is my favorite type of books.
The writing is extremely visual, there are a lot of vivid descriptions (also of those of bodily fluids).
Disturbingly beautiful book, I couldn’t put it down!
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