The House in the Orchard
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3.3 • 3 Ratings
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- $14.99
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- $14.99
Publisher Description
CrimeReads Best Gothic Fiction of 2022
A BuzzFeed, Good Housekeeping, and Departures Magazine Best Book of Fall
“Reading this one feels like wandering darkened hallways with a candle flickering in a ghostly breeze. . . . A gorgeous historical novel.”—Good Housekeeping
A startling gothic tale of corrupted innocence that asks—when we look closely—what it really means to know the truth.
When a World War II widow inherits a dilapidated English estate, she uncovers a diary written by an adolescent girl named Maude Gower. Looking for answers, she begins reading, only to unravel more questions about the mysterious past and many secrets hidden deep within the walls of Orchard House.
In 1876, orphaned Maude is forced to leave London, and her adored brother, Frank, to live with a stranger. Everyone—especially Frank—tells her not to trust Miss Greenaway, the enigmatic owner of Orchard House, but Maude can’t help warming to her new guardian. Encouraged by Miss Greenaway, Maude finds herself discovering who she is for the first time, and learning to love her new home. But when Frank comes for an unexpected visit, the delicate balance of Maude’s life is thrown into disarray. Complicating matters more, Maude witnesses an adult world full of interactions she cannot quite understand. Her efforts to regain control result in a violent tragedy, the repercussions of which will haunt Orchard House for the rest of Maude’s life—and beyond.
With each psychologically gripping turn, Elizabeth Brooks masterfully explores the blurred lines between truth and manipulation, asking us who we can trust, how to tell guilt from forgiveness, and whether we can ever really separate true love from destruction.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In Brooks's underwhelming latest (after The Orphan of Salt Winds), two women learn the secrets of an English country house in two centuries. In 1876, Maude Louise Gower, a 13-year-old orphan, details in a diary the loss of her parents and moving in with Miss Kitty Greenaway, a classical scholar and tutor. At first, Maude is deferential to her older brother, Frank, and insistent that she will not be swayed by Miss Greenaway's perspectives. Miss Greenaway introduces Maude to opinions supporting women's equality and suggests that Maude might be more intelligent than her brother, which causes Maude to question Frank's view that women should not receive higher education. Maude's diary entries reflect her diverging from Frank's perspective. In 1945, Peggy, Frank's widowed daughter-in-law, inherits Maude's house after her death and considers moving in. Frank tries to convince her to sell the house, warning Peggy that the house is haunted. Peggy finds Maude's diary and learns about the history of the house and its previous residents. The ending, which turns on old letters, feels abrupt, leaving no sense of resolution, and Brooks neglects to develop the women who interact with Maude in the first section, as well as in the letters and diary entries. This feminist historical misses the mark.
