The Manor House by Jane Holland

 

"Estuary House had a conflicting aura. It seemed to pulsate in some places with an almost raw, unadulterated evil. And yet in others, it glowed with warmth and understanding. Like two personalities in the same body".

"Were the dead able to inhabit the present so seamlessly they could appear a part of it? she wondered. Or perhaps those we lost never really went away after death, but remained in the stream, omnipresent, drifting silently through time along with the living, yet separate, too. Until one of them chose to make themselves see, that was..."

"I believe in... all this." He gestured to the wilderness about them, the estuary, the grey Cornish skies like granite glowering down at them. "Nature, the universe, whatever you want to call it".

Not that I ever need to get in the mood for the Cornish holidays (I'm always in the mood to visit my favoruite place), but the last couple of books I finished reading before our recent trip were set in Cornwall. 

The Manor House by Jane Holland is a dark psychological thriller, merged with a ghost story, set in dual timeline. The chapters alternate between 1963 and now.

1963.

Eleanor is a shy, gentle soul, living with her abusive father and brother. The father is the head of the religious cult, which treats women as inferior creatures. Poetry is her way of escaping the harsh, cruel reality and abuse. 

One evening, she goes to the poetry reading by the well-known published Cornish poet, Lyndon Chance. She finds courage to ask him a question, and later they spend the evening together. There is "a kind of smouldering restlessness and intensity about him" that Eleanour finds attractive. Lyndon invites her to visit him in Cornwall, promising to introduce her to the other local poets. 

Running away from an imminent threat from her father, Eleanor has nobody to turn to, except Lyndon. He offers her a way of escape, taking her to his ancestral home. Lyndon promises protection, as long as Eleanor pretends to be his wife.

Estuary House, a Tudor manor on the Camel Estuary in Cornwall, is situated in a secluded location, away from everyone. Once there, Eleanor realises that she might have escaped one prison to find herself in another. 

"The house seemed to be waiting for her.

It was a dreadful suspicion, and one that made Eleanor clutch the seat and wish she'd never come".

Lyndon's family is in shock to find out about the marriage. They are not exactly hostile, but not welcoming either. There is an ongoing feud between two brothers, Lyndon and his twin Oliver.

It soon becomes obvious that the old manor house conceals many dark secrets. Is Eleanor's life in danger?

"Ever since he'd first mentioned Estuary House to her, Eleanor had felt a lie in the air between them, its horrid, disjointed energy like a crackle of static under his words... But what could Lyndon Chance possibly have to lie about?"

Now.

Taylor comes to Cornwall to do research for her Master's thesis. She is a conservationist, with a deep interest in the life of the late Cornish poet, Lyndon Chance. 

"Lyndon Chance was the reason she'd come here this summer. The infamous, long-dead Cornish poet was why she'd chosen this lonely stretch of saltmarsh and intertidal mudflats as the focus for her conservation thesis, rather than a dozen alternative areas of special interest around the British Isles.

And she had no intention of leaving."

Taylor's story is interspersed with insights in her past, revealing the narrow alleys of her past trauma. She is haunted by her own tragic childhood: she witnessed the murder of her mother, and still blames herself for not helping enough.

Taylor meets Julius Chance, the grandson of the notorious poet, who lives in the now run down Estuary House with his elderly grandmother. He is quite hostile and determined to stop Taylor from digging into the Chance family's past. "Julius Chance had no idea how to behave in a reasonable, civilised way. But then, he'd been brought up in privilege..."

There is also a spark of physical attraction between them. They are drawn to each other, yet the old secrets and dark history of the Estuary House threaten to tear them apart. 

I enjoyed the atmospheric Cornish setting the most. The dramatic plotline with its tormented heroines made me think of some of Mary Stewart's romantic stories.

Without giving too many spoilers, I found the story dramatic to excess, there are just too many historical (and more recent) murders. As if the murder of the mother is not enough, our heroine is abused by her foster parents. Throw in several ghosts, a self-flagellating sinner, an abusive religious cult leader for a parent, and it becomes rather far-fetched.

The Manor House is a compelling and nuanced psychological thriller/domestic noir, tense, dark and menacing. 

Potential triggers: murders, death of a child, abuse, religious fanaticism.