An eerie, old Scottish manor in the middle of nowhere that’s now hers.
Ailsa Calder has inherited half of a house. The other half belongs to a man who disappeared without a trace twenty-seven years ago—her father.
Leaving London behind to settle the inheritance from her mother’s estate, Ailsa returns to her childhood home, nestled amongst the craggy peaks of the Scottish Highlands, joined by the half-sister who’s almost a stranger to her.
Ailsa can’t escape the claustrophobic feeling that the house itself is watching her—as if her past hungers to consume her. She also can’t ignore how the neighborhood animals refuse to set one foot within the gates of the garden.
When the first nighttime intruder shows up, Ailsa fears that the manor’s careless rugged beauty could cost her everything.
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My Review
Ailsa Carter is a 30 something journalist, who inherits the Scottish manor where she was born after her mother dies. She is always wondering what happened to her father. The kicker is she only gets half the house and the other half is left to her father, so she must find out what happened to her father 27 years ago.
"My father is happily living in Australia with a lady called Sarah or Susan. They have a handful of charming children with the exception of the last, who even in his early twenties is something of a handful (they call him their "late bloomer") though of course, my father struggles endlessly with thoughts of the child he left behind. But he's come too far to be able to see a way back to her."
Statements like the one above are at the beginning of every chapter, I realized after I finished the book that these were just things that Ailsa was imagining happened to her father. She moves into the manse temporarily, the locals are not very friendly to her, her family has been the 'talk' of the towns since her father disappeared. Threatening notes and dead animals appear on her doorstep and live animals won't come onto the grounds past the gate.
This book has some interesting and sinister characters, undertones of supernatural makes this a story worth reading. I love the writing style, including the statements at the beginning of each chapter, it made her father seem like a real person and had me curious. So what did happen to Ailsa's father and what is going on with the 'Manse"? Will Ailsa be able to overcome her issues both personally and with her father? I encourage you to pick up a copy of this amazing book! Now I have to read The French Girl!
I received a copy of this book from the publisher for review purposes only.
Lexie Elliott has been writing for as long as she can remember, but she began to focus on it more seriously after she lost her banking job in 2009 due to the Global Financial Crisis. After some success in short story competitions, she began planning a novel. With two kids and a (new) job, it took some time for that novel to move from her head to the page, but the result was "The French Girl", which will be published by Berkley in February 2018 - available to pre-order now!
When she's not writing, Lexie can be found running, swimming or cycling whilst thinking about writing. In 2007 she swam the English Channel solo. She won't be doing that again. In 2015 she ran 100km, raising money for Alzheimer Scotland. She won't be doing that again either. But the odd triathlon or marathon isn't out of the question.
https://www.lexieelliott.com/
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