by Ann Schlee
First published 1976
Laura and Barty arrive at their aunt's house as refugees from the cholera epidemic sweeping through Victorian London. They expect safety and family warmth. Instead, their aunt greets them with inexplicable coldness. Strange incidents begin immediately. Doors slam without wind. Servants whisper and fall silent when the children approach. Their aunt forbids certain rooms and refuses to answer basic questions about their stay. Barty grows increasingly frustrated by the secrecy surrounding them. Laura tries to make sense of the peculiar atmosphere that permeates every corner of the house. Neither child understands why they feel more like unwelcome intruders than family members seeking shelter. The mysterious events multiply, creating an atmosphere of unease that rivals the disease they fled. As Laura and Barty investigate their circumstances, they must confront uncomfortable truths about their family and their place within it. The house holds secrets that challenge everything they believed about their relatives and themselves.
Genres: historical-fiction, mystery, 19th-century, gothic
Vibes: atmospheric, intimate, suspenseful
Tropes: fish-out-of-water, unreliable-narrator
Setting: London, Victorian
Period: Victorian
228 pages · Hardcover · Holt Rinehart & Winston
Content warnings: death