Abigale Hall: A Novel

It took me a little bit to get into this book, but once I did, it is pretty good. It took me a day to finish, it's easy to read, has a good storyline... classic ghost story. The characters are well described and filled out, although a couple of the characters were kind of annoying... All in all, it's worth a read.

My god, this novel is dark! The prose is quite good, the characters well developed. But I wanted some redemption, some "feel good" somewhere. This novel left me shivering. Talk about depressing! I need a hug!

I was planning to rate this as four stars, but the excellent and unexpected ending made this a five star book for me. Well played, Ms. Forry, well played! This book is categorized in the horror genre, but I don't see it that way. It is not graphic or full of gore. I found it to be more creepy than scary. I mention this because I do not generally read horror stories. These days, real life is scary enough. If you don't like horror stories, please do not be turned away by the description. As I was reading this book, I was frequently reminded of the movie "Whatever Happened to Baby Jane." It is that kind of creepy, suspenseful, and disturbing. The book begins in London after the Blitz. Seventeen-year-old Eliza lives with her little sister Rebecca and their unkind aunt. Their parents are both dead. Eliza works, has a boyfriend, and tries to care for her sister. Rebecca is a bit odd. Today, she may be described as having Asperger's. Or maybe she is a sociopath. Times are tough, and their aunt sends the girls to Wales to work for Mr. Bronawell at his estate. Or to work for his housekeeper, the very evil Mrs. Pollard. Eliza discovers that previous young employees have disappeared. Or died. Eliza begins to hear and see things. She has disturbing nightmares. Her sister becomes more odd and distant. Eliza worries that her sister will become ill again. She tries to save them both and in the process discovers the secrets of Abigale Hall. At the same time, Eliza's boyfriend Peter is in London trying to find her. There are multiple forces trying to stop him. Even if the girls are saved, will they escape unharmed? I really enjoyed the story. It is gothic and atmospheric. The chapters mostly alternate between Eliza and Peter as they try to uncover the truth. Eliza and Rebecca's early life also unfolds. The story is very suspenseful and the book is hard to put down. It is easily read in a few days. The writing was good but pretty basic. I thought I was reading a YA novel. For that reason, I was going to give it four stars. But the ending won me over. An enjoyable reading experience overall.

This book didn't cut it for me. It started out with promise, then fell way short. I almost stopped reading several times but kept on, hoping things would improve. They didn’t. Here are a few of the problems I had: 1) The book is too long and too tedious. The middle especially rambles. The author could have cut at least one hundred pages and still could have told the story. (For what it’s worth.) 2) The characters aren’t likable. From the protagonist Eliza to her Aunt Bess, to her sister Rebecca, the list goes on. 3) Does almost everyone in the book have some sort of mental illness? Apparently, the author believes this makes for a good suspense story. It doesn’t. 4) I wished the author would have written just one edible meal. Between the horrid descriptions of food and unpleasant smells, I was disgusted. I’m not sure if the author thought this would bring an element of horror to the story, but it didn’t. 5) The book is labeled as ghost fiction. Having an imaginary ghost doesn’t cut it. 6) The twist at the end was unsatisfying. Again, I wonder about the author’s intent. Was she trying to shock the readers? If so, she didn’t succeed. I bought this book on sale but even the $1.99 price tag was too much. I will not be reading any more of Forry’s books.

I almost want to read it again so I can follow it a bit more. It would make a great movie!

Abigale Hall by Lauren A. Forry is a creepy Gothic mystery set in Wales during the late 1940s. Having lost both of their parents during the World War II, seventeen year old Eliza Haverford and her troubled twelve year old sister Rebecca live with their unpleasant Aunt Bess in a rundown apartment in London. Although the second World War has finally ended, jobs, food, housing and clothing remain scarce so Bess seizes the opportunity to rid herself of her troublesome nieces and make a tidy sum of money in the bargain. Eliza and Rebecca are sent against their will to Wales where they begin working for Mrs. Pollard, the housekeeper at the desolate, ramshackle Thornecroft estate. When Eliza begins experiencing increasingly eerie phenomena, she starts looking into the mysterious disappearances of other young women who worked for Mrs. Pollard. Equally concerning is Rebecca’s behavior which is growing more disturbing the longer they remain at the estate. Unbeknownst to Eliza, her London boyfriend Peter Lamb is desperately searching for her, but will he find her before it is too late? And if he cannot, will Eliza find a way to save herself from the same fate as her predecessors? Thornecroft is a very atmospheric setting and Mrs. Pollard, caretaker Mr. Drewry and the mysterious Mr. Brownawell add to the overall sinister feel of the novel. Eliza is a strong lead character but her quest for answers are quickly shutdown by the very formidable housekeeper. Eliza tries to pry information out of the nearby town’s residents, but with no one but Ruth Owen willing to talk to her, she does not receive very many new details about the odd occurrences at Thornecroft. Daring to search the huge manor, Eliza does uncover very disconcerting signs that something ominous is going on, but the answers she is searching for remain elusive. Back in London, Peter is running into trouble as he tries to figure out what has happened to Eliza. His search takes him into the very seedy underbelly of London as he follows the few clues he has managed to unearth. With a shadowy figure following his every move, Peter tenaciously refuses to give up trying to find Eliza but will his efforts to save her pay off? While the premise of Abigale Hall is certainly intriguing, the story is a little slow paced and becomes rather repetitive. The slow parceling of information is frustrating as is Eliza’s blind devotion to her obviously very troubled sister. Her loyalty to Rebecca is understandable given their circumstances, but there comes a point where it is very obvious she is in desperate need of medical intervention. Peter is a wonderful character and his efforts to find Eliza are quite touching especially since he has to dig deep to find the courage to follow his convictions. Lauren A. Forry brings the novel to a pulse-pounding, twist-filled conclusion that will catch readers completely off-guard. An eerie, suspenseful young adult historical novel that, while imperfect, is still a chilling yet entertaining read. I received a complimentary copy for review.

I do not usually choose to read Gothic novels but Abigale Hall held my attention from beginning until the very end. There were lots of surprises along the way to keep you spell bound. Looking forward to reading more books by this author.

It was a bit different. I liked it, but didn't like the ending so much.

It's a gothic novel and it's fine if you like them, I suppose, but I think I only like the ones that were written a hundred or more years ago. This 'heroine' was pretty insipid, so it was hard to care.

Abigale Hall kept me guessing right to very end! I love a good Gothic Horror & this book certainly fits that genre. The psychological & emotional tug of war within the older sister is engaging, between her wanting to escape to a new life & the obligation she feels she must continue for her younger sister. I was compelled to keep reading & highly recommend this book!

Teenagers Eliza and Rebecca live in London with their hard-as-nails Aunt Bess after losing both their parents in the Second World War. Although she isn't explicitly described as such in the book, it's obvious that Rebecca has learning disabilities and mental health problems. She's breezily articulate but struggles to control her temper and appears to lack empathy and social skills; it's also hinted that she has spent time in some form of institution. Seventeen-year-old Eliza, who works as a theatre usher and has a boyfriend, Peter, is more or less entirely responsible for Rebecca's care and clearly feels a heavy burden of responsibility. One day Aunt Bess sends both girls to rural Wales, having found Eliza a position as a general purpose maid at Thornycroft, a dark and rambling manor house owned by an elderly, disabled recluse (the 'Abigale Hall' of the title is not the manor house, but only a particular part of it) and run by a cruel, cold housekeeper, Mrs Pollard. From the moment the girls arrive, something seems to be terribly wrong at Thornycroft, but Eliza has a vivid imagination and is badly affected with what seem to be post-traumatic symptoms after her father's death. Is Thornycroft really as full of dark secrets as Eliza suspects? The book's post-war setting is nicely evoked, and makes a pleasing change from Victorian gothic while managing to be every bit as dark and shadowy. It feels stylised rather than entirely realistic (I don't think the author is British, and that does show at times) but that works well in the context of the story. However, I found this book rather slow-going at times, and the endless creepy goings-on and appalling wrongs done to Eliza by Mrs Pollard soon started to feel repetitive. There are only so many times I could read about Eliza eating or smelling terrible food that makes her feel sick, and only so many times Mrs Pollard could berate Eliza for some trivial misdemeanour, before I began to tire of it. Mrs Pollard herself was also too much of a stretch for me to believe in, a sort of cross between Mrs Danvers and the Wicked Witch of the West. There is also a subplot involving Peter, Eliza's boyfriend, who is trying to find out what has happened to her, and how. I found I couldn't really engage much with this part of the storyline, which strays into the seedy post-war London underworld, and for me it just seemed to jar with the rest of the story - it's much grittier and more realistic than Eliza's storyline. If Abigale Hall were a film, it would feel as if Brighton Rock had been cut with Crimson Peak. On the plus side, the descriptions of the sensations and smells of London and Thornycroft are almost viscerally vivid at times - Eliza seems to be hypersensitive to both in a way that borders on obsessive-compulsive. Eliza and Rebecca are also fascinating characters, and the relationship between them is complex. Eliza is not an entirely reliable narrator, and at times seems to be hiding as much from the reader as Thornycroft itself. Overall, while there was a lot that I enjoyed about Abigale Hall, and the book is cleverly plotted with an interesting protagonist and setting, I felt it was somehow less than the sum of its parts. I certainly didn't feel as if I'd wasted my time reading it and the gothic craziness of it all is fun, but for me the different elements of the book didn't really hang together as a whole and something was lacking.

started out well, but got bogged down. too long,didn't meet my expectations

The narrative of Abigale Hall possesses a progressive foreboding with snatches of nightmares for the inhabitants who are unfortunate enough to be offered employment there. Notorious to the locals and virtually anonymous to outsiders, Thornycroft, an imposing house with a corridor named Abigale Hall, has been the cause of much concern over the years, and not because the edge of its deep quarry is obscured by fog either. There’s an oppressive environment which allows all manner of strangeness to thrive; the master with nasty, hacking cough, the housekeeper and her vicious ways, the portrait gallery whose faces sneer at onlookers, and the library devoid of books all signal something isn’t quite right. Its existence is as yet unknown to two sisters orphaned by the war. They reside with their aunt Bess who tolerates their presence out of duty. One of the sisters, Rebecca, has a few issues and has experienced difficulties since the death of their father. She repetitively counts in times of stress, and you’ll discover why as you read the story. The elder sibling, Eliza, has a boyfriend called Peter and a job at the Palladium, but also skivvies for her ungrateful relative who enjoys her own free time, leaving Rebecca’s care to anyone else so long as it doesn’t involve her. Needless to say when certain circumstances permit and employment is swiftly arranged at Thornycroft, aunt Bess welcomes the benefits it will bring. But the arrangement is not agreeable with everybody… What follows is a series of mysterious edginess as the sisters’ existing lives are gradually erased. They are to observe obedience with no questions asked. The upheaval signals subtle shifts in Rebecca’s behaviour leaving Eliza feeling isolated with only the rattle of the old walls for company and to contemplate if any one would miss them; their parents are dead, their aunt wishes they were, and Peter has no way of knowing where to locate them if he wanted to – that poor bloke doesn’t know the half of it. While there’s not an overly complicated storyline I did lose my thread a couple of times as an eerie division of reality took hold momentarily. This certainly added to the ominous atmosphere presiding over the girls’ fate, but I did find myself back-tracking to confirm my thoughts before continuing once or twice. The second half of the book picked up pace to allow the pieces to fall into place, and it worked up to quite the unexpected crescendo! Without a doubt Abigale Hall is cloaked with an unnerving surrealness. There’s also the bonus of some terrifically sinister characters to question the motives of, much spittle to let fly from decrepit lips, and many, many bowls of congealed porridge that will remain forever undigested. Yep, I quite liked this one.