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After a scandal tarnishes their family, Lydia Montrose and her older sister, Catherine, and younger sister, Emeline, move from Boston to the country. Their father has built a fine new home, Willow Hall, in the area of a town called New Oldbury. It’s 1821, and he and his new business partner are finding success in building mills along the river.
As she struggles with Catherine and the secret her older sister has been keeping, Lydia finds herself falling for the young man who is her father’s business partner, but she is sure he doesn’t reciprocate her feelings. Catherine is the beauty, the sister who draws the attention of all the men. And Catherine is vying for the attention of not just the man Lydia is interested in, but also his longtime friend.
But there are other compelling concerns for Lydia. Not long after their move, she sees some strange things in the house and around the property, which she can mostly shrug off as her imagination. But there comes a time she can’t ignore that something is going on, especially after a tragedy occurs. Can she accept that she might have some particular gifts? And what can she do to use them to protect her family?
I had expected The Witch of Willow Hall to be more gothic than it was; it kind of wants to be a few different things at once, and it mostly works, but sometimes it just seems all over the place. It’s about a young woman who has to come to terms with being a witch (which is slow to develop, and I wouldn’t mention that but for the fact it’s in the title); it’s an early-1800s love story with all the expected trappings; it’s partially a ghost story about past tragedies haunting the present. I enjoyed it but hoped for a bit more.
Rated: Mild. There are roughly 10 uses of mild and moderate language. Sexual content is limited to kissing, references to incest in the past but no details and a mention of a character thinking a bit about sex. There are a few instances of violence, but it is minimal.
*I received an ARC in exchange for my honest review.
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