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cerisecarrot's review against another edition
3.0
Probably a 3.5. Could’ve been written at least 50 pages shorter and spent longer in the ending.
mbenzz's review against another edition
3.0
Slllllllllooooooow. This book could EASILY have been cut down by 100 or so pages. The story of Elizabeth and Isabel was awesome, but Alice's chapters just dragged. It's a long, boring narrative of life in the manor...nothing ever HAPPENS.
Once I reach the 60% mark on my Kindle, I'd had enough. I skimmed the last 40% only so I would know what happened to Elizabeth and her daughter. A decent story, but way too wordy. A shame, since it could have been a really great book.
Once I reach the 60% mark on my Kindle, I'd had enough. I skimmed the last 40% only so I would know what happened to Elizabeth and her daughter. A decent story, but way too wordy. A shame, since it could have been a really great book.
rikerandom's review against another edition
3.0
Diese und weitere Rezensionen findet ihr auf meinem Blog Anima Libri - Buchseele
Rezensionsexemplar, zur Verfügung gestellt vom Verlag im Austausch für eine ehrliche Rezension ♥
In ihrem historischen Mystery-Roman "Im Spiegel ferner Tage" erzählt Kate Riordan die Geschichte der jungen Alice, die zu Beginn der 30er Jahre mit Anfang 20 ungewollt schwanger wird. Um den Ruf der Familie zu schützen, schickt ihre Mutter sie auf ein abgelegenes Gut in Gloucestershire, wo sie über die Geschichte von Elizabeth Stanton stolpert, die Ende des 19. Jahrhunderts, ebenfalls schwanger, als Gutsherrin dort lebte.
Die auf zwei Ebenen erzählte Geschichte ist relativ langsam und sehr beschreibungslastig, allerdings auch sehr atmosphärisch - man fühlt die drückende Sommerwärme quasi am eigenen Leib. Sowohl Alice als auch Elizabeth habe ich als durchaus sympathische Charaktere empfunden, allerdings fand ich Elizabeth, und damit auch ihren Handlungsstrang, interessanter und faszinierender.
Elizabeths Plotline hat einen düsteren Gothic-Anklang und setzt sich außerdem sehr gekonnt mit den Stigmata psychischer Krankheiten bei Frauen - wie - postnatale Depression - auseinander, ein Ansatz, der mich schnell in seinen Bann gezogen hat, allein schon deshalb, weil Elizabeths Ängste und Sorgen sehr realistisch dargestellt werden. Alice wirkt im Vergleich dazu leider relativ oberflächlich, ich-bezogen und generell weit weniger ausgereift.
Alles in allem ist "Im Spiegel ferner Tage" von Kate Riordan ein durchaus gut geschriebener, allerdings recht langsamer Mysteryroman mit leider deutlich unterschiedlich starken Handlungsebenen/Charakteren, was mir doch einiges an Lesevergnügen genommen hat.
Rezensionsexemplar, zur Verfügung gestellt vom Verlag im Austausch für eine ehrliche Rezension ♥
In ihrem historischen Mystery-Roman "Im Spiegel ferner Tage" erzählt Kate Riordan die Geschichte der jungen Alice, die zu Beginn der 30er Jahre mit Anfang 20 ungewollt schwanger wird. Um den Ruf der Familie zu schützen, schickt ihre Mutter sie auf ein abgelegenes Gut in Gloucestershire, wo sie über die Geschichte von Elizabeth Stanton stolpert, die Ende des 19. Jahrhunderts, ebenfalls schwanger, als Gutsherrin dort lebte.
Die auf zwei Ebenen erzählte Geschichte ist relativ langsam und sehr beschreibungslastig, allerdings auch sehr atmosphärisch - man fühlt die drückende Sommerwärme quasi am eigenen Leib. Sowohl Alice als auch Elizabeth habe ich als durchaus sympathische Charaktere empfunden, allerdings fand ich Elizabeth, und damit auch ihren Handlungsstrang, interessanter und faszinierender.
Elizabeths Plotline hat einen düsteren Gothic-Anklang und setzt sich außerdem sehr gekonnt mit den Stigmata psychischer Krankheiten bei Frauen - wie - postnatale Depression - auseinander, ein Ansatz, der mich schnell in seinen Bann gezogen hat, allein schon deshalb, weil Elizabeths Ängste und Sorgen sehr realistisch dargestellt werden. Alice wirkt im Vergleich dazu leider relativ oberflächlich, ich-bezogen und generell weit weniger ausgereift.
Alles in allem ist "Im Spiegel ferner Tage" von Kate Riordan ein durchaus gut geschriebener, allerdings recht langsamer Mysteryroman mit leider deutlich unterschiedlich starken Handlungsebenen/Charakteren, was mir doch einiges an Lesevergnügen genommen hat.
victoria80's review against another edition
2.0
2.5 ⭐️ This took me a while to read. I honestly kept opting to pick other books up in lieu of this one. I think my main problem was the pace of the storyline which could be very slow at times. This is my first Kate Riordan and it certainly won’t be my last. I enjoyed her writing and I love historical fiction. I have seen a few others of hers with a better rating and a lot of her fans had similar issues as I did around the pace. So if you are new to the writer maybe try one of her other books first 😊❤️
jacki_f's review against another edition
4.0
There's something so comforting about a gothic mystery, that makes you feel like curling up by the fire on a wild night. Fans of Kate Morton or [b:The Little Stranger|6065182|The Little Stranger|Sarah Waters|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1348922866s/6065182.jpg|5769396] will enjoy this atmospheric story set in a crumbling Elizabethan manor house in 1930s rural England. Alice Eveleigh is a young woman who has expecting a child after a brief, disastrous relationship. Her mother sends her away to stay at remote Fiercombe Manor until she has the baby.
When Alice arrives at the Manor, she learns about Elizabeth Stanton, who lived there and was married to the baronet a generation earlier. No one seems to know what happened to Elizabeth, or if they do, they don't want to talk about it. Alice stumbles onto Elizabeth's diary and starts to gradually piece together the story of what happened to her.
Can I just say at this point that "The Girl in the Photograph" is a terrible title for this book? For starters, it doesn't sound like it's going to be about someone from the 19th century. Nor is Elizabeth a girl, but if the title refers to her daughter that is even more misleading because she's not the one that Alice is interested in. And lastly, Alice spends most of the book being fascinated by Elizabeth without ever seeing a photograph of her at all. The US edition is titled "Fiercombe Manor", which is marginally better, but still not very appealing.
Putting that little rant aside, I did enjoy this book - it has a real atmosphere about it, a little creepy, a little intriguing. The pace is quite slow and I got a little annoyed by the way Alice was fond of telling us things like "I could never have imagined how much my life was about to change" - just get on with the story, please! But for the most part the author is in complete control of how much she wants us to be able to work out at any given time and the revelations unfold with impeccable timing.
In the acknowledgements section at the very end of the book, the author explains that she based the fictional Fiercombe Manor on the real Owlpen Manor in Gloucestershire. If you look online there are a number of photographs of Owlpen Manor and you may like to look them up before reading the book.
When Alice arrives at the Manor, she learns about Elizabeth Stanton, who lived there and was married to the baronet a generation earlier. No one seems to know what happened to Elizabeth, or if they do, they don't want to talk about it. Alice stumbles onto Elizabeth's diary and starts to gradually piece together the story of what happened to her.
Can I just say at this point that "The Girl in the Photograph" is a terrible title for this book? For starters, it doesn't sound like it's going to be about someone from the 19th century. Nor is Elizabeth a girl, but if the title refers to her daughter that is even more misleading because she's not the one that Alice is interested in. And lastly, Alice spends most of the book being fascinated by Elizabeth without ever seeing a photograph of her at all. The US edition is titled "Fiercombe Manor", which is marginally better, but still not very appealing.
Putting that little rant aside, I did enjoy this book - it has a real atmosphere about it, a little creepy, a little intriguing. The pace is quite slow and I got a little annoyed by the way Alice was fond of telling us things like "I could never have imagined how much my life was about to change" - just get on with the story, please! But for the most part the author is in complete control of how much she wants us to be able to work out at any given time and the revelations unfold with impeccable timing.
In the acknowledgements section at the very end of the book, the author explains that she based the fictional Fiercombe Manor on the real Owlpen Manor in Gloucestershire. If you look online there are a number of photographs of Owlpen Manor and you may like to look them up before reading the book.
bmg20's review against another edition
3.0
‘Fiercombe is a place of secrets. They fret among the uppermost branches of the beech trees and brood at the cold bottom of the stream that cleaves the valley in two. The past has seeped into the soil here like spilt blood.’
In 1932, twenty-two year old Alice Eveleigh finds herself pregnant by a man she thought she loved but is already married to another. In an attempt to spare the family scandal, her mother sends her to stay with an old friend, Mrs. Jelphs, at Fiercombe Manor in the English countryside until the baby is born and they can give it up for adoption. With nothing to do to keep her occupied, Alice gets drawn into the curious history of the Stanton family and the previous residents of Fiercombe that seemingly disappeared without a trace. Discovering a diary kept by Elizabeth Stanton which details her pregnancy only increases her curiosity and the more she finds out about her, the more she fears she’s destined for the same fate.
‘Elizabeth. That was the first time I saw her name. What did I think, if anything? I’m sure I traced the letters with my finger; perhaps I even whispered it under my breath, the hiss of the second syllable, the sigh of the last. But that was all. My interest in her and the estate’s history was fleeting then – a faint glimmer of intrigue that glowed and then dimmed again, though not before it had lodged itself at the back of my mind, ready to be brought out later.’
This book had everything going for it: Gothic setting in the English countryside, the dual-narratives/timelines that inevitably collide with one another in the end, and even a creepy Rebecca-esque housekeeper. It was everything I should have loved, and I did, for the most part. The issue I have with most dual narratives is the fact that one is most generally always more interesting than the other, as is the case with Fiercombe. Elizabeth’s narrative set in the late 1800s centered around the common affliction that was terribly misunderstood of puerperal insanity, a form of postpartum depression. It’s always difficult reading about medical issues being misconstrued in the past resulting in far worse instances than should have occurred. But Elizabeth’s narrative was not only terribly sad but it was gripping and truly haunting. Alice’s narrative involved her trying to uncover information about Elizabeth, having formed something of a mental kinship to her from her diary since most of Elizabeth’s writings were during the time when she too was pregnant. The attempt to join the two narratives together wasn’t exactly convincing, and Alice’s fears were tame in comparison to Elizabeth’s genuine ones, although my interest in finding out what happened to both women never seemed to wane.
Fiercombe Manor kept me fully invested to the very end with atmospheric writing and a haunting past revealed piece by piece.
I received this book free from TLC Book Tours in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
In 1932, twenty-two year old Alice Eveleigh finds herself pregnant by a man she thought she loved but is already married to another. In an attempt to spare the family scandal, her mother sends her to stay with an old friend, Mrs. Jelphs, at Fiercombe Manor in the English countryside until the baby is born and they can give it up for adoption. With nothing to do to keep her occupied, Alice gets drawn into the curious history of the Stanton family and the previous residents of Fiercombe that seemingly disappeared without a trace. Discovering a diary kept by Elizabeth Stanton which details her pregnancy only increases her curiosity and the more she finds out about her, the more she fears she’s destined for the same fate.
‘Elizabeth. That was the first time I saw her name. What did I think, if anything? I’m sure I traced the letters with my finger; perhaps I even whispered it under my breath, the hiss of the second syllable, the sigh of the last. But that was all. My interest in her and the estate’s history was fleeting then – a faint glimmer of intrigue that glowed and then dimmed again, though not before it had lodged itself at the back of my mind, ready to be brought out later.’
This book had everything going for it: Gothic setting in the English countryside, the dual-narratives/timelines that inevitably collide with one another in the end, and even a creepy Rebecca-esque housekeeper. It was everything I should have loved, and I did, for the most part. The issue I have with most dual narratives is the fact that one is most generally always more interesting than the other, as is the case with Fiercombe. Elizabeth’s narrative set in the late 1800s centered around the common affliction that was terribly misunderstood of puerperal insanity, a form of postpartum depression. It’s always difficult reading about medical issues being misconstrued in the past resulting in far worse instances than should have occurred. But Elizabeth’s narrative was not only terribly sad but it was gripping and truly haunting. Alice’s narrative involved her trying to uncover information about Elizabeth, having formed something of a mental kinship to her from her diary since most of Elizabeth’s writings were during the time when she too was pregnant. The attempt to join the two narratives together wasn’t exactly convincing, and Alice’s fears were tame in comparison to Elizabeth’s genuine ones, although my interest in finding out what happened to both women never seemed to wane.
Fiercombe Manor kept me fully invested to the very end with atmospheric writing and a haunting past revealed piece by piece.
I received this book free from TLC Book Tours in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
mituna's review against another edition
3.0
If you trimmed down half of this book it might be pretty good. I went into this thinking it was a ghost story and that's a big reason for my disappointment, the ending is romcom level picturesque, and the two main characters are somewhat annoying but plot-wise it's generally interesting (despite the unnecessary extra 200 pages).
maryehavens's review against another edition
1.0
Abandoned on page 108. The pace was just too slow or the story not interesting enough? I don't know but the hype about it being gothic, Jane Eyre-esque, etc. made me want to like it but it was too... Bleh? Repetitive? Enough about the yew, the ghosts of the past, blah blah blah. I just couldn't get into it.
100pagesaday's review against another edition
4.0
After a brief affair with a married man at her office, twenty-two year old and unmarried Alice finds herself pregnant. Her mother decides to ship Alice off to rural Gloucestershire to have her confinement at Fiercombe Manor where an old friend, Edith Jelphs, works as the housekeeper. With a made up story of a dead husband, Alice is welcomed to Fiercombe and glad to be out of the watchful eye of her mother. As Alice becomes settled at the manor, she notices a few strange occurrences and slowly learns the tragic history of the manor and its absent owners.
With a haunting and elegant prose, the mysteries of Fiercombe Manor slowly unfold. I enjoyed the switching points of view between Alice in 1932 and Elizabeth and 1898 and the parallel stories added to the suspense of the mystery and provided a pretty good pace; I did feel a little bit of a drag in the middle, but it picked back up. While both women’s characters captured me, I felt more invested in Elizabeth’s story, especially once Alice is set on discovering what happened in the past with another woman who was pregnant at the manor. Alice’s spirit and the hint of a romance lured me into her story. Most of all, I was interested in the overall treatment of women, the treatment of post-partum depression and their pregnancies during the two time periods, the factors that draw Alice and Elizabeth’s stories together. Overall, Fiercombe Manor is a highly atmospheric historical mystery with a bit of romance.
This book was received for free in return for an honest review.
With a haunting and elegant prose, the mysteries of Fiercombe Manor slowly unfold. I enjoyed the switching points of view between Alice in 1932 and Elizabeth and 1898 and the parallel stories added to the suspense of the mystery and provided a pretty good pace; I did feel a little bit of a drag in the middle, but it picked back up. While both women’s characters captured me, I felt more invested in Elizabeth’s story, especially once Alice is set on discovering what happened in the past with another woman who was pregnant at the manor. Alice’s spirit and the hint of a romance lured me into her story. Most of all, I was interested in the overall treatment of women, the treatment of post-partum depression and their pregnancies during the two time periods, the factors that draw Alice and Elizabeth’s stories together. Overall, Fiercombe Manor is a highly atmospheric historical mystery with a bit of romance.
This book was received for free in return for an honest review.