She wears his dead wife's jewellery and clothes, entertains guests as though the family is her own and reserves her most despotic treatment for Abi. In the beat of night, Abi makes a desperate bid for freedom, but is soon captured and returned to Greave Hall. As Mrs Cotton's malice intensifies, a spiritual presence distracts Abi with clues to a deadly secret. And Abi now realises that she can trust no one in the house.Irena's Review:The Poisoned House is a true Victorian Gothic novel. Set in 1856 London, it follows the spirit of recently orphaned Abigail Tamper working as a maidservant in Greave Hall, where the widowed master of the home is just a trace of his old self and the housekeeper and the master's sister-in-law, Mrs Cotton, dominates the household as if she were its rightful mistress. The narrative begins with Abigail's failed escape from Greave Hall. Her father died one year ago and Abigail has no cause to continue in the cold house, so she decides to run away in the heart of the night, but Mrs Cotton is a formidable figure who perpetually seems to be one pace ahead of everyone and she has Abigail brought back to Greave Hall not hanker afterwards the girl escaped. Abigail is constrained to stop and go below the dictatorship of Mrs Cotton, who tends to resort both to mental abuse and physical punishment of the servants and Abi is a particular thorn in her foot. After this event, strange, paranormal things start to occur to Abigail and later an uncanny encounter with one Dr Reinhardt, who is a medium communicating with the dead, it becomes clear to Abi that her mother's spirit hasn't left. It is uneasy and wants to tell Abi something really important. Abigail's mother was murdered and Abi must see out who the murderer is. Abi is not friendless in Greave Hall. She has Lizzie, another maidservant, Cook and Rob, the coachman. Even the aloof Mr Lock, the lord's butler, is near to her. But Abi finds herself in a situation where it is not good to believe anyone in the house. When Lord Greave's son Samuel returns wounded from the Crimean war as a hero, he is the just person that Abi feels she can trust because Abi suspects that Mrs Cotton is the crook and she might even harm Samuel, who is Abi's good friend.The suspense in this new is fantastic and it builds consistently from the 1st page and only dissipates at the real end of the story, and yet then, a feel of unease lingers. The air is delightfully Victorian and Medieval and brings to head the air of Thornfield Hall from Charlotte Bront's Jane Eyre and yet of Wuthering Heights created by Emily Bront in the refreshing of the sami name. Mrs Cotton reminded me of Nurse Ratchett from One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest, but she is far crueler and now cold than Nurse Ratchett. The paranormal activity and Mrs Cotton herself are the key elements to the suspenseful feeling permeating the novel. The mystery grows thicker with every page and the last revelation is quite shocking. Abigal Tamper is a great heroine. She is new and inexperienced, but she knows what she wants and she is a gay girl. She accepts her position in life very maturely and although she knows her office and understands that she must be measured and alert, she is not afraid to act when that becomes necessary. Mrs Cotton is a great antagonist, cold and self-righteous, as good as cruel, but she is not the sole villain of the story, which makes everything all the more exciting. Other characters are not rather so important and are not truly developed, but they do well in support and defining the story. I liked the vague ending, as it offers many possibilities for Abi, but I do wish two things had been made clear. I would have liked to love what happened to Abi's best friend Lizzie, also a maid in Greave Hall, who had been fired by Mrs Cotton, especially since in the end, Abi was in a view to aid her. And the former matter I would have liked to be made clearer was Abigail's future. A suggestion would have been enough, showing the reader how she might have decided to be her life from that spot on. Otherwise, I consider that the way the narration ended really fit the total system of the new and was pleasing for me as a reader.All in all, the novel provided me with a great, suspenseful read and lovers of mysteries and the Medieval atmosphere will be charmed to show this ghost story set in the Victorian era. Becky says: Irena, this novel certainly sounds like it embodies everything gothic. It sounds a little terrifying and well-paced. What a great review! Thanks for sharing your thoughts with us. Both our thanks go to Bloomsbury Books for sending The Poisoned House for review.
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