The Death of Jane Lawrence by Caitlin Starling
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
**2.5-stars rounded up**
Jane Shoringfield is a practical, independent woman, but she unfortunately lives in a time when that is sort of frowned upon; when it is expected for all women to marry and care for a home.
In order to best get by, Jane decides she does need to find a husband, yes, but she wants it to be a marriage of convenience. One where she will still be able to work and maintain a portion of her current independence.
She sets her sights on a handsome, yet reclusive, doctor, Augustine Lawrence.
Jane presents her plan to the good doctor and to her surprise, he accepts. He does have one condition, however, that she must never visit Lindridge Hall, his decreipt manor on the outskirts of town.
Jane agrees, but when a freak accident strands her on the manor steps in the middle of night, Augustine must relent and let her in.
Jane is disturbed by the state she finds him in. He seems a different man, scared and paranoid. What is going on here?
By morning, Augustine seems to be back to his old self. Now that Jane has been introduced to the sinister mystery of Lindridge Hall, however, she wants to know more.
What makes this place so frighteningly special to Augustine and why didn’t he want her here?
As Jane goes deeper into her husband’s history, as well as that of Lindridge Hall, she is introduced to whole new worlds she never even knew existed.
The Death of Jane Lawrence has a super intriguing premise. It’s dripping in dark, gothic atmosphere and for that, I applaud it.
I appreciated the incorporation of occult ideas explored, as well as the build-up to the craziness.
With this being said, it got a little too crazy for my tastes. It felt too addled; like a non-stop fever dream. There was almost too much going on to be able to sink in and enjoy that rich gothic atmosphere. It just lost me.
I will admit to being a bit let down by this one. I was so looking forward to it and wish I could have connected with it more.
In spite of my slight criticisms, Starling’s writing style is quite pleasing. It has a nice flow and as mentioned before, it definitely delivers on atmosphere. I know a lot of Readers are really going to love this one.
Thank you so much to the publisher, St. Martin’s Press and Macmillan Audio, for providing me with copies of this to read and review.
The narrator for the audiobook is fantastic, so I definitely would recommend giving it a listen if you have that option!