Formats: Print, digital
Blurb:
| The Haunting of Bly Manor meets House of Salt and Sorrows in award-winning author Kyrie McCauley’s contemporary YA gothic romance about a dark family lineage, the ghosts of grief, and the lines we’ll cross for love. The Sleeping House was very much awake . . . Days after a tragedy leaves Marin Blythe alone in the world, she receives a surprising invitation from Alice Lovelace—an acclaimed horror writer and childhood friend of Marin’s mother. Alice offers her a nanny position at Lovelace House, the family’s coastal Maine estate. Marin accepts and soon finds herself minding Alice’s peculiar girls. Thea buries her dolls one by one, hosting a series of funerals, while Wren does everything in her power to drive Marin away. Then Alice’s eldest daughter returns home unexpectedly. Evie Hallowell is every bit as strange as her younger sisters, and yet Marin is quickly drawn in by Evie’s compelling behavior and ethereal grace. But as Marin settles in, she can’t escape the anxiety that follows her like a shadow. Dead birds appear in Marin’s room. The children’s pranks escalate. Something dangerous lurks in the woods, leaving mutilated animals in its wake. All is not well at Lovelace House, and Marin must unravel its secrets before they consume her. |
Oh, Kyrie McCauley, you had me at gothic lesbian romance.
As with most gothic novels, the story starts with an
impoverished orphan girl named Marin Blythe. Having recently lost her mother in
a train crash, Marin is feeling lost and overcome by her anxiety. That’s when a
distant friend of her mother’s, Alice Lovelace, reaches out and offers to give
her a home in exchange for Marin nannying her two younger daughters, Wren and
Thea.
Alice Lovelace is a reclusive horror author who lives in the
middle of nowhere with her daughters in a stately manor home that's slowly
sinking into the sea. The house holds many secrets, and even has its own
cemetery where generations of Lovelaces have been buried and the youngest
daughter, Thea, hold funerals for her dolls. All that’s missing from the
desolate home is a forbidden wing (which Marin even cracks a joke about). Despite
being set in the presentday, Lovelace house feels trapped in the past due to
the lack of electronics and cell signal, making Marin feel all the more
isolated. Worst still, Wren and Thea have a penchant for cruel pranks, like
leaving the braided hair of their dead ancestors in Marin’s bed.
All the Dead Lie Down is a very pretty book and a
love letter to classic Gothic romances. It’s as dark and delicate as the bird
skeletons Alice Lovelace keeps around the house. But in some ways the book
feels very paint-by-numbers, like McCauley was working off a gothic checklist. It
definitely makes the novel atmospheric, but not particularly unique. However,
since the book is aimed at young adults who may not yet be familiar with Jane
Eyre, Wuthering Heights, The Turn of the Screw, etc. All
the Dead Lie Down is an entertaining and accessible introduction to gothic
fiction.
The romance between Marin and Alice’s eldest daughter, Evie, is lovely and sweet. Both girls are approach each other hesitantly, stealing secret kisses in the garden and passing secret notes tied up with ribbon. The plot takes a while to get to the exciting bits, but I didn’t mind the wait, as it gives the reader time to enjoy the suspense and become familiar with the characters and house (arguably a character itself), and to enjoy the gloomy atmosphere. Overall, a cozy and creepy read perfect for a rainy day with a hot cup of tea.
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