‘Some houses are never at peace’.
“Anita Frank weaves a spell-binding debut of family tragedy, loss and redemption” states the blurb and this historical haunting gothic style novel definitely delivers.
Set in England, 1917, Stella Marcham, goes to stay at ‘Greyswick’, an imposing country mansion with her pregnant sister following her fiancés death. She finds her sister gripped by fear and suspicion and soon Stella is also experiencing strange and unsettling happenings, such as crying in the night, and little footsteps on the stairs. Stella decides to investigate and uncovers the tragic history of the house.
An unsettling and haunting read in a gothic novel style which kept me reading well into the night as I could not put this debut novel by Frank down.

This was a wonderfully supernatural book full of gothic atmosphere. Set in 1917 Stella Marcham has lost her fiance to the war and goes to stay with her sister Madeline who is struggling with her pregnancy.

Madeline has retreated to her mother in laws house - the family home of Greyswick. But all is not well. Stella's arrival is not met with kindness from her sisters relatives. In fact all is not well at the Greyswick house in general. Things start to go bump in the night. Even toy soldiers begin appearing in Stella's room. Both Madeline and Stella feel a sense of foreboding when they hear crying at night. Crying that no one else hears, and most certainly will not tolerate the 'hysterical' women causing such a fuss over.

Frank's writing has been compared to Susan Hill's and with good merit. The frustration I felt when Stella's fears were dismissed because she was a 'hysterical woman' who was letting her feelings of grief overcome her was palpable.

I will most certainly be reading future offerings from Frank!

I don’t know who I am anymore because this was a spooky book but I managed to sleep just fine after reading it. I really quite enjoyed it in fact. Me enjoying a ghost story. Set in 1917, country house, reduced staff because of the war, you can feel the atmosphere on each page. Some weird people in that house and our main character struggling with the grief over the death of her fiancé, ponders more than once if she is losing grip on reality. And whilst I would not say that this novel does something unique and unusual, it does what it sets out to do really really well. Imagine Kate Moreton with ghosts.

I so enjoyed this wonderful historical ghost story which has a great classical feel to it. It’s definitely one of the best books I’ve read this year.

I love books set in atmospheric old houses, especially when they are obvious full of history and hidden secrets. The house in this story definitely has a creepy feel to it and seems to be talking or interacting with the characters at times. This book is set in the last few years of the first world war in a time of great uncertainty and where a lot of people had lost loved one or had loved ones come home injured which lead to a lot of grief. I was shocked to read about how society reacted to grief and how a women grieving was easily dismissed as female hysterics. The book also shows how powerless women were at the time and how controlled by men they were.

There are some fabulous characters in there which I loved reading about and some I loved to hate. My favourite characters were definitely Stella and her quirky maid Annie both of whom I warmed to instantly. I felt very sorry for Stella as she has lost her fiancé and is struggling with dealing with everything. I was impressed with her strength and determination to try and discover the truth about what was happening in the house. The love she has for her sister was truly heartwarming to read about too. Mrs Henge helped provide a great villian to the story and she made me jump a few times with her ability to suddenly emerge from the shadows. She’s very menacing, especially to Stella, and I found it frightening to learn how much power she seemed to have over the household. It made me more impressed with Stella as she stands up to her which I don’t think I’d have been able to do.

This is an absorbing, gripping book which I thought was a fabulous read. I loved following all the supernatural incidents that happened in the house and enjoyed trying to figure out what was going on and why. The truth is revealed slowly and I liked that the author didn’t just focus on the supernatural elements to the story but added other threads which let me get to know the characters more. There are a few twists in the story which I wasn’t expecting and added another element to to the story which I though was very clever.

The ending was brilliant and I loved how everything was resolved. I felt quite sad to finish the book and have to leave all the characters, and the house, behind. I’d love to read more about Stella and hope that she features in another book soon.

Huge thanks to HQ Stories for me copy of this book via Netgalley.

A ghost story set in a rich house. Very upstairs downstairs. I really enjoyed the book and its twists. Very good read.

I liked that this covered the effects of the first world war on the women who were left behind and how it was combined with elements of horror and gothic mystery. This reminded me of a Little Stranger by Sarah Waters and it was the writing that stood out and made me like this. Stella, for the most part, was an interesting character and I liked how all the different relationships in her life was shown. The ending was well down and I liked how it played out.

I do enjoy a good gothic novel, with or without an actual supernatural element, and the horrors of the First World War lend themselves just as well to the genre as do any number of bleak moors and crumbling, isolated mansions in the 19th Century. This story is set in the latter years of the war, and its heroine has certainly experienced many of the horrors first-hand, as we will gradually learn. Sent home from her VAD posting in France after witnessing the death of the man she planned to marry, Stella Marcham is staying with her mother, who is becoming increasingly frustrated at Stella’s inability to let go of her grief for someone to whom she was never officially engaged. When she is invited to stay with her newly pregnant younger sister, who has recently announced her pregnancy, Stella assumed she is required merely to provide some company in a house full of older women – her brother-in-law is working in London while Stella’s sister stays at his country residence – but she soon finds her sister has much more pressing reasons for wanting her there.

Stella and her sister find themselves the victims of what seem at first to be a series of pranks: toy soldiers appear in their beds, and other items are mysteriously moved; however, they soon come to believe that the house is haunted by the younger half-brother of Stella’s brother-in-law. Their suspicions are confirmed by Stella’s young maid – brought with her from her mother’s house – who has inherited her father’s ability to see and communicate with the troubled dead. As Stella tries to investigate the boy’s death, she is thwarted repeatedly by her sister’s mother-in-law, by the older lady’s paid companion, and by the threatening, constant presence of the mansion’s mysterious housekeeper.

Stella uncovers a number of secrets the family would rather keep hidden, but her brother-in-law believes Stella’s fears to be entirely bound up in her grief – and her sister’s to be due to worries concerning her pregnancy – she has already lost one baby – and so he hires an investigator to disprove the presence of any supernatural influences within the house. Of course, the opposite soon happens and lives begin to be put in danger as Stella draws ever closer to the truth of what happened in the house nearly thirty years earlier.

I enjoyed this book. There were times when I got frustrated with one or other of the characters for failing to notice something that I thought was obvious, and there were also a few too many cliches surrounding the housekeeper’s motivations. On the other hand, I liked all the glimpses of both the different effects, both mental and physical, that the war had had on the characters, and the insights into a lifestyle that was slowly coming to an end for those who had reaped the benefits of their positions in society before the war broke out. I’d like to see what else this author comes up with.

This was a very long story which moved very slowly. Set at the end of the First World War, it tells the story of a young woman, returning from the war and suffering from the death of her fiancé. She visits a house called Greyswick where she uncovers dark family secrets. A kind of Ghost story.

The Lost Ones is a cross between a classic Gothic horror story and a classic murder mystery.

One the one hand, we have the hovering threat of the asylum, cradles rocking themselves, and mysterious sobs in candlelit corridors. Then we also have an assembly of suspects, plenty of cryptic clues, and a dramatic final reveal before a shocked gathering.

The obvious comparison here is with The Woman in Black, but actually there are also hints of The Yellow Wallpaper, and even more of mysteries such as The Woman in White or any Agatha Christie classic. And Mrs Henge definitely has a touch of the Danvers about her!

The plot follows Stella as she attempts to deal with her grief at the loss of her fiance, help her sister and solve a ghostly mystery. Meanwhile, society and even her loved ones suspect all of the above as signs of insanity and emotional instability, and try to ‘help’ her to repress her feelings and opinions, and return to a model of obedient, passive submission. Luckily, Stella has the will and wit to resist, as well as the fortune of her birth and social standing.

Poor Annie Burrows, housemaid, is less fortunate. Born into a lower station in life, burdened with ‘odd’ mannerisms, and grieving the death of her father, she has plenty of adversity of her own to face. But yet these two unlikely allies both find they have a common cause when it comes to helping others and seeking justice.

The common themes throughout the story are those of mental health, female solidarity, and the dismissal of a woman’s competency for good, evil and everything in between.

An ideal story for those who love Gothic mysteries with a paranormal flavour and feminist subtext.





I always thought it strangely fitting it was Jim Burrows that plunged into the flames that night to save Lydia, though tragedy would result for both our families. It was as if the fates of the Marchams and the Burrows were inextricably entwined. And now some would say I owed Annie Burrows my life, but I chose not to dwell on that.

– Anita Frank, The Lost Ones


Review by Steph Warren of Bookshine and Readbows blog

What a brilliant read this was. Lots of twists and turns I could not stop reading. Stella is a strong and courageous woman trying to overcome her own grief while helping her sister overcome her fear of the family home being haunted. Loved it. The only fly in the ointment for me were lithe few silly mistakes that I spotted, but overall a good book.

If you are a fan of creepy houses and ghost stories then look no further! I have found this book to be a real rollercoaster of a read, chilling and compelling, and it's left me listening out for noises when I'm in the house alone..... and thankfully I've not found any toy soldiers placed strategically in my room! Yet!!

This is the story of two sisters, and Greyswick, a large country house where Stella goes to stay with her sister Madeleine , and her husband Hector, as they are both dealing with different emotional moments in their lives. Stella has just lost her fiancee in the war and the grief for her is unbearable. She sees no point in living, and if it wasn't for her maid Annie, then she wouldn't still be here. Her family seem to be of the 'snap out of it' opinion and think it's best for her to visit her sister who is currently pregnant and seemingly having a few issues of her own!

Their time at Greyswick is immediately plagued by ghostly goings on! Baby cries, toy soldiers appearing in rooms, and while many in the house seem to willingly ignore what is going on, Stella and her sister are never allowed to settle and start to poke around in the history of the family and house, and enter those rooms supposedly out of bounds! What follows is a pulsating story that quickly unravels into something much darker and deeper.

What captured me was the attitude of the menfolk putting it all down to hormones! Those hysterical women imagining things because they had emotional issues!! Quite shocking to us now! I do love a good ghost story and this one fits brilliantly into the genre! Using the emotions of the sisters, the history of the family and their secrets and the setting of the house to perfection!

The Lost Ones is a gothic horror set during the First World War. It's 1917and Stella Marcham has already experienced a traumatic war. She has lost her fiancé, and seen more than most women as a nurse on the front line. She is grief stricken and it's highly possible that she has PTSD. Her brother-in-law asks Stella to go and keep her pregnant sister company at his country home, as she is experiencing strange occurrences, and he feels that she needs some support. He doesn't believe Stella's sister when she says that she can hear a child crying: there are no children at Greyswick.

I loved this book! it made me jump, gasp out loud and burst out in nervous laughter. It's worth bearing in mind that I was on a long train journey as I was reading this, so there are probably a number of people between Skegness and Chester who either think I'm a little unhinged, or are dying to know what I was reading (I'm considering wearing some sort of badge on long train journeys, that says 'currently reading (insert book name here)'. I'm sure it'll explain to people my frankly erratic behaviour in cases like this.).

Anyway, this book deserves any hype it gets, and I strongly suggest that if you're a fan of historical fiction with a gothic bent, you go out, buy and read this immediately. And read it in public. I can't always be the one to show herself up like this.

Many thanks to NetGalley and HQ for my copy of this book.

Stella is still grieving the lost of her husband from 1917. Her sister Madeline is struggling with her pregnancy when her Husband suggests that Stella should stay with her at his family home Greywick. Stellar goes to stay with her sister along with her maid Annie.

Soon after Stella’s arrival strange events start to happen. Toy soldiers appear on beds, doors shut, lights go out and the sound of crying echoes through the house.

What is causing these strange events and what secrets will be discovered along the way?

This book will have you hooked from the very beginning drawing you in to discover the secrets hidden in the past waiting to be discovered.

Thank you to Netgally for a copy in exchange for a review.

If you are looking for a historical fiction, which is a ghost story and a murder mystery then this is your novel. However if your not looking for these things this is still a great read!

I love this genre, so I knew I was going to be a fan however what I wasn't expecting was the depth and the level of details in this novel, especially from a debut author. The plot was really compelling and although the book was quite lengthy I didn't want to get to the end, I was so wrapped up in the mystery and the characters.

Probably my favourite book of the year.

It has been a long time since I have read a proper ghost story and I loved it. It ticked all the boxes of a classic gothic story. Mystery, suspense, hauntings and scepticism set in a gothic building with colourful characters. It made me leave the light on and keep turning the pages to know the end. Great read.

Not my usual type of book but I enjoyed it. Although it did take a while to read.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the ARC in return for an honest and unbiased opinion.

I was sent a copy of The Lost Ones by Anita Frank to read and review by NetGalley.
This is a well written ghost story/mystery set in rural England during the First World War. The characters are nicely drawn and there is plenty of suspense to keep you reading on. I did have an inkling as to the heart of the mystery before I reached the end of the book but that didn’t spoil my enjoyment of the novel in any way.

Well, this book was definitely something different from what I was expecting and what I usually read.
I enjoyed it more than expected and the characters are compelling and interesting.
Throw in the fact that it’s a historical fiction story, it added to the overall plot very well and I was captivated by the writing style as well .
Definitely a book to be recommended.

I love a ghost story, but I am very picky when it comes to picking up new ones, because I was spoiled at a very young age when I read the work of a wonderful array of authors in the Virago Book of Ghost Stories and two more collections that followed that one.

This is a rare case of a new ghost story catching and holding my attention.

I was intrigued by the setting and by the central character.

The story is set in England, towards the end of the Great War; a time when so many people were haunted by the deaths of young men far from home. Stella Marcham was one of those people. She had been a VAD nurse, she had worked hard and well, but she had been sent home after she was stricken by grief over the death of her fiancé Gerald.

Stella's parents were sympathetic, but as time passed they found it hard to deal with and they failed to understand why she couldn't come to terms with what had happened and start to live again. They began to wonder if their daughter was mentally ill.

They thought that a change of scene might help her, and an interesting opportunity presented itself. Stella’s sister Madeleine was pregnant, and her husband had insisted that she left London for the the safety of the countryside. He had left her in the care of his mother, Lady Brightwell,  st his family's country home, Greyswick while he continued his war work in the city. Stella would be a companion for Madeleine, and Madeleine would be a distraction for Stella.

The two sisters were delighted to be reunited; but Stella was concerned about her sister. Madeleine was unsettled, unhappy, and inexplicably fearful. Lady Brightwell said that she was foolish, that nothing could be wrong, but Stella knew her sister too well to believe that and she tried to work out what the problem might be.

It wasn't long before she saw the first signs.

And then there was a noise in the night: Stella and Madeleine - and no one else - heard the clear and inexplicable sound of a child crying ....

The story is captivating, the prose is lovely and nicely understated - I loved that it left space for me to think and to ponder. The description of the house and its grounds brought the setting to life; and the period, the place and the mood were wonderfully evoked.

The ghost story works well; there are times when it is genuinely frightening, and there are times when it is clear that there is a desperately sad story behind the haunting of Greyswick.

The human story wrapped around this ghost story had much to say.

It spoke of the position of women in a world where men govern society and determine how they should live; and of how that could make women victims, and of how women might use the little power that had for good or for bad.

It spoke of that society's treatment of grief and of mental disturbance; and of how those things could make a person terribly vulnerable.

Most of all it spoke about love and loss, through Stella's story and through other plot strands. As Stella strove to help her sister and to uncover the secrets of the house, she knew that she had to be strong; and though she would always grieve for Gerald she began to find a little comfort in the memory of him and of the time they had spent together. That was beautifully and sensitively done,

Of course, all of this only works if there is a cast of characters who are real and believable. This book has that. I was particularly taken with Stella, with her maid, Annie, who came from a family said to have psychic powers, and with the way their relationship moved from the traditional one mistress and servant to a very different one where the servant was superior to her mistress. Annie brought something different and distinctive to this tale, as did the three women who had lived in the house for many years - its mistress, her companion and her housekeeper. A wonderfully diverse cast of women!

I worked out how the story would play out a little earlier that I feel I should have, I found it predictable and a little contrived in places, and I think that this would have been a better book if certain of the story-lines had been pruned a little; but I was captivated from start to finish.

I could easily believe that the author had read and loved and learned from the work in those collections of ghost stories that I love and remember so well.

This book isn't <em>that</em> good, but it is very good; beautifully written, evocative of time and place, and holding a story that has much to say and much to haunt its readers.

The Lost Ones is an absolutely terrific ghost story in the classic mould. It’s all there: spooky goings-on in an inhospitable country house, an intrepid female protagonist, a Mrs Danvers-style intimidating housekeeper and even a sceptical male investigator determined to prove the strange happenings are all in the women’s minds.

It’s 1917 and narrator Stella is deep in grief for her fiancé Gerald. When Stella’s brother in law asks her to travel to Greyswyck, his family home, to be with her pregnant sister Madeleine - who’s finding both the house and her mother in law, Lady Brightwell, distinctly unwelcoming - she agrees to go (taking with her Annie, a young maid with an unsettling way of apparently seeing what others can’t)... but could never have predicted what she will find there. Toy soldiers in her bed and mysterious crying in the night are only the start of what will turn out to be a dark family mystery.

I loved the character of Stella - self-described as “argumentative, quick-tempered and cutting”, she’s also loyal, intelligent and with a fierce independence of mind. In many ways, she’s a woman out of her time. It was a pleasure to spend time with her.

The Lost Ones was a wonderful read with engaging characters, an at times heart-wrenching plot (I did guess the secret ahead of time... or at least part of it) and a beautifully created atmosphere. I didn’t want it to end - although the end was satisfying. And I can even imagine a sequel of sorts featuring certain of the characters... I’d definitely read that.