My next Halloween read was one aimed at a distinctly older audience. The Lost Ones is the debut novel by Anita Frank and if this is any indication of her work yet to come, then I’m excited to see what’s in store.

Set in England in 1917, The Lost Ones immerses itself in the grief and heartbreak of a country too many years at war. The central protagonist is Stella Marcham, a young woman recently returned from nursing along the front lines following the death of her equally young fiance. Beside herself with grief and teetering on the brink of suicide, Stella’s doctor and parents are considering having her institutionalized when her salvation seems to arrive in the form of her brother-in-law. Stella’s sister Madelaine is expecting and suffering extreme anxiety after moving to his family home—Greyswick—in the country. Her husband hopes that Stella’s presence may prove calming and she agrees to an extended visit immediately.

However, upon arrival at Greyswick, Stella soon becomes wrapped up in the mystery that is causing her sister much angst and misery. The sound of a child crying in the abandoned nursery wakes them in the night, doors open by themselves, and objects appear in rooms with no one the wiser as to how they got there. Unconvinced that these occurrences are caused by the mischievous household staff, Stella begins to uncover the truth about past events at Greyswick and tragedies that have long lain buried, but can she convince the others before she is labeled mad and sent away?

The Lost Ones kept me up at night reading just one more chapter and had enough spooky atmosphere to raise the hairs on the back of my neck and cause me to jump at the slightest of sounds while reading late. The book feels like a classic ghost story in the style of The Woman in Black by Susan Hill or Dickens’ The Signal-Man thanks to its Great War setting and old-fashioned style of scares. Given the setting, I was surprised to come across some diversity in the form of multiple LGBTQ characters, although their portrayal ended up being somewhat problematic. Trigger warnings should also be noted for rape, sexual abuse, and childhood death, although all these subjects are handled sensitively.

All in all, I really loved The Lost Ones despite the tragedy that unfolds within its pages. This is a story that I hope one day becomes a classic and will make for perfect autumn reading for those looking for something with less horror and more tension.

Today I am so excited to be joining the blog tour for The Lost Ones, which has quickly jumped into my top 10 reads of the year. I picked up this book the day after receiving it and I sat and devoured it within a day. I loved everything about this book from the carefully crafted characters to the superb gothic setting of Greyswick.

The story focused around the sisters Madeleine and Stella who along with the curious house maid Annie set about uncovering secrets that are haunting them in their sleep at Greyswick. The setting was during World War I which was a highly turbulent time for England and this book was brimming with loss and grief, which in turn brings the hidden secrets of Greyswick to life.

The Lost Ones is a story that captures you and pulls you in, it keeps you spellbound so that you just have to keep reading to see if Annie & Stella can really uncover the secrets contained within the walls of Greyswick and whether they are in danger delving into the past.

A superb read that I absolutely loved, the loss Stella had experienced was palpable and the setting was bought to life through the wonderful descriptions of this gothic home. I found myself holding my breath with anticipation, this is a book that you'll be disappointed to finish.

I really enjoyed this story of ghosts, death, heartache and treachery. It took me longer to read than I wanted because once I was reading I was completely engrossed but life annoyingly got in the way! Stellas character is one to easily like and feel for. Her past filled with sadness but there are still sparks of hope in her you see throughout the story. I was genuinely angry and the doctor believing women were prone to maddess due the their inferior being and rallying for Stella in this. Lucien the keeper of secrets and wanting revenge, the unexpected introduction of Tristan that I hoped would prove something more with Stella. I loved Annie the maid with a gift. The gothic twists in the story were brilliant and I hope for further exploits of Tristan, Stella and Annie. This really had everything for those loving ghost stories and mysteries, it is spookily delightful especially for this time of year.

A lovely debut novel from Anita Frank. Full of rich imagery, great characters, and a mystery within a mystery. This novel explores themes of madness, love, family, loyalty, and mortality with compassion and insight. Set in a post-war era and a changing world, ‘The Lost Ones’ ends full of hope and a reminder that although the past may be lost, the future is still to play for.

The Lost Ones is a wonderfully spooky tale, set during World War One centring around Stella Marcham, a young woman who has recently lost her fiancé who goes to stay with her sister to support her during her pregnancy.

She finds her sister a shell of her former self, convinced the house is haunted as she can hear the cries of a baby in the night.

What follows is a tantalising ghost story with a varied cast of characters, some of whom you root for as a reader and some you would like to shake. I enjoyed the story but found it a little slow in places. I predicted the ending at about 60% of the way in but rather than spoil my enjoyment this helped as I wanted to know if I was correct.

All in all a good spooky October read.

A classic supernatural mystery

The world is reeling from WW1 and Britain is trying to rebuild itself. The old order is no longer certain, and everything is up in the air. Set against this backdrop, Stella Marcham is struggling to make sense of the death of her fiancé, wounded on the battleground and dying in her arms. Her grief is crippling, and she is unable to find a glimmer of hope that she will ever recover.

The book covers so many themes, but I really enjoyed the way Anita Frank questions the status quo of the day. Women are still regarded as either decorative and weak or servants. They have no voice and men are constantly making decisions about their fate and future. Stella and her sister Madeleine are frustrated at every turn as they attempt to be believed about hearing a child crying in the old nursery of the family home, they are staying in. Pregnancy is blamed for Madeleine’s distress and Stella is thought to be a bad influence on her sister. Stella is threatened with being sent to a mental institution if she does not comply and cease her insistence that a supernatural force is at play in the house.

The story is carefully woven around a terrible family secret involving sexual abuse, babies born out of wedlock and above all, the facade of the upper class, the way the servants were treated with contempt and the way the behaviour of the men had no consequences. The themes of emerging feminism are recurrent as Stella realises that the wrongs of the past are a direct result of females having no voice.

All in all, a great read

Gillian

Breakaway Reviewers received a copy of the book to review

This truly is a beautiful book. it’s perfect to snuggles down as the cold nights draw in and emerge yourself in the war time ghost Story. I didn’t want it to end.
I loved the character Stella, after having her life turned upside down when she lost her fiancé at war, she still came across as a strong vibrant women, fighting for her rights to a voice in a very Male centred time. I thought the plot was very well written and I enjoyed the pace, and felt the time was captured well in the house of a wealthy family while the war was happening around them.

Although I often read ghost and haunted house stories this book was just too slow paced for me and took ages to get going, especially the first half and it felt like a very long book. Alot of time was spent describing the setting and characters such as main character Stella and her maid Annie and the residents of Greyswick where Stella has traveled to keep an eye on her sister Madeleine. I never truly found myself connecting to them and found the post First World War period to be very somber and stiff. However, the story does pick up pace if you stick with it and develops into a cross between a mystery and a ghost story. If you're a fan of character driven and atmospheric stories then you might like this, but for this reader it lacked punch and excitement.

There is something about October and upcoming Halloween that gives people special need to read horror stories. I am so glad that I've started this book at the best time I could, which gave to this already amazing book a touch of perfection.

We follow a story set in 1917, while Britain is still at war. A young woman, Stella, who lost her fiancee is unable to cope with this loss and her family tries to help her. Refusing to be put into strict medical care, she tries to find a distraction from her grief. She is invited to keep the company to her sister in a nearby mansion. However, right from the beginning, something with the house is not right. As both sisters try to find out what is happening around them, we get to experience a quest for discovering family secrets that were supposed to be hidden forever.

I was surprised how much I've enjoyed this book straight from its start. There is something about the style of the author that worked for me. She writes in a way that feels almost historical and suits the setting perfectly. The choosing of words and expressions felt very authentic and gave the reader an even better experience from the book.

I absolutely adored Stella, as I found her to be one of the few reasonable characters in the horror genre in general. She was strong and independent, even though her grief was making each of the days difficult to cope with. I loved the passages from her past, where we could see the whole complexity of her character. Her story was written in a way, where I could properly understand her actions and sadness and I felt proud of her progress throughout the book.

The concept of haunted houses is pretty common and was used many times before. However, you can feel when it's done well. I believe it was in this book. I enjoyed the mystery of this particular one with all the atmosphere and secrets surrounding it and the author kept my interest till the very end.

To sum it up, I admire the author for writing such a well-written debut. I love how she builds the plot and characters and I would be definitely interested in reading more from her.

I really liked The Lost Ones, and I particularly enjoyed the choice of historical setting and Frank’s descriptive, immersive narration.

As Stella stays longer at the house, more and more disturbing things start happening. Voices can be heard, doors open and close on their own, and things go missing. This was all enjoyable build-up which emphasised that the house is well and truly haunted. I also thought the fact Stella was a nurse in the war was an interesting part of her character, as her warnings that the house isn’t safe are dismissed by almost everyone, on the grounds that she is a delicate woman – grieving, mentally unstable, and struggling with PTSD. I could feel her frustration when no one would help or believe her, and so I was keen for more ghostly things to happen that would convince the others!

If it wasn’t already obvious, I love ghost stories and haunted house stories! The Lost Ones fits the bill almost perfectly.

However, when I was about 80% of the way through, the book’s focus suddenly switches from ghosts and the paranormal to family gossip and rumours. Admittedly, I did like finding out more about the house and the family, and receiving an explanation for the paranormal activity. However, from this point onwards, the book devotes almost all of its time to various characters confessing or revealing secrets, one after the other. This was a somewhat dull and unsatisfying way to reveal everything and piece together the puzzle which had been hinted at from the beginning. Personally, instead of these confessional scenes, I would have preferred a malevolent and vengeful ghostly confrontation which would have not only forced the sceptics to believe in the paranormal, but would have revealed the secrets and lies in a more exciting, horrifying, and shocking way.

Despite this, I still really enjoyed The Lost Ones and would definitely recommend if you’re looking for a new ghost story to read.

Stella Marcham is grieving for her beloved fiancé, Gerald in the dying days of WW1 when she gets an unsettling message from her sister who is living with her mother in law during her (the sister's) first pregnancy.
Strange things are happening and Stella, sceptical at first, is determined to find out what is going on.
What follows is a beautiful, absorbing tale of ghosts, secrets, lies, love and hate. What a debut! I was unable to put this book down for long as the pace quickened throughout the story.
We have a great talent from Anita Frank to tell a tale so poignant and believable, even to people, like me, who don't believe in ghosts. By the end of the book I was in tears, so powerful was the narrative.
A great book for long winter nights in front of the fire in the comfort of your own home.

In 1917, after the recent death of her fiancé, Stella Marcham is invitied to visit her pregnant sister, Madeleine Brightwell, at the family's country mansion. Before long, Stella realises all is not well. Her sister is fearful and constantly on edge, claiming she can hear a child crying at night - yet no child lives there. Stella also begins to experience supernatural phenomena and is convinced the house, Greyswick, is haunted by the spirit of a child.

I adored this book and thought it was an amazing debut by author Anita Frank. It was beautifully written - each sentence, paragraph and page a pleasure to read. The imagery was remarkable and I genuinely felt transported in time to England during the First World War.

Although quite slowly paced and relatively descriptive, I surprised myself by thoroughly enjoying it. Once in a while you're left with the feeling you've read something pretty special. For me it was this.

Stella was a nurse in a field hospital when her fiancee is bought in badly injured and sadly dies. She has a breakdown and is sent home. Her sister, Madeleine, is pregnant and staying with her mother-in-law at Greyswick.
Stella is invited to stay with her but when she arrives, she finds Madeleine in a terrible state. She is upset by unexplained goings on within the house and soon Stella starts to hear and feel sounds and noises.
she starts to investigate what has happened within the house in the past. What are the secrets? and can she solve them but to what cost.

A spooky thriller full of strange goings on. Very complex and complicated but resolved in the end. Good characters and interesting tale,lots of twists

Stella Marcham is grieving. She has seen evil in the blooded fields of the great war and that same evil has taken the love of her life. On the brink of being sent into an asylum for ‘rest’, Stella is approached by her sister’s husband Hector, asking her to keep Madeleine company in her last months of pregnancy at his home estate Greyswick. He mentions Madeleine’s unease and bad feelings about the house and hopes Stella’s company will help settle his wife back to her happy self.

How wrong he is! Stella arrives at Greyswick, excited to see her sister’s new home, happy to lend her hand and provide comfort to the one person that stood by her when she lost Gerald. But there is something wrong. With the house, the people living in it. From the first day, when she discovers a toy soldier in her bed, things grow stranger and stranger. There are secrets buried deep within the walls of the house and it is up to Stella and her unwilling accomplice maid Annie to uncover them and set them free.

Brilliant book – I’ve always loved Wilkie Collins’ Woman in White and can see clearly the inspiration here. But this novel is spookier and even tense and reading in the dark of my bedroom wasn’t the best of my ideas. The characters were very well portrayed within the time period lending an authenticity to the story. Let’s be honest, most old manor houses look haunted, so Greyswick lends a perfect hand in setting the scene. I loved the opposites of opinions and beliefs that were given to us in the characters of Annie Burrows and Tristan Sheers. The believer and the sceptic-scientist, both willing to go the distance to prove their own truths.

Bravo – love this book and will certainly look out for more books by Anita Frank. This will be in my top five books I’ve read this year.

Thank you very much to TBConFB, the author and NetGalley for this book.

The Lost Ones is a stunningly haunting gothic novel set during the First World War in 1917. It is steeped in the atmosphere of the time period with our heroine, Stella, dealing with all consuming grief following the death of her fiancé in France. Franks touches on so many pertinent topics which are just as relevant today as they were back then: mental health, family, grief and a country dealing with a state of unrest. The writing is rich with beautifully flowing prose and the characters are well fleshed out - flirting with, but never succumbing to, the stereotypes typical of the gothic novel. It's a thoroughly enjoyable book and a spectacular debut.

I enjoyed this novel, which gradually wove together ghostly happenings, a hidden mystery, and the psychological impact of the First World War. It was an easy and atmospheric read, but I did feel at times that the mystery was a little melodramatic and some of the turns that the plot took seemed like a bit of a stretch - solving this mystery wasn't quite as satisfying as it could have been with a more careful structuring of the clues. That being said, there's lots to enjoy here, and I particularly liked the discourse around madness and gender - if a woman says something, would you believe it less than if a man did? How much proof do we really need before we allow ourselves to believe the unbelievable?

It's been a while since I've read a historical ghost story but this was worth the wait, with welcome echoes of Susan Hill and Daphne du Maurier. Impeccable scene-setting and memorable characters provide the perfect foundations for a cracking winter read, and once I reached the second half of the book I couldn't stop. The Lost Ones is a beautifully written period page-turner,

An enjoyable read which, if not especially spooky or surprising plot wise (look I am really difficult to please with ghost stories plus I have this nasty habit of working a mystery out within three chapters) was still very engaging. The characters were compelling but what sold it for me was the well-researched historical setting. I’ve seen it compared to The Silent Companions which is horrendously unfair to this book – The Lost Ones is far better than that! An author to watch on the mystery front.

What a fantastic debut novel by Anita Frank. I’m not normally big on ghost stories but this book had a bit of everything. It centres on Stella Marcham who is in mourning following the tragic death of her brand new fiancé, Gerald, during The Great War. The whole book is set in 1917 and at the confidential request of her brother-in-law, Hector, Stella goes to visit her married sister Madeleine who is ‘out of sorts’. Hector is in the army but based in London so Madeleine has been sent to stay at her mother-in-law’s house, Greyswick, in the country. Lady Brightwell is widowed but still very much in charge of the house. As soon as Stella gets to the house there are strange happenings and she finds that Madeleine has experienced them too. It is not clear if these happenings are supernatural or the work of meddlesome humans. Stella is determined to get to the bottom of it but has a hard time convincing those around that she is not imagining it or suffering from mental illness.

The story wove around and around and I loved it all – the house, the characters and the plot. I couldn’t put this book down but equally didn’t want it to end. It would make a great film. There was a lot of interaction going on between the gentry and servants which I really enjoyed. A great debut novel and I will be looking out for more work from Anita Frank.

With thanks to NetGalley and Harlequin UK for a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.