I really enjoyed this gothic style book which was an engaging and atmospheric read. It’s set in WW2 as Hetty Cartwright accompanies a collection of taxidermy mammals from the Natural History Museum as they are evacuated to the creepy Lockwood manor. The manor is home to a major and his daughter Lucy.

Some of the animals disappear, there are rumours of ghosts and strange characters. The plot twists and the tension builds steadily becoming claustrophobic at times.

There are themes of madness and loss with high emotions and strong characters. I liked how the manor was a character in itself.

I enjoyed the blossoming relationship between Lucy and Hetty and found it much more believable than some other romantic relationships I’ve read recently.

A great debut that was perfect for a long winter train journey.

creepy gothic manor haunted by ghosts of the past; an unpleasant lord of the manor with hidden secrets; creepy stuffed animals *shudder*. I suppose it’s true that valuable items from London museums were evacuated to prevent destruction in air raids? I enjoyed the story but couldn’t particularly take to the main character Hetty. Many thanks to Netgalley for an arc of this book.

There are so many great Gothic novels doing the rounds at the moment that The Animals has a lot to live up to as another part of that collection. And for me it does not quite stand up to the competition.
The main character, Hetty Cartwright, is an engaging character, hard pressed, oppressed, struggling to be recognised and respected in the patriarchal world of the museum she works in. Taking the stuffed animals in her care to Lockwood Manor for their preservation during the war allows her to meet the enigmatic and haunted Lucy.
The development of the plot was effective enough - albeit with not real shocks or innovation: mysterious noises, missing exhibits etc - the usual hallmarks of the Gothic are there.
Engaging enough, a decent read for a chilly evening or two.

Jane Healey writes a dark, disturbing and slow moving gothic mystery with echoes of a number of classic novels, set amidst the background of WW2, the decline of the aristocracy and the social norms, attitudes and expectations of women in this period. It is 1939, 30 year old Hetty Cartwright is a museum curator charged with overseeing the removal and protection of the taxidermy mammal collection at the natural history museum to Lockwood Manor for the duration of the war. She finds her task significantly more challenging than she expects in the face of the hostility and resentment she faces. The widower Lord Lockwood is an irritating, bullying and menacing presence but Hetty feels a kinship with his daughter, Lady Lucy, finding herself irresistibly drawn to her. Lucy is a anxious, traumatised, fragile and haunted woman, plagued by grief, fears, dreams and nightmares.

In a unsettling and creepily atmospheric narrative, the manor is a character in its own right, where strange and mysterious things occur, the animal exhibits move and disappear, and there are strong hints of a malevolent presence, and rumours of ghosts and curses. This is a multilayered read of family secrets, an unexpected love, loss, mental health, madness, sexuality and abuse. Healey expertly builds up a claustrophobic, spooky and oppressive feel to her multilayered storytelling. Her writing is beautiful, richly descriptive and she has a real talent for characterisation. An engrossing and engaging read with plenty of suspense and tension, and packed with intrigue and mystery. Many thanks to Pan Macmillan for an ARC.

Interesting story with a brilliant setting. I loved all the animal elements - especially when some of the characters were likened to an animal. Slightly spooky, well written with a good twist.

I'm still not sure how to view this novel. Partially told via diary entries, it is at times deeply unnerving and unsettling, Gothic, depressing, hopeful, sympathetic, yet acts as a metaphor for death and destruction.
Hottie Cartwright, estranged from her adoptive mother, father dead, is a quiet curator at a Natural History Museum in London. Overlooked for promotion, and paid a pittance in the days of women marry, therefore men need more money, Hettie comes into her own when war is declared and most of the male staff go to fight. Hettie and the collection of stuffed mammals are evacuated to Lockwood Manor, a vast 92 roomed country house. There she meets Lady Lucy , the fragile minded, delicate heiress, prone to night terrors about being chased by unseen animals, and the staff who resent the extra work this collection brings. When animals go missing, who can lose an eight foot bear wonders Hettie, she blames the staff at first, but all is revealed gradually, and can be guessed at. The gradual decay of the taxidermy animals can be seen as a metaphor for the death and destruction that the war brings to all communities, yet the oppression caused to the gradual sexual relationship by the social norms of the time is explored with great delicacy. An interesting debut novel, rather wordy and hard to get into the feeling of this book at first.

A slow burning Gothic novel with an unusual slant on WWII life

Hetty Cartwright, a London museum curator, is evacuated to the sombre Lockwood Manor, along with the collection of stuffed animals she looks after. There she meets Lucy, the nervous daughter of the house and begins to fall in love with her. Meanwhile, animals from the collection go missing. There is a gradual sense of mystery and foreboding, an interesting cast of character and a real Gothic feel, but it took a long time to get going. Worth persevering with though.

This story tells of a young women, who is given the care of some objects from the National History Museum which are evacuated to Lockwood Manor for safety during WW2. a very surprising and intriguing story

It’s the start of WW2 Hetty Cartwright is a museum curator in London in charge of the Mammal collection. When she is evacuated to Lockwood Manor with the collection to keep it safe against the air raids of London. Lockwood Manor is a big house with so many rooms, with not so many people to fill it. The lady of the manor tragically died left with the lord of the house and his daughter.
When the collection is brought to the house, Hetty struggles to keep up with keeping an eye on the collection and things start to go missing. To the annoyance of the Lord of the manor who thinks Hetty is a silly woman that makes things up. The only allies in the house is the daughter Lucy who she brief relationship with.
This is a beautifully written tale and it is written with a lot of description of the Manor and animals. And I enjoyed the first half of this book. But I found this book to be slow and started getting to lose the will to carry on. For me personally I thought it was too slow that I started skipping parts in the last 30% of this book because I was waiting for more, but it didn’t deliver. 3 stars from me.
Thank you NetGalley and Pan Macmillian for a copy of this book.

The Animals at Lockwood Manor is a richly detailed and atmospheric novel; part mystery, part love story. It tells the story of Hetty, a curator from London tasked with evacuating a collection of stuffed animals, birds and bones from London during WWII. Their destination is Lockwood Manor; a haunting, claustrophobic estate hiding secrets of its own.

I found this to be an intriguing and beautifully written book.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with a free e-copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

An atmospheric read where the tension ripples from the page. An unexpected climatic ending made the read worthwhile. The main body of the story was slightly slow to build. Predictable in places but overall an enjoyable read.

Thank you Netgalley

Although the blurb for this was certainly intriguing, and I liked the look of the cover, this unfortunately just wasn’t the book for me.

Nothing wrong with it precisely, I just couldn’t seem to get going, so perhaps just one of those things!

Altogether, the blurb and the writing style made it appeal to me, but sadly... not one I would personally return to, and one I sadly couldn’t finish.

What a strange tale. Having just finished reading The Animals at Lockwood Manor I am not sure what to think of it. Unlikable characters, unsavoury goings on, too many lists of animals for comfort. But it was compelling. The winding-up came as no real surprise, and neither did the very end. But I don't think I would recommend this book to a friend as it was just odd. Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the opportunity to read and review an e-ARC of the book.

Precautionary measures in the Second World War included the relocation of London museum contents to large estates in the countryside. Hetty Cartwright is tasked with such an undertaking, bringing a collection of natural history specimens to Lockwood Manor. It is an uneasy, grand place owned by a brusk, philandering major who has not long lost his wife and mother in a car crash. And then there is enigmatic Lucy, the major’s daughter, striking up a friendship with Hetty. Both women are suffering from nightmares and both are ultimately drawn to each other.
All the Gothic elements are safely tucked into place: creaks, strange cries, the rumble of ancient plumbing, flitting shadows and things disappearing, so it is not exactly the reinvention of the wheel. There are a too many wistfully/wryly/blithelys and a fair few of the characters are lacking depth for me - e.g. the housekeeper’s character would have had great scope for a scathing description. The “love story” angle dragged on a bit. Having said that, it is still quite a charming story.

PS: stoat, not stout (error appears twice)

This is a beautifully written story. I found it to be a bit slow and I did not warm to any of the characters. I kept expecting there to be more to the story.

Thank you to Netgalley for my copy.

The Animals at Lockwood Manor is an undeniably slow burner of a book and whilst I found the setting and descriptions highly evocative and atmospheric to begin with, I must say that I found myself getting bored by the half way mark. There is a huge amount of historical and biological detail in the depictions of the World War 2 setting, the manor house itself and of course the collection of museum creatures shipped off as refugees to be safe from the potential bombing to come, but not a lot happens and it seemed to drag after a while before picking up in pace towards the final fifth or so of the novel.

That said, it you enjoy slow, atmospheric novels then this may well be for you as it is beautifully written and there are some stunning turns of phrase sprinkled throughout the pages. Healey has a talent for characterisation and for the build up of a distinctly creepy and unnerving sense of uncertainty as to what is going on. The build up of the mystery is done through hints and pushes and so is cleverly subtle, leading you gently in the direction of one thing whilst recognising the characters need for rationalisation in the next breath. The two female characters, trapped by the societal norms of the 1940's and yet each looking for something different than what is being offered to them but not knowing quite what they are looking for. It all draws together into a detailed and intricate tapestry with so much life in it that you can almost see it before you. If the slow pacing and involved layering around small events and interactions doesn't bother you, then I will admit that there is a lot to love here.

Both Hetty and Lucy seem very real in their own ways and the family history that you gain of the Lockwood family serves to build up the setting around you. Segments of Lucy's childhood are revealed at odd moments, twisting the past and present together into something warped and somewhat twisted, but also giving you an additional insight into behaviours and fears that seem otherwise irrational. The house is almost given a life of its own in the way Lucy describes it; it is such a part of her life and has been such an element in her mother's madness and her own nervous disposition that she presents it in varying ways, but all of them as almost a living, breathing entity. Even the romance is lightly layered in as the two lovers creep around in the shadows, rather than bringing their love out into the brightness of the day.

I'm really torn on a rating because on one hand this is beautifully written and it deserves all the praise for that. There is a haunting and atmospheric quality to it and I found the depictions of how they would find museum pieces moved around the manor quite uncanny when put into the light of the ghost stories that surround the house and the family history. The way relationships are build and twisted, altered and shifted until you are not quite sure where each individual stands is excellently done and shows a real talent at crafting such intricately woven strands together.The themes of loss, of separation and of madness all lurk within the pages, but there is an abstract quality to them. It is as though much is hidden in dreams and nightmares. So I am torn. If I were allowed half stars, this would be a 3.5 out of 5... but I feel I have to round it down for the fact that actually it doesn't seem to go anywhere.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for my free copy of this as an ARC.

I couldn't believe this book was a debut! First of all, I loved the idea. It was quite original. And it's very rich and atmospheric. I was gripped from the beginning. The Manor, as it's described mande me unsettled, which was the intension.
The writer could pass the feelings and social situation of the times she was writing about. It's dark times and a dark story, but somehow the writer managed to make it lighter than what it is by adding a very nice relationship between characters.

I really enjoyed it and I'd read again from Healey. And I need to mention the beauty of the cover :)

Thanks a lot to the publisher and NetGalley for granting a copy in exchange for an honest review.

I wanted to like this more than I did. I think my problem with it was that I have read too many other books like this, and I'm afraid I guessed most of the twists before the reveal. If you like books in the manner of Rebecca by Daphne DuMaurier and with a hint of Sarah Waters, this is definitely for you. It's well written. It's nicely tense and twisty and it was very enjoyable.

A rich, atmospheric dream of a book that had me hooked from the start. The setting of the Manor is claustrophobic, and the creeping sense of unease is brought wonderfully to life with dark uninhabited corridors, ghostly hand imprints on mirrors, missing museum pieces, nightmares and unwelcoming staff. As well as being a wonderfully paced mystery, the book perfectly captures a dynamic point in time when society changes were particularly pronounced. The country estates of the rich were suffering from a lack of investment and no longer had access to servants because of the war, and changing class divides. The freedoms afforded women and social expectations of the time are also challenged, and Hetty and Lucy's burgeoning relationship is not only a delight to read, but adds a touch of lightness to prevent the book from becoming too oppressive.
The ending is shocking, and yet fitting, and I was very sad to leave the wonderful characters behind.

My thanks go to the publishers and Net Galley for the advanced copy in return for an honest review.

I started this book but found it very slow going and hard to get into the story. I didn't much like the characters either and wasn't very interested in what was going to happen. So I stopped reading.