A very entertaining and utterly captivating Edwardian drama very reminiscent at times of Trollope and Du Maurier and cleverly plotted with enough venom to keep the innocent reader on pins and needles all the way to its higly satisfying conclusion. The story is told by Agnes, a young and rather dull archivist employed by and living with an aristocratic family full of dysfunctional idiots armed with enough murderous hate and poisonous spite to make the Forsyte green with envy. I loved this novel. None of its characters managed to stir a tiny bit of empathy in my heart. On the contrary, I greatly relished their despicable personalities. All of them. .A marvellous tapestry of British upper class deviousness and decadence blessed at times with some rather nasty verbal pyrotechnics. Highly recommended and to be enjoyed without any moderation whatsoever!

Many thanks to Netgalley and KDP for this terrific ARC

Lying with Lions is not the typical book I read but on occasion I am willing to venture out and try new genres. I found an intricate character-driven plot and knew immediately this was my type of movie as opposed to my type of book. As I read, the thought that I would enjoy this on the big screen accompanied was often on my mind.

The story is written in present tense, which was a bit jarring at first. Eventually I settled into it along with the feeling that I was watching the events unfold as an omniscient narrator allowed me a glimpse into the machinations of high society through Agnes. From a humble background, Agnes is hired by the Bryant family to serve as their archivist to compile and organize the family history. Eventually she becomes more than just a bystander, becoming Lady Bryant’s secretary. Rather than an observer, she becomes a willing participant in the political maneuvers of those she comes to be associated with.

Agnes was often an enigma to me, making it hard to figure out her motives. Is she being genuine? Does she have something planned? Is she a “good” person? Part of me wanted to skip to the end because I wanted to know the why behind Agnes’s actions. My urge to spoil the ending was further spurred on by the novel’s slow build. It was not until about a fifth of the way when the pieces started to fall into place, and I recognized with some amount of certainty where the book was heading. The pace was slow, but it was the deliberate kind that encourages readers to be immersed in the plot and observe as well as question the decisions of characters, what will those in power do to remain in power? I had to exercise a fair amount of self-control but the ending was worth it as revelations are made.

As usual with a three star book I have a bit of a hard time reviewing it. Lying With Lions wasn’t a bad read at all and I did enjoy some aspects of it but I also didn’t end up loving it as much as I would’ve wanted. I feel kinda caught between the liking and disliking feeling. So I’m going to review it in this kinda manner.

What I liked about the book:

The beautiful way it was written was actually my favorite thing in the whole book. The author clearly has a great talent for it and almost couldn’t get enough of that. I also really liked that the story had a lesbian relationship between Agnes and Lady Helen in it because we need to have more of that, especially in historical fiction. And I enjoyed that it was set in Edwardian England because the early 1900’s fascinate me.

What I disliked about the book:

The book had a great start but somewhere along the way the story started losing me because a lot was going on with the characters and the many scandals. I felt like there were many little plots going on and eventually that starts getting confusing. I also didn’t really care a lot for the characters even if I did like Agnes and Helen’s relationship.



Set in Edwardian England, Lying With Lions is a story that definitely catches the readers attention. The prose is beautiful and it’s a page-turner. Personally I wanted to connect more with the characters but even so it does have a lot of good things going for the story. It just didn’t end up being a favorite for me.

I was hoping to enjoy this far more than I did. I love historical and gothic mysteries, and that this has a lesbian love story in it made it just my thing. I don't know why but this a very slow read to me. It took a long time to get me invested in what was happening, to the point when the romance actually started, I was surprised at how sudden it was.

I will say I enjoyed the characters, especially Agnes Ashford, the supposedly meek young archivist who has motives of her own. Lady Helena is fine the way she is, and I liked how she is so driven. Beyond that, it is hard to root for them as a couple, because the relationship is inherently toxic. I still would have found their relationship compelling, especially since Fielding didn't really romanticize it, and it helped spice of some of the more boring political powerplays. I knew that one of them was a true snake, or more dastardly than I'd initially thought, and it was fun to unravel that.

Overall, this didn't really jive with me, even though I can see where folks would enjoy it. It was a little too slow for me, with most of the actual fun stuff happening at the latter half of the book. I thought it was a little too careful setting up the game, but it didn't pay off for me.

A cleverly written historical fiction full of scheming characters, politics and family drama.
The story reads like a family saga- each of the characters caught up in their own scenes plotting against eachother for personal gain. Family secrets kept as weapons for future use.
Agnes is an interesting main character- cunning and ambitious, she manages to work her way into family life from the lowly role of archivist to Lady Helen’s right-hand woman, involved in all of the family’s drama.

Lying With Lions by Annabel Fielding - ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️. Thank you so much to @netgalley for a review copy of this excellent self published (I think?) gothic historical novel.

Edwardian England, just prior to the outbreak of WWI, Agnes Ashford is hired as the family archivist to the Bryant family, grateful for a position and very aware that she must hide the truth about her past. Taking advantage of events at the house and against the backdrop of a rapidly changing world where class divisions are starting to fall away she manages to rise to be the right hand of Lady Helen Bryant, the glittering matriarch who entangles Agnes in some of the families deepest, darkest acts as they fight to cling onto their wealth, position and titles as the world changes around them.

The narrative is meandering, but still compelling. It jumps from being a country house gothic novel to being full of summers in Italy and political machinations in Westminster, but it does all come together in the end and the writing is so good, the thematic jumping around does not matter all too much. This book is about the journey as much as the destination - actually, while I guessed the big reveal at the start, cleverly, Fielding made me forget I’d even sussed it as I read on. She also made me forget how ruthless her characters could be, sullying the waters further in the build up to a very satisfying ending.

If you enjoyed The Animals at Lockwood Manor, The Lost Ones or The Quickening, I just know you’re going to love Lying with Lions. It’s available now (it came out earlier this week) and it is free to read if you’re a Kindle Unlimited member, and, might I add, is so much better than some of the utter dross I encountered there during my trial membership…!

⭐️⭐️⭐️.5/5⭐️
Thank you to Annabel Fielding and Netgalley for this gifted e-copy in exchange for an honest review.

Edwardian England. Agnes Ashford knows that her duty is threefold: she needs to work on cataloguing the archive of the titled Bryant family, she needs to keep the wounds of her past tightly under wraps, and she needs to be quietly grateful to her employers for taking her up in her hour of need. However, a dark secret she uncovers due to her work thrusts her into the Bryants’ brilliant orbit - and into the clutch of their ambitions.

This is one of few books I’ve read set in this time period. I really liked how historical events were woven into this story and added more depth to the setting.

The writing was careful to set the tone and stick to the themes of that time period.

I enjoyed the fact that Agnes was neither an angel not evil and like most of us was just trying to make the best of the situation she found herself in.

The perceptions of the men in the book do appear to be skewed to the negative but I felt this was done purposely as our protagonist is enamoured with Lady Helen.

Although a little slow in places I did like the book overall and the atmospheric, almost gothic writing was really enjoyable and has given me a renewed interest in historical fiction.

<i>Thank you to the author and NetGalley for providing me with an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.</i>

3/5 stars
<i>Lying with Lions</i> is an atmospheric historical fiction novel full of danger, politics, and conflict. It follows our main character Agnes, who is the archivist for the Bryant family. However, as Agnes uncover a web of life-changing secrets, she must make some tough decisions.

WHAT I LIKED:
The writing was fantastic. It is easy to tell that Annabel Fielding knows what she is talk about, as this novel is rich in description and atmosphere. The dialogue was also captivating. If you are someone who appreciates complexity and detail, you will enjoy this book. Furthermore, I liked the subtleness within the drama. The LGBTQ+ representation was the main reason I wanted to branch out and try this genre once again (historical fiction usually doesn't work for me), and I was surprised how quiet the relationship was. This is not a bad thing at all--I love when LGBTQ+ books can have queer relationships without it being the center of the book. It makes it feel normal, and also places the drama and conflict of the book elsewhere.

WHAT I STRUGGLED WITH:
Historical fiction is a difficult genre for me. I love the idea of it, but I often struggle to comprehend it. This is 100% my own preference of the genre as a whole, and not a reflection of the book itself. I also got a bit lost with the plot. It became a bit too political and complex for me, but if you are someone who likes plot-based books, this one is for you. I much prefer character-driven novels, and actually enjoy when books have little plot, so I was really looking for more character development.

Overall, I would recommend <i>Lying with Lions</i> to anyone who likes historical fiction novels that are dark, atmospheric, and complex, especially if you are looking for something with sapphic representation. This somewhat reminded me of the atmosphere of <i>Wuthering Heights</i>, so if you enjoyed that book, check out <i>Lying with Lions</i>.

In the last 10% of Lying with Lions, the protagonist, Agnes Ashford, and her lover/patron, Lady Helen Bryant, are confronted with a terrible choice: either sacrifice Helen’s wealth and independence, or the crimes she and Agnes committed to protect it will be revealed to the public. Agnes feels torn between her survival instinct, her loyalty to Helen, and her conscience. Every scene raises the stakes until Agnes is driven into desperate action with real consequences.

It’s a satisfying ending to Annabel Fielding’s turn-of-the-century gothic drama. Unfortunately, it also seems to belong to a different draft than the previous 90% of the novel.

Fielding’s writing is sometimes confusing (with frequent tense shifts that I hope will be caught in a final edit before it’s released on the 20th), but it’s more often beautiful, even poetic. I frequently highlighted passages I found moving or insightful.

Agnes and Helen are complex, often unlikable women with both agency and power. It’s clear that their lives and personalities are based on real Edwardian women. Even when they’re reckless or cruel, their actions are logical and grounded in a way I should have found compelling.

Best of all, every detail of their world is consistent and (as far as I can tell) accurate. Fielding is a history blogger, and she cites dozens of texts as sources for this novel alone. It’s clear that it was important for her to give readers a sense of what it was like to live in Edwardian England, from politics to social norms to infrastructure and even lighting.

So why didn’t this book work for me?

I think my problem was almost entirely structural. Though it’s a single novel, the plot of Lying with Lions is unusually episodic. Agnes and Helen will recognize they have a problem. Agnes will (briefly, without much emotion) contemplate the problem for a few pages, while Helen develops a solution offscreen. Agnes will execute the solution. Then, we get an equal number of pages of sightseeing or current events. Repeat for 200 pages.

This structure doesn’t allow the kind of tension that keeps me reading until 2 in the morning. Instead, I felt discouraged from worrying about the characters, because the repeated pattern of problem, contemplation, quick and tidy solution lulled me into thinking nothing truly bad could happen to Agnes or Helen. Neither Agnes nor Helen even seemed to suffer from guilt or anxiety at any point, even when their solutions have body counts.

Even the romance between Agnes and Helen suffers from this structure. There is no time for yearning. There are no tender, playful moments between the couple. There are some sex scenes, but these are really only settings for the conversations in which Helen gives Agnes instructions and Agnes reports her results.

It’s clear that Helen values Agnes’s loyalty and obedience, but that’s about it. Helen takes what she wants from Agnes, and Agnes gives it without conflict or self-doubt or even much prolonged joy, just the satisfaction of a job well done.

Again, the ending of this book is fantastic, but it’s also confusing. Agnes suddenly does mind their body count. She does care about the impact of her actions on other people. She does want to do the right thing. Not because anything happened or she had a change of heart; it’s just presented as though this is the character Agnes has been the entire time. I wish it were.

I think readers who are primarily interested in historical fiction for the details of the setting will love Lying with Lions. I also think it could be adapted into an incredible movie or mini-series. The right actors, with the right on-screen chemistry, could make the relationship between Agnes and Helen really compelling. However, readers seeking a historical lesbian romance are likely to be disappointed by the novel.

Lying with Lions travels through early 20th Century England through the view of Agnes, archivist turned secretary for the esteemed Bryant family.

On the one hand the view of a changing world is fascinating but on the other hand there was sometimes too much going on to get the sense of a story rather than simply a timeline. The author’s narrative weaves Agnes and the family into major events in British history but at times I was definitely left wondering what the point of it all was. For example, a foray into Irish independence was of vital importance to the characters but somehow I can’t explain why.

There were far too many times where I felt I was getting bogged down in the details of the story and unable to see the bigger picture. This was further compounded by a weak climax that came out of nowhere and provided no closure.

I wanted to like this story, and at times I did, but my overall impressions was just wondering what the point of it all was. Why was Agnes involved with the family? Why was she protecting them? What did she actually get out of it?

Historical fiction is one of my comfort genre's so I was extremely excited to get stuck in to Lying with Lions. A thoroughly enjoyable read. Thanks to Netgalley and KDP for the ARC in exhange for an honest review.

TW; death of a child - mentioned, rape - mentioned, abortion - mentioned, suicide, murder.

What I liked:
- Historical fiction grounded in real historic events, some well known such as the break out of World War One, some lesser known like the Denaby miner's strike. This brings authenticity to the book and feels believable. For those that are interested, Fielding points out the specific events that inspired her in her acknowledgements and they're worth reading up on in their own right.
- It's refreshing, in historical fiction especially, to have a morally grey protagonist like Agnes. Her decision making is not based upon right or wrong, in fact, acknowledgement of right or wrong does not seem to come in to the novel much.
- Agnes' development through the years is so brilliantly executed. From family archivist to lover to something I really wasn't expecting.
- The family drama! I could honestly see this being adapted for a TV series with ease!


What I didn't like:
-The ending. I swear I've read half a dozen Historical Fiction books making use of the same style ending and that was the only thing that really let me down. I predicted it might happen within the first few chapters and I was disappointed to be proved right.
-I wanted more of Meredith Bryant. I really enjoyed her interactions with her brother Harold but there wasn't enough of them for me.
- A few grammatical errors, but they're not deal breakers at this point.

A solid 4 stars from me!

I thought I was really going to enjoy this book, and I did, for the first half and then it slowly began to lose my interest. It turned out to be entirely different than I was expecting, and it didn’t appeal to me.

Agnes was a little too dull of a main character for me, she didn’t have a lot of personality and was very much a blank slate/mirror for those around her. There was a great deal of foreshadowing regarding her ‘past’ that was never really fleshed out properly and her romantic storyline was shallow at best. It wasn’t at all passionate and seemed to be held together by the finest threads of desire.

Some of the side characters, particularly the two surviving Bryant ‘children’ were slightly more interesting, but they barely had any interesting scenes. The conflict in the story was wishy-washy and I felt that the book just spanned too many years for what it was.

I didn’t hate it but I also had to push myself to finish it, it did nothing for me.

I received an arc from Netgalley in exchange for a review.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with a ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This was an enjoyable read, I loved the Edwardian era and all the historical elements throughout this book. The writing was very beautiful and descriptive. The premise of the book was very interesting and the beginning definitely was captivating. However, it did slow down and kind of drag towards the middle and end.

The relationship between Agnes and Lady Helen was well written and developed. Their dynamic was intriguing and definitely based on loyalty and servitude.

Overall, this was just a beautifully slow written historical family saga filled with secrets and a sapphic romance.

*I received this book free from NetGalley and the author in exchange for an honest review.*

When the writer suggested my participation on this blog tour, I checked the synopsis and classification first. I have to say I was already into it after having a look at these, but my excitement grew considerably when I was given the link to the book on NetGalley and saw this incredible cover!!! Isn’t it stunning?!

Thanks to Annabel Fielding who kindly asked me if I wanted to participate on this blog tour.

4 stars.

Agnes comes from a modest background and seems to be a sweet girl who doesn’t understand the dark secrets of the Bryants, an aristocratic family she comes to serve as an archivist to document the complete family history and bloodline at the end of the 19th century. As the story develops, mysteries and evil intentions are unveiled, which takes us to find out everyone carries their burden and most of them do not even care; including our sweet Agnes.

This historical fiction story depicts the years that lead to The Great War and those who came after this event, places in several European countries and life in England at the time, perfectly, taking the reader back in time to those settings and occurrences that changed the world.

I started this book completely lost. I was directly thrown into the story and could not comprehend Agnes Ashford’s motives. I could only discern there was a sweet girl working for a rich family in England, but her thoughts did not make sense to me at all. However, about 25% into the book, there are some discoveries that make the whole story come together and allow the reader to grasp the reasons given by our main character on the first chapters.

I’m not keen on spoiling books, so I’ll try to keep it as non-specific as possible. There’s a sapphic love story that made me smile many times throughout this book and also made me feel disgusted. The tragedy that love and life are are depicted masterfully. Everything has an end and it’s regularly a bittersweet one. This and the loyalty to historical events gave me that sense of reality and allowed me to immediately dive under the skin of one of the characters.

Characters are deeply developed, their backgrounds and motives understood. They’re relatable and coherent, unreliable, variable and as extreme as all humans are; especially since they reflect the society of those times from their corresponding social status.

The plot is full of twists and turns learnt not a bit too soon and the ending is one of my all-time favourites on a historical fiction.

If you like intrigue, historical fiction and LGBTQIA+ romance, this book is for you.

Hope you let me know in the comments if you get to read it!

When I started this blog last July, I also joined Twitter so that I could link my blog and hopefully get some eyes on my words. As a result I became a part of the Writing Community where I am able to interact with other writers. I really feel like I’ve found my tribe in a sense within the group. A few weeks after starting my blog a friend asked what I hoped to gain from doing this and it took me a while to answer because I honestly hadn’t thought of a goal apart from the joy I gained from writing again. Then eventually I told her that perhaps, if I am lucky, writers would send me their books so I can review them... Well almost a year later and a writer reached out to me through Twitter and asked if I would participate in a blog tour for her new novel! This review is by request of Author Annabel Fielding who graciously sent me a copy of her new book Lying with Lions in exchange for an honest review and participation in the blog tour.

Full disclosure historical fiction novels aren’t really my forte and I haven’t indulged in them by choice since leaving school. That said, I really enjoyed Lying with Lions. Set in Edwardian Era England, this novel was a political mystery with a side of romance and familial deceit. Fielding’s writing carried the grace and elegance that one would associate with the genre, while also maintaining an edginess as well as complexity of characters throughout the crafting of the plot, which followed a young woman as she navigated the generational and political intrigue surrounding the affluent Bryant family.

Fielding’s understanding of the era and the politics especially as they related to females enabled her to bring the story to life and even infuse some modernity without taking the reader out of the setting. I enjoyed the mystery and the politics more so than the romance. I haven’t read any LGBTQ romances so I really have no frame of reference as to whether it was relatable. As my first foray into LGBTQ romance, I will say that it played fairly obvious and somewhat predictable to me that a romance would develop between Agnes and Lady Helen which could just be my modern sensibilities. I understand that this type of romance during the era that the book was set added an extra layer of ‘danger’ and ‘intrigue’ but personally I didn’t find it as compelling. I did however, like the characterizations of Agnes and Lady Helen. These characters were intelligently written and Fielding captured the complexities and nuances that these women would have developed through the lives they led. I also take some exception to the time jumps which felt a touch convoluted but not sufficiently to derail my enjoyment of the novel.

Fielding’s Lying with Lions is a compelling story of rich characters and strong females set in a time when both weren’t as rare as you would believe. With themes of power and trauma, familial obligation and responsibilities, love and loss, secrecy and obsession, Lying with Lions is a great way to test the waters of historical LGBTQ fiction if you are looking for a new genre.
Available on Netgalley.com

Lying with Lions is set in Edwardian England and features Agnes Ashford as the lead character. We meet her as she uncovers a potentially chilling record whilst working on the Bryant family archives. Agnes is the sort of character who likes to get to the bottom of things and despite meeting resistance when she begins to probe for more detail about this record, she continues to seek out the truth. She develops a rapport of sorts with Lady Bryant and this permits her to draw back the curtain a little more on the history of the family and sheds a little light on some of the less savoury aspects of their past.

There is a lot more to Lying with Lions than I had been initially expecting. Although set in the past, there are a lot of comments which sadly still apply in todays society. Outward appearances must be maintained no matter what is going on under the surface and having an XX chromosomal arrangement will always leave you on the back foot and left to carry the weight of actions by those with either more money, status or simply XY genetics! There are plenty of layers to the story and it is very engaging to read. I liked Agnes as the lead, she has many positive qualities which make her well suited for the tasks she is undertaking and the family she must work with.

Lying with Lions is a fairly short read which packs a lot in. It is the first book by Annabel Fielding that I have read; she has also written A Pearl for my Mistress which is also historical fiction set in the 1930s so also worth a look!

About Annabel Fielding: Annabel Fielding, having graduated from the University of Arts London with an MA in Public Relations, is a PR assistant by day and a novelist by night. Being a self-professed history geek, she dedicates her free time to obscure biographies, solo travel and tea. She also posts a mix of book reviews and travel photos on her blog at http://historygeekintown.com

Thank you to Netgalley and the author for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review!
Before starting this book, I was in a MASSIVE reading slump and I’m so glad I picked up this book because it was a very quick and enjoyable read and I feel it’s gotten me out of my slump!!! Historical fiction is typically a genre I don’t tend to go towards but the synopsis plus the fact that this had a sapphic couple made me very excited to read this!!! The writing style was automatically something I loved from the very start, it has that porse-type style to it that I always love. Agnes also interested me because of how smart she seemed and I loved how ambitious she is throughout the story, especially because it was something I could relate to in the character. But, I found beyond that I didn’t really care that much for her character. Initially I went into the book for the romance (as I always do lol), but I was pleasantly surprised with the fact that the plot was very, very well developed and I found I enjoyed it more than the romance aspect. I didn’t connect much at all to Lady Helen and her relationship with Agnes, which was disappointing. I feel this is definitely a book to read more so for the plot and aesthetic rather than the characters and romance. I’m very glad I checked out this book and will definitely look forward to reading more of the authors works!!!!

‘Lying With Lions’ is a historical family saga, starting in the Edwardian era. Agnes Ashford is an archivist for the Bryant family, an important and influential family, thanks in part to the money from Lady Helen’s dowry. Whilst combing through the family’s papers she uncovers a secret. With this information she becomes invaluable to Lady Helen and her life changes for the better. But in order to hold onto that life Agnes must make uncomfortable choices.

I enjoyed reading about Agnes and her life, in a time where single women without family had difficult choices to make to survive. We see how society changes during the Edwardian era and into the new era of George V. The family Agnes works for has to change too. Their lives have been pampered and regimented for centuries, but the new era begins to break down the barriers between the classes. And the Bryants and Davenports were not prepared for that. The romantic elements of the story were handed well, as they were written with subtlety and a gentle touch. There’s a gothic touch to the story too and this added an extra element.

I was given this ARC for review.

Massively outside my comfort zone and normal read this is an LGBTQ historical family drama, set in Edwardian England, with parts of the story based on historical facts; albeit specifically not about this family. It did take me a few chapters to get into the book but it was an interesting and intriguing read.

Briefly, Agnes Ashford has obtained employment as an archivist for the wealthy and powerful Lord and Lady Bryant. However, when Lord Bryant dies, in suspicious circumstances, she sees an opportunity and soon becomes Lady Helen Bryant’s secretary, and lover…. With Lady Helen’s estranged son taking over the title new threats arise for the family. Threats that Agnes deals with in her own way.

Annabel Fielding is clearly a very talented writer and her description are beautifully written; you can almost believe you are there with them. There are quite a number of different tales interwoven into the book and at times I found myself a bit confused. The character are well written. Lady Helen was not at all likeable although she clearly seemed softened by her feelings for Agnes. Agnes however seemed likeable initially but she was clearly bent on raising her position in society and is not worried how she does it. I had feelings of sorrow for Agnes at first but it soon became clear that her morals left much to be desired. A haunting and sometime dark tale with a modicum of romance this was an enjoyable read and I would consider reading another historical offering in the future. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

My thanks to NetGalley and the author for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

To be quite honest, even though, I tend to be quite partial towards historical fiction I don’t think that this book was for me. I felt like it dragged on often but that may just be because I am very used to reading more fantasy-like plots or plots with lots of action. I thought that the writing was very flowery and appropriately fitting the time. I definitely recommend this for fans of more classical novels.