I thoroughly enjoyed Gentlemen and Players and Different Class and this is a worthy third and final chapter in a series that follows the life of Latin teacher, Roy Straitley, and his fellow teachers and pupils at St Oswalds. It took me a little while to get into it. It’s a while since I read the other books so I struggled to remember the characters at first. Once it gets going though, it’s a real page turner with twists and turns along the way, like all good psychological thrillers.

The title, The Narrow Door, refers to the difficulty women have in breaking into the world of men. Rebecca Buckfast is a complex character who manipulates men to suit her needs. I enjoyed that aspect very much!

With thanks to Orion Publishing and NetGalley for a review copy.

A bit of a treat is this! An academic and mysterious setting fuelled by legends of Greek rivers. What a book! It's very hard to write about without saying something that will give the plot away so ...just read it. It's Joanne Harris. It's quirky and exciting.

Although I have read the authors other books this is the first St Oswalds book that I have read, and I have now purchased the others. I really enjoyed this book, the descriptions, the setting, to be honest the book as a whole was superb. I found myself becoming so involved in the story that I could not put the book down. I do not feel that I missed anything in this series of books by starting at the end, but I do want to read the previous books if they are all as superb as this one. This is truly a do not miss book.

I'm a newcomer to Harris' St Oswald books. (although I'll be getting the others straightaway) and I know they're not a series but there's always a worry with that that you're missing out on background, inside knowledge - but not here. As a standalone this works. It's got a lovely sinister gothic vibe, and the dual timelines/perspectives device works so well here. There's a really foreboding, sinister atmosphere throughout as mysteries unravel to a hugely satisfying conclusion. Love this!

This is superb! I absolutely loved every carefully written word. As a huge fan of Joanne Harris’ writing I looked forward to this and wasn’t disappointed.As an ex MFL teacher myself I appreciated the authenticity of school life ( based I assume on her own experience) and the description of the various teachers! The plot very quickly engaged me and the slow unravelling of who did what and when kept me guessing until the end.
Thank you for allowing me to read this proof ,I will certainly buy and reread

Rebecca Buckfast née Price is the first woman headteacher through the ‘narrow door’ of St Oswalds, Malbry, the institution rocked by murder and scandal. She represents its future just as Roy Straitley, classics teacher of many years, is its past. Becky aims to demonstrate that Roy is wrong about woman, that her ambition will throw open these hallowed narrow doors wide by, shock, horror, admitting female students. Both are haunted, Becky by the ghostly form of her missing brother Conrad, her aged five memories seem to make little sense while Roy is haunted by Eric Scoones, one time friend whose memory is seriously tainted. This is a journey through memories, a face off for the soul of St Oswalds, the old versus the new, who is the spider, who the fly and who will emerge victorious? The novel has alternating timelines from 1989 and 2006, with rival schools St O’s and King Henry’s Grammar School taking centre stage.

I’m so glad to return to St O’s and Straitley, who, despite his straight jacket of convention is a favourite character and I enjoy the battle between him and feminist Becky who is a strong woman who has overcome much. It’s a clever psychological thriller that uses the Greek mythological rivers of the underworld to get to the truth about Conrad Price. The writing and plot flow as effortlessly as the rivers we float through. First Acheron, where the woes of creepy, spooky, menacing images of Becky’s childhood haunt the page. Onto Cocytus (Lamentation) which is spine tingling, hair raising and jaw dropping especially the archaic nature of male dominated King Henry’s in its dismissiveness of any femininity. Onward to Lethe (Forgetfulness) with the dilemma of childhood memories versus imagination, what is real and what is false? Here suspicion grows, there’s control and the bubbling up of guilt. The pace and tempo increases in Phlegethan (Burning) where tension is as taut as piano wire as the narrow door of suspicion crashes and burns and is battered down in Styx (hate). Here is reality and understanding of Becky’s raison d’être with monstrous revelations and fighting back. It comes to a head in Mnemosyne (Goddess of Memory) often unreliable and into Asphodel, the land of the dead where through the distorted mirror of memory we get to Tartarus, the land of eternal darkness and oh boy, it is dark and breathtaking. The storytelling is superb, the characterisation is masterful, it’s multilayered, extremely clever and absolutely impossible to put down.

Overall, I knew I’d love this and I do. Joanne Harris is one of my favourite authors, she is a superb writer of compelling and immersive books. Although this is Malbry #3 (Gentlemen and Players, A Different Class) it is an easy read as a stand-alone. It’s a well deserved five star read in my opinion.

With thanks to NetGalley and especially to Orion for the much appreciated arc in return for an honest review.

Dark, Gothic, this story explores the closed and claustrophobic world of a private school. Great characters, twisting plot and expertly written. Highly recommended .

#ANarrowDoor #NetGalley
A good novel.
Rebecca Buckfast has spilled blood to reach this position. Barely forty, she is just starting to reap the harvest of her ambition. As the new regime takes on the old guard, the ground shifts. And with it, the remains of a body are discovered. But Rebecca is here to make her mark. She'll bury the past so deep it will evade even her own memory, just like she has done before. After all.
Characters were really fantastic.
Thanks to NetGalley and Orion Publishing Group for giving me an advanced copy.