The Woman in the Wallpaper is a mesmerizing debut that weaves gothic mystery, psychological depth, and a touch of the supernatural into an utterly spellbinding tale. From the very first page, Lora Jones crafts a haunting atmosphere reminiscent of The Miniaturist and The Yellow Wallpaper, pulling readers into a world where reality and illusion blur.

The novel’s protagonist is both compelling and deeply human, navigating a story filled with eerie imagery, family secrets, and a creeping sense of unease. Jones’ prose is beautifully evocative, painting vivid scenes that linger long after you turn the final page. The way she explores themes of identity, obsession, and female agency through a gothic lens is masterful.

I was completely captivated by the mystery at the heart of this novel and found myself unable to put it down. Every twist was perfectly placed, and the ending left me breathless. This is a must-read for fans of atmospheric, thought-provoking fiction—I can’t wait to see what Lora Jones writes next!

An historical history novel set in 1780s France when revolution is in the air. In Marseilles, Sofi and Lara live a comfortable life with their stonemason father and mother, although rising rents and food shortages can make things difficult. When their father dies tragically, the 3 women are forced to leave and they go to a small village near Paris to work in a wallpaper factory run by the Obersts. Josef is the son and the two sisters form a relationship with him. Sofi sees a sort of connection because as she lost her father, Josef lost his mother in strange circumstances - a mystery that carries through the novel. The wallpaper produced is intricately patterned with little vignettes and Lara sees echoes within them to her own life. The workers in the factory are starting to clamour for more pay and Josef's father decides to marry him off to the daughter of an aristocratic family so that more money can be brought into the factory. Hortense is entitled and selfish, surrounding herself with fripperies while the workers go without - she even buy clothes for her pampered dog. Lara becomes her maid and is installed in the tower where Josef's mother had her rooms, but within the tower, Lara can't escape the feeling that she is being watched. Sofi meanwhile becomes more politically aware. We have the three POVs, that of Sofi, Lara and Hortense who I disliked more and more each time and we are taken through events such as the storming of the Bastille and Madame Guillotine. Although you do have some inkling of where the fates of these three women lie, you are never quite sure. There are moments of shock and suspense and secrets to be revealed. The sense of growing danger is excellent and I was with the two sisters the entire time. A super debut novel.

Since hearing about The Woman in the Wallpaper last year I have been really excited about getting a copy and got it on publication day. Historical Fiction is still my favourite genre and this book is set against the backdrop of the French Revolution, a time of change and anger. Add to this a touch of the supernatural, and sense of ‘other’ and you have the makings of a compelling read.

The book is narrated by by sisters Lara, Soffi and Hortense who is part of the aristocracy. Laura and Soffi are devestated after the death of their father in Marseilles and this is made worse when they have to move to Jouy en Jouvent just outside Paris to work in a Wallapaper Factory. The sisters have always been close but divisions start to arise; Soffi feels that Lara gets a better job than her, and Soffi has feelings for Josef, the heir to the factory but he is only interested in her sister. Hortense lives at Versailles with her parents, she is privileged, difficult and blunt. When I first came across Hortense I laughted at her observations and sarcasm, it was refeshing, but as the book went on I found that she was spoilt and selfish. With the Revolution gatherig pace, she is everything the workers in the factory and in particular Soffi find abhorrent, especially when she is forced to marry Josef, heir to the factory. Their different stories were each fascinating in their own way, different outlooks on life and the politics of the time, the different roles they played and their relationships with the same man.

As well as fascinating characters the plot to this book is addictive and at times unsettling. At it’s centre is a love story between Josef’s parents, a love story that is told in the wallpaper used in the house. In that Wallpaper Lara is convinces she sees herself, in situations she has been in and this gets worse when she moves into the house as a ladies maid. Throughout the book there runs a sinister undercurrent as to how Josef’s mother died, with insinuations that she was murdered which plays on both Soffi and Lara’s minds as they both make judgments. I loved the historical aspect to the book, Paris under siege by the revolutionaries, the feelings on both sides that are part of the book and how it effects the poor, using soil to bulk out flour for bread.

I loved Lora Jones writing style, it was descriptive and grabbed me from the first page. Her historical research is a huge part of this book, and she made it easy to read and understand what was happening. She captured the fear, anger and hightened emotions of the period, and took the reader into the heart of the protests. This book took a path I never expected that made the last one hundred pages difficult to read and that gave me a sickening feeling as it hurtled towards the conclusion.

The Woman in the Wallaper was everything I hoped it would be and a lot more. It had an atmospheric and haunting feel that was offset by some witt in Hortense’s story. The characrers were well drawn, I really become invested in their stories, especially Lara who was kind and did what was best for her family. This is a beautifully written book and I can’t believe this is Lora Jones’ debut novel, she is very talented and I can’t wait to see what she writes next.

📚Book Review📚

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I want to thank NetGalley for approving me for an ARC of this book. Special thank you to my buddy readers @wendyreadsbooks and @jan_is_reading.

Set in Paris, in the 1700s, we met Sofi and Lara. Two sisters from a working class family, who find themselves working at a wallpaper factory.

There are secrets, torment, heartache and gothic vibes running through the tale, and you're never sure who to trust. Every character seems haunted by their decisions or experiences and the character development was delivered perfectly.

🌟🌟🌟🌟

The Woman In The Wallpaper is a historical thriller that follows two Sisters that are very close. Unfortunate circumstances mean they have to move near to Paris, and the French Revolution is getting worse.
They meet the new family that they work for, and form close relationships with their fellow workers. The two sisters’ lives start to separate and Lara especially seems to have her life mirrored in the wallpaper that is made in the family’s factory. Meanwhile, Sofi is getting involved in the political views of fellow workers.
All I can say is that although the story started off slowly, boy did it get going afterwards!! It’s a very gripping story with lots of suspense and mystery. I really enjoyed it! I do believe this is a debut novel so I I really look forward to seeing what comes next from this author!
Many thanks to The Little Brown Book Group for the opportunity to read this arc copy via Netgalley. My opinion is my own.
#Netgalley, #TheLittleBrownBookGroup_Uk, #LoraJonesWriter.

3.5/4

The Woman in the Wallpaper is a historical fiction novel set against the backdrop of the French Revolution, a particularly turbulent time in European history.

Sofi and Lara Thibault are sisters whose lives change after a tragedy. They find themselves at the home of the Oberst family who are the owners of a wallpaper factory. Lara is, at first, given a job within the factory but having caught the eye of the owner's son and following Josef's marriage, she is employed as the lady's maid to Josef's wife - an aristocrat who is about as happy to be married off to a factory owner as Josef is to have her.

However all their lives are turned upside down with the coming of the revolution.

Lora Jones must have trawled through a ton of research to give this novel an authentic feel. She freely admits that she has fiddled with some parts in order to fit her narrative but for those of us who are not scholars of this time it certainly hung together well.

Lara and Sofi are well-rounded characters and even the dreadful aristocrat wife, Hortense has her softer moments.

Nobody is quite what they seem in this novel and all are changed by the revolutionary fever that swept the country.

It did take me a little time to get into the narrative as there is some magical realism thrown in throughout. However, ultimately I enjoyed the whole book and the end was satisfying.

Thankyou to Netgalley and Little, Brown for the advance review copy.

I received an ARC of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. I note it has just passed publication date.
Set in Paris and Marseille at the time of the French Revolution It's narrative follows the lives of both the landed gentry and the proletariat. Most of the action take place in or around the wallpaper factory of the Orstadt family and there is some focus on a particular wallpaper pattern.
To be fair the narrative is not at all what I expected, I think the balance is not quite right, the woman in the wallpaper felt like an also ran theme rather than the main focus.

I am not sure that I liked any of the characters - would I come down on one side, rather than the other? Maybe I would but that is probably because of the disparities in society rather than the story telling or characterisation.

It is a long book - perhaps too long. Some parts read well and others feel like they are caught in a bit of a maelstrom.

I think the author does well to draw everything together at the end but it failed to really reach the high notes

I am not sure I would be tempted to read more from this author

As France teeters on the edge of revolution, the Thibault women are forced to leave their home in Marseilles to work at the wallpaper factory owned by the Obersts. There Sofie falls hard for the son of the factory owner but he only has eyes for her sister Lara. However Josef is forced to marry spoiled aristocrat Hortense. As Sofie becomes more radicalised, the royal family falls and being an aristocrat is a danger that comes very close to the family.
As a setting for a novel this is a really good one, it combines radicalism with romance and a little mystery which does work well. The characters are portrayed with broad brush strokes, rather than being particularly nuanced, and it is only towards the very end that some of the back stories are explored. In fact the only thing spoiling this book for me was the theme around the wallpaper and its changing patterns - it wasn't strong enough to compete with the rest and actually just seemed to be an extra, unnecessary layer.

This is once again one of those debut novels where you cannot believe you are reading a debut. So beautifully written with an intricate storyline that has so many layers to it.

Sisters Lara and Sofi along with their mother, move from Marseilles to Jouy, a little outside Paris, to start work at a wallpaper factory after the loss of their father and family lodgings. It isn’t long before their lives are entangled with the factory owner’s son, who seems bewitched by Lara but who Sofi has fallen for herself. There are secrets Lara’s mother keeps, secrets between the sisters and secrets within the factory owner’s family too.

As we follow the sisters, who despite being so different in personality, love each other so dearly, we are also given glimpses into the workings of the factory and the French Revolution: the time during which the novel is set. The writing is so descriptive, I could see it all come to life in my mind’s eye as I read on. It is a wonderful blend of fiction and fact, allowing you to envisage what life was like for both poor and rich alike in those times.

The mysteries are unravelled as we turn the pages and I will tell you, it is not all as it seems! I really enjoyed this one!

The French Revolution is one of the most fascinating periods of history for me. So much more than the execution of a king, this book brings to life the background of the unrest and also the fall out of the violence. Three incredibly strong female heroines take the lead in this book, each have their own viewpoint and each let us into their lives one by one. I warmed to each of them, yes, even the spoilt Hortense, there was so much more to her character. Lora uses short chapters to capture perfectly the fast paced story and how things change in the blink of an eye. Right from the start I fell in love with this book, it made me cry, it made me slam it down in anger when I realised what disaster was unravelling and it broke my heart in many pieces. The ending was perfect. The whole novel was. I couldn’t believe this was a debut as it was incredibly well written, sympathetic to all characters. Beautiful.

Sometimes you’ve just got to go with it. This bold historical debut with its setting of France at the time of the Revolution is certainly audacious, at times over-blown, occasionally verging on the ridiculous, but do you know what, it won me over, very much as Kathleen Winsor’s English Restoration set classic from the 1940s did “Forever Amber” which ended up in my Top 5 of the year in 2023.

I’m not sure that this book will do this but it has a lot to recommend it. It actually starts off quite calmly focusing on the production of Toile de Jouoy wallpaper although a guillotine’s presence in the Prologue suggests that all will not go well for at least one of the characters. There are three first-person narratives from would-be artist sisters Sofi and Lara (I felt initially Lara needed a stronger identity within her narrative to distinguish her from her sister) and representing the nobility, the spoilt Hortense, whose entry into the book provides a definite shift, living at Versailles with her parents who are keen to find her an advantageous marriage.

Circumstances take the sisters away from sketching around their Marseilles home to the Oberst wallpaper and fabric factory and there things continue to escalate. An old injury causes Lara to hallucinate at times causing the scenes in the wallpaper to change or come alive which adds a surreal touch and perhaps, if anything, there’s rather too much wallpaper in this book.

What works for me is the flavour of the period which once again may have the contrast turned up a little too vividly but the author does well to convey the indignation of the masses and the shift towards paranoia of the nobility.

There are quite a lot of changes of tone here and it’s not always clear where the author is going but I actually like that. Some scenes and plot events grated on me, some I felt really worked and like the aforementioned Winsor book it’s all done with such enthusiasm that it kept me enthralled as to what the author was going to put her characters through next. It’s all brought vividly to life- it might get some disapproval from historical fiction fans who like a close adherence to facts but I found it all rather entertaining.

The Woman In The Wallpaper was published on 20th February 2025 by Sphere Books. Many thanks to the publishers and Netgalley for the advance review copy.

A friend passed along an ARC to me so I’m happy to have read it around publication!

This is a historical fiction set in 18th century France. Sisters Sofi and Lara have their world turned upside down after the death of their father, and they move to begin work at a wallpaper factory. At the factory, the wallpaper itself features the owner’s deceased wife, who died mysteriously.

Both sisters connect with Josef, the son of the owner. As time goes on, Sofi becomes interested in the revolution. We also follow Hortense, part of the aristocracy, so this was a very different point of view. She struggles to adjust in Paris, and the lives of these women will be forever changed not just by their life at the factory, but also by the revolution.

I thought the concept was really interesting. I don’t think I’ve read any historical fiction set at this time, but I am interested in the French revolution, so it worked really well to see the wide impact on a range of people. I also definitely wanted to find out what the deal was with the wallpaper.

Honestly, I flew through this. The book is pretty chunky, but most of the chapters are extremely short, so I found it really easy to just keep reading large sections at a time. This was especially true as the POVs alternated throughout, and I found the end section of the book the most engaging.

The characters were definitely flawed, but I was also rooting for them. In particular, the sibling relationship between Sofi and Lara felt really fleshed out. However, all three of the main characters really irritated me at times. This was true most for Hortense, which was definitely intentional from the author’s part, which I get. But given some things that happened later in the book, I found it hard to feel sympathetic on the whole. As for Sofi and Lara, both of them made decisions which I really just could not understand. There were also a few developments of Josef’s character which I won’t mention (as they are spoilers) but I didn’t like how that played out at all.

Based on the synopsis, I thought there would be some fantastical elements, but that wasn’t the case. There was definitely an air of mystery, but I really only felt it strongly towards the end. I think the pacing was just a bit uneven throughout.

There were definitely some moments in the book I was not expecting. Some parts, I thought I could predict, but then I ended up being wrong. Some of the twists I thought were great! However, some of the explanations and results at the end of the book were a bit too neatly tied up for me and I felt a bit disappointed.

It sounds like I have a lot of negatives, now that I am reflecting on my thoughts. I really think the very end was just let down by how everything resolved. However, I really enjoyed my overall reading experience and I was hooked throughout. Overall, I’m still happy I read this, but I doubt I will revisit it in the future.

I was completely entralled by this historical fiction novel set during the French revolution. Told from the POVs of three women; their lives, loves and struggles are vividly depicted thoughout the story.

I enjoyed the rich detail that I found immersive and brought this whole world into life. Some may find the pace a little slow but I appreciated the leisurely unfolding of the mystery surrounding the woman in the wallpaper. A spellbinding read I just wanted to savour.

Thank you to Little, Brown Book Group and Netgalley for providing me with a copy to read and review.

I thought this was going to be more a gothic novel than it was. Slight YA vibes too!
I enjoyed it, definitely speeds up considerably towards the end but didn't really take to the characters (except Hortense & little Pepin!).

1789.
The Oberst Factory supplies beautiful wallpaper for the best Parisienne homes.
There is always a woman depicted in the wallpaper who is said to be Mrs Oberst, who died in suspicious circumstances.
Two sisters, Lara and Sofi, come to work at the factory and soon form a friendship with Josef, the owners son.
Soon their lives seem to be intertwined with the wallpaper as is the wallpaper in Josef,s house.
What is happening?

This is a gothic style historical fiction and enjoyed it thoroughly. 2 sisters arrive at a wallpaper factory in Paris. The year is 1789. The two sisters form a friendship with Josef Oberst heir to the factory who lost his mother when he was just 11 years old. Whilst Sofi becomes increasingly involved with the revolution Lara finds herself as Josefs new brides lady maid.

Lara finds herself and her life mirrored within the ever changing wallpaper in her room. Lara becomes increasingly concerned that she is in danger and will have her life cut short like the late Mrs Oberst.

I did find this to be a slow starter but I persevered and I am so glad I did. This is a perfect example of historical fiction with a gothic twist. I look forward to reading more by this author and I definitely think they may become an auto buy author for me especially if they continue with the historical fiction genre

Sorry to say, I gave up on this one as I really didn’t connect with the characters. It was a poor choice for me.

Strangely enthralling.

Set at the time of the French revolution, this is the story of working people who are struggling to afford the very basics of life while the nobility live it up - but that is only part of the tale . . .

I hold my hands up that I didn't appreciate the gothic part of this novel when I began reading. Not my usual kind of read - and not a part of history where I knew more than the basics but I found myself sinking into this one quite quickly. It wasn't always comfortable reading, but that was all down to me. It's an engrossing read, beautifully written and, for me, four stars - only because it's way out of my comfort zone.

My thanks to the publisher for my copy via NetGalley.

Two sisters, Lara and Sofie Thibault and Hortense, a young woman from Versailles, are the central female characters in this fascinating debut novel.
Set amongst the events leading to the French Revolution in 1789, Lara and Sofie work at the Oberst factory in Jouy , this makes the famous material, in this novel it is wallpaper, a very expensive product for the grand houses of Paris and the Palace of Versailles.
Toile de Jouy is comprised of small vignettes, pictures of pastoral scenes, usually idealised images of happy, healthy country folk, or love scenes using period figures. When Lara observes these images closely in her work, she notices they echo her own life events, and she also bears a stunning resemblance to the central character Justine, the deceased wife of the Oberst factory owner.
Sofie is the more radically minded and politically aware of the sisters, so when food riots and workers unrest reach Jouy, she and other workers go to Paris to witness the storming of the Bastille, the symbolic start of the Terror, which eventually culminates in the introduction of Madame Guillotine.
Hortense is a spoilt young woman from the Palace of Versailles, her haughty manner has not endeared her to the many suitors her father has introduced to her, so when Josef Oberst agrees to marry her, she reluctantly agrees, his family are trade, and so below her station!
When they both move to Jouy, the lives of these three women collide in spectacular ways that bring events in Paris and Jouy to a stunningly and desperately sad conclusion.
Not your normal happy ever after story. This is a Gothic, almost supernatural romance, filled with suspense, emotional heartbreak, with an underlying theme of mental health issues. There is a wonderful blend of historical facts and fiction. The saying of walls have ears, should now be updated to walls have eyes?
I found the medical question of how long a body could remain lucid after decapitation to be most interesting, this supposedly happened after the execution of Mary, Queen of Scots, her lips were observed moving for several minutes after her death.
A five star novel. Lengthy but so well researched, and not interrupting the flow of the narrative. A really enjoyable story, with wonderful twists and turns
I look forward to future novels from this author.
My thanks to Netgalley and the publishers, Little, Brown Book Group UK, for my ARC, freely given in exchange for my honest review. I will leave reviews to Goodreads and Amazon UK upon publication..

Told in a three person narrative, we get the unfolding story of Lara and Sofi Thibault, sisters who, after a family tragedy, move from Marseille, to the Oberst wallpaper factory in Jouy, to learn the skill of wallpaper production. We also meet Hortense du Pommier, a spoiled aristocratic young woman, whose brittle personality epitomises the French aristocracy on the eve of revolution and whose marriage into the Oberst family brings the lives of these three women into sharp spotlight.

The story gets off to a slow and steady start and sets the scene of discord well with a chilling opening chapter.. This was a time of great social and political upheaval with swathes of poverty and hardship which is juxtaposed against the blatant wealth of the aristocracy who quickly become the target for violence. Both Lara and Sofi are fascinating characters, emotionally close as only sisters can be, who need to find their way in an increasingly troubled time. Hortense, adds her own sense of volatility to this story of three very different young women who were caught up in some of the most momentous years in French history. The production of the Oberst wallpaper is well explained and quickly becomes another character in the novel and adds an interesting dimension to this fascinating story.

Well researched, and rich in historical detail, The Woman in the Wallpaper is an imaginatively written historical novel and a commendable debut by a talented writer.