prettylittlewriter

Synopsis 
'When librarian Sigrun falls head-over-heels for the sophisticated and very married Edgar Leyward, she never expects to find herself in his bed—or his heart. Nevertheless, when his enigmatic wife Octavia dies from a sudden illness, Sigrun finds herself caught up in a whirlwind romance worthy of the most lurid novels on her bookshelves. Sigrun soon discovers Octavia wasn't Edgar's first lost love, or even his second. Three women Edgar has loved met early deaths. As she delves into her beloved's past through a trove of discovered letters, the edges of Sigrun identity begin to disappear, fading into the women of the past.

Sigrun tells herself it's impossible for any dark magic to be at play—that the dead can't possibly inhabit the bodies of the living—but something shadowy stalks the halls of the Leyward house and the lines between the love of the present and the obsessions of the past become increasingly blurred—and bloody.’

I managed to squeeze this novel in as my last one of August, as its only 280 pages long, and I read it in a couple of days.  I went into it knowing it was going to be a thriller, but didn’t actually realise there was supernatural element to it until the novel was coming to a close. It was a great surprise, and the twist was very clever.

However, I did not enjoy this novel as much as I’d hoped. I found Sigrun’s character quite annoying at times, and I often had no sympathy for her, especially as she complained about Edgar’s wife Octavia, as she knew full well he was married when they met.

Parts of Sigrun’s personality becomes clearer as the novel progresses, as you realise that it’s not necessarily her own free will that is causing her to act this way, but I still had a bit of an issue with how she treated her friend that she worked with in the library.

I actually did like the character of Edgar, he seemed to be a very kind man, and I think he did care for Sigrun in his own way, even if there was more to it than met the eye. What he did for love, was very sweet, and he was incredibly devoted.

The twist at the end was definitely the best part, it was very clever and unexpected, and something I hadn’t seen before, which is why I am giving this a slightly higher rating than I would for the rest of the novel!

Overall a very interesting concept and story, just let down by it's unlikeable main character.

3.5/5 stars

Publication date; 25th January 2022