Slow burning historical drama where magic and death are strange bedfellows The Death of Jane Lawrence by Caitlin Starling Publisher : St. Martin's Press (5 Oct. 2021) Language : English Hardcover : 368 pages ISBN-10 : 1250272580 ISBN-13 : 978-1250272584 Caitlin Starling makes an ambitious change of direction from her 2019 debut The Luminous Dead, which was nominated for a Bram stoker Award in the First Novel category. That story was a fascinating and atmospheric blend of horror and science fiction, with this latest tale pairing horror with historical and period drama. The Death of Jane Lawrence was one of those books I enjoyed in fits and starts, finding some sections tested my patience, whilst others were very entertaining. It certainly has the potential to find an audience, but equally it will not surprise me if many readers struggle in making it to the end. However, it is worth persevering, as the first and second halves of the plot are significantly different from each other, with the pace quickening in the latter part. The title of the novel The Death of Jane Lawrence is a slight spoiler for what lies ahead. Do not let that put you off though, much of the fun is how the plot arrives there and nothing is quite what it seems. And that includes death. When the novel opens the main character Jane Shoringfield is plotting to find a husband, however, she is not looking for love and is after a marriage of convenience, so she can remain independent and carry on with her own career. Her first choice is the dashing, but reclusive doctor Augustine Lawrence who would be seen as a major catch. Going back to the title of the book: you know what is going to happen; the couple click. The plot takes its time finding its legs and true direction, which begins when Augustine tells Jane that there is a unbreakable condition to their marriage: she must never stay the night at Lindridge Hall, his crumbling family manor outside of town. Jane agrees, but the reader knows this is not going to happen, with her realising that her husband is a very different man when he is on his own turf. Much of the novel is about uncovering secrets and Jane finding herself seriously out of her depth in the empty and unloved house. It takes a while for anything supernatural (or ‘magical’ for want of a better word) to happen, which might put off some readers, but Jane is an engaging main character, and she comfortably carries the novel on her shoulders, even if she does prefer numbers to people. Various blurbs and promotional materials have namechecked Crimson Peak and this was a fair enough comparison, the underlying brooding romance was a key part of the story, with Jane on edge over the potential skeletons (romantic or otherwise) lurking in her new husband’s closet. Even though there a fair amount of gore, courtesy of several operating scenes, fans of quite sedate stuff like Jane Eyre or the atmospheric work of Shirley Jackson might enjoy this, even if the final third is very heavy on the magical, with potential madness or separation from reality not far away. The setting was an intriguing one, but it did not truly click for me. One of the blurbs says “Set in a dark-mirror version of post-war England” to be frank, I am not too sure all readers would even notice this unless it was pointed out to them. I found this confusing and kept thinking, for some reason, it was set after the American Civil War! This location was just not defined well enough or distinguished from our own world to make any noticeable difference to the plot. BookRiot said “It’s like Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell meets Mexican Gothic meets Crimson Peak.” I have read both books and seen the film and the quote is a fair sell, however, the alternative reality where The Death of Jane Lawrence exists is not a patch on Jonathan Strange and Mrs Norrell or any of the best in alternative reality fiction, such as Ishiguru’s Never Let Me Go. Interesting little tip-bits were dropped here and there, but there not enough of them to make this reality intriguing enough to truly shine. The alternate mirror version of Great Britain is called ‘Great Breltain’, whose capital Camhurst, is struggling to recover and rebuild after suffering gas attacks from the ‘Ruzkans.’ I was not sure of the point in having a place where the location names were so similar to our own. Organized religion has become unpopular following the war, after many citizens found they were unable to combat the horrors of war and industrialization with mere faith. So, God, Christianity, and the Devil are never mentioned in the story and there were some really great scenes which illustrated the cultural shift. After the marriage, there was this odd gathering of all the locals who followed and congregated around the married couple. Also, I noticed women had very good jobs, one of the secondary main characters was a surgeon, which most certainly would not be the case in the early 20th Century in our reality. The plot swings into a standard slow-burning gothic horror story, with a few variations, but repetition sets in before the end. However, the use of mathematical inquiry and the concept of zero to make sense of death and transcendence in the second half of the novel was fascinating, but I must admit I did not understand it all. Considering the book was a fair length, it was a tough ask for Jane to carry it on her own, although her struggle with moral goodness and empathy was always engaging, it could have done with more characters or alternative perspectives. The servants were wallpaper in the background and the visiting surgeons (who practiced magic) seemed only to be a plot device in order to give Jane some magical tips. Perhaps ‘magic’ is a better word than ‘supernatural’ for what goes on in this novel, but whichever you prefer it was very well presented and thought out by the author and was perhaps the most interesting aspect of this alternative reality. The Death of Jane Lawrence was an intriguing mix of literary ideas and although it never becoming a bodice ripping romantic tale, it does in places teeter towards it. However, Jane Lawrence was an engaging and, very much, a modern woman who embraces the magical world with both hands and with some bravery when the chips were down. Tony Jones  From the Bram Stoker-nominated author of The Luminous Dead comes a gothic fantasy horror--The Death of Jane Lawrence. "Intense and amazing! It's like Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell meets Mexican Gothic meets Crimson Peak." --BookRiot Practical, unassuming Jane Shoringfield has done the calculations, and decided that the most secure path forward is this: a husband, in a marriage of convenience, who will allow her to remain independent and occupied with meaningful work. Her first choice, the dashing but reclusive doctor Augustine Lawrence, agrees to her proposal with only one condition: that she must never visit Lindridge Hall, his crumbling family manor outside of town. Yet on their wedding night, an accident strands her at his door in a pitch-black rainstorm, and she finds him changed. Gone is the bold, courageous surgeon, and in his place is a terrified, paranoid man--one who cannot tell reality from nightmare, and fears Jane is an apparition, come to haunt him. By morning, Augustine is himself again, but Jane knows something is deeply wrong at Lindridge Hall, and with the man she has so hastily bound her safety to. Set in a dark-mirror version of post-war England, Caitlin Starling crafts a new kind of gothic horror from the bones of the beloved canon. This Crimson Peak-inspired story assembles, then upends, every expectation set in place by Shirley Jackson and Rebecca, and will leave readers shaken, desperate to begin again as soon as they are finished. "Don't read this one alone at night; Caitlin Starling has done it again. Unsettling, atmospheric, and downright brutal at times, The Death of Jane Lawrence will continue to haunt you long after you leave Lindridge Hall...if the house lets you leave, that is." --Genevieve Gornichec, author of The Witch's Heart TODAY ON THE GINGER NUTS OF HORROR WEBSITE {FEATURE} |
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