House of Shadows

September 15, 2017
Holly's brother, Ben, has vanished while doing some family-history research at Ashdown, in Oxfordshire, where they grew up. This prompts Holly to dump her unsatisfactory fiance, leave London, and move herself and her glass-engraving studio back home. As she settles into village life (aided by soldier turned property-developer Mark), her determination to find Ben sends her down a path into the history of Ashdown House, which in fact was built back in the seventeenth century for Elizabeth Stuart (known as the Winter Queen), and into the superstitions and legends surrounding a crystal mirror and a pearl that once belonged to Elizabeth and that, when used together, have a destructive conjuring power. Forays into Elizabeth's life alternate with Holly's in the present day. Her discovery of the diary of a Regency-era courtesan who was living in Ashdown House when it burned down in 1801 (a bit of artistic license here, since the real house is still standing) adds more pieces to the puzzle. Popular romance- and fiction-author Cornick skillfully packages all these elements into an enjoyable read.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2017, American Library Association.)