Black Rabbit Hall

December 21, 2015
This leisurely paced modern British gothic is the debut novel from journalist Chase. Thirty-two-year-old schoolteacher Lorna and her fiancé, Jon, a carpenter who works for his family construction business, are Londoners in Cornwall to inspect possible venues for their marriage celebration. One place fetching Lorna’s eye is the estate Pencraw Hall, better known as Black Rabbit Hall, which has seen better days. Upon their arrival, Lorna feels a close kinship to the sprawling manor house, but Jon has serious reservations and wants to leave. Lorna chats with the current owner, Caroline Alton, an aristocrat who is nearly broke. The book has a second narrative that takes place three decades earlier, further engaging the reader. Hugo Alton lives with his wife, Nancy, and their four young children at the same estate. After Nancy dies in an equine accident, the bereft Hugo introduces his family to his old American friend Caroline Shawcross, a widow, and her son, Lucian. When Hugo and Caroline marry, Hugo’s eldest daughter, Amber, falls in love with the older Lucian, and their taboo relationship causes a dark scandal that the Altons go to painful and cruel lengths to shield from the public eye. Lorna accepts Caroline’s invitation to stay at the manor house and then gets busy putting together the pieces to discover her ties to the Altons and Black Rabbit Hall. Her exposé of the family secrets paves the way to the upbeat resolution. Chase deserves high marks for her atmospheric setting and vivid prose, and fans of old-fashioned gothic stories will find this a winner. Agent: Kim Witherspoon, Inkwell Management.

December 1, 2015
Thirty years apart, two women's secrets unfold within Black Rabbit Hall, a ramshackle ancestral home set in windswept Cornwall. In the late 1960s, Hugo Alton doted on Nancy, his gorgeous and gregarious wife. Indeed, Amber and her twin brother, Toby, often felt a bit like intruders when their parents kissed. Vacations spent at Black Rabbit Hall--a magical place where slates flying off the roof don't matter because the stars shine more brightly near the stormy sea--were the highlight of the children's lives. That is, until Nancy's unexpected death. Yet at Nancy's funeral, a mysterious woman enters the church, a woman Hugo seems to know well. Much too soon for Amber's taste, this icy woman, Caroline Shawcross, and her dark son, Lucian, have ensconced themselves into their lives, with devastating effects. Three decades later, the Hall is in a pitiable state, and its remaining guardian, Mrs. Caroline Alton, is eager to hire it out as a venue for weddings. Enter Lorna Dunaway and her fiance, Jon. Jon questions whether the wilds of Cornwall might be a little far for their London family to travel; he's even more alarmed at the leaky roof, warped woodwork, and layers of dust. Is it even safe? Lorna, however, is absolutely smitten with Black Rabbit Hall, and she seizes eagerly upon Mrs. Alton's invitation to stay for a few nights, much to Jon's dismay. Soon enough, the house begins to weave a spell over Lorna, nudging her to notice relics that seem to point to her own past. Debut novelist Chase weaves together Lorna's investigations with Amber's tribulations, a tapestry embroidered with madness, a horrifying accident, and malicious lies. Compellingly readable and riddled with twists and turns worthy of Daphne du Maurier, Chase's tale will delight fans of romantic mysteries.

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January 1, 2016
Lorna and her fiance, Jon, are driving through Cornwall, determined to fight their way through the driving rain to the last wedding venue on their list. Black Rabbit Hall, the Alton Estate, has been special to Lorna since before she can remember. She still feels a strange connection to the drafty house despite having only a few old photographs of the place. After accepting an invitation to stay for a few days, Lorna ends up uncovering more than she could have ever imagined about Black Rabbit Hall, Cornwall, the Alton family, and herself. Chase has crafted a gothic family mystery, weaving the histories of Lorna Dunaway and Amber Alton together by using both as narrators in leaping between Lorna's present day and Amber's late 1960s. The highly atmospheric setting immerses the reader in rainy, muddy Cornwall as the narrative drifts between musty rooms and uncurls in front of the fireplace. Chase is an imaginative author, drawing out the suspense of long-buried Alton family secrets. Fans of Carla Buckley and Lucie Whitehouse will enjoy this thrilling story of crumbling walls, forbidden love, and family sacrifice.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2016, American Library Association.)

Starred review from January 1, 2016

Pencraw Hall (known quaintly as Black Rabbit Hall to Cornish locals) was once the well-loved home of a prominent family, but by the time Lorna scouts the house as a potential wedding venue, the estate has gone to ruins. Lorna is fascinated and takes childish delight with the hydrangeas popping up through the ballroom floorboards and the pails in each room to catch the rain from the leaky ceilings. Improbably, the manor is still inhabited by the elderly former matron, Mrs. Alton, who is desperate for money to maintain the residence. Mrs. Alton allows Lorna to tease out information about the house and the family's tragic past. VERDICT Chase's heart-wrenching first novel is equal parts romance, mystery, and historical fiction. For readers who are interested in complex period drama such as Daisy Goodwin's The American Heiress, or who enjoy a touch of the gothic such as in Daphne du Maurier's Rebecca or Diane Setterfield's The Thirteenth Tale. [See Prepub Alert, 8/31/15.]--Jennifer Funk, McKendree Univ. Lib., Lebanon, IL

Copyright 2016 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

October 1, 2015

Lorna wants to be married at Pencraw Hall (Black Rabbit Hall to locals), as her mother spent her youth there, and soon she's unearthing its strange, twisty history. A debut named a "Best of the Month" by iBookstore UK and a "July Rising Star" by Amazon UK, with rights sold to six countries.

Copyright 2015 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

January 1, 2016

Pencraw Hall (known quaintly as Black Rabbit Hall to Cornish locals) was once the well-loved home of a prominent family, but by the time Lorna scouts the house as a potential wedding venue, the estate has gone to ruins. Lorna is fascinated and takes childish delight with the hydrangeas popping up through the ballroom floorboards and the pails in each room to catch the rain from the leaky ceilings. Improbably, the manor is still inhabited by the elderly former matron, Mrs. Alton, who is desperate for money to maintain the residence. Mrs. Alton allows Lorna to tease out information about the house and the family's tragic past. VERDICT Chase's heart-wrenching first novel is equal parts romance, mystery, and historical fiction. For readers who are interested in complex period drama such as Daisy Goodwin's The American Heiress, or who enjoy a touch of the gothic such as in Daphne du Maurier's Rebecca or Diane Setterfield's The Thirteenth Tale. [See Prepub Alert, 8/31/15.]--Jennifer Funk, McKendree Univ. Lib., Lebanon, IL

Copyright 2016 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.