The Daughters of Foxcote Manor

May 25, 2020
This atmospheric mystery from British author Chase (The Wilding Sisters) opens in August 1971—a tumultuous time for Walter and Jeannie Harrington and their children, 13-year-old Hera and six-year-old Teddy. First, Jeannie lost a baby during childbirth. Then the family’s home burned down. Now Jeannie, the kids, and their 21-year-old nanny, Rita Murphy, are stuck living at remote Foxcote Manor in the Forest of Dean while Walter remains in London for work and to oversee home reconstruction. When Hera discovers a foundling in the woods, the infant buoys the household’s spirits—but then Jeannie’s not-so-secret lover (and Walter’s best friend), Don, arrives, shattering the peace. Decades later, 46-year-old Sylvie Broom is sorting through her mother’s things when she happens across a folder labeled “Summer 1971” containing articles about an abandoned baby and a dead body found near Foxcote Manor. The book’s narrative alternates between past and present, with sharply drawn point-of-view characters Rita, Hera, and Sylvie each revealing fragments of the tragic tale that connects them. Too-neat plotting strains credulity, but ample foreboding and evocative prose propel things to a gratifying close. Gothic suspense fans will be delighted. Agent: Lizzy Kremer, David Higham Assoc. (U.K.).