It’s 1939 and London is bracing for war. Londoners are expecting the German Luftwaffe bombs at any minute, but this is not a World War II story; it’s the reason for it.
Most of the London museums are sending their collections to be housed in British country estates throughout the English countryside. While author Healey was researching the history of London’s Natural History Museum, she came across an article referring to the “wartime eviction of its collections.” And the people who agreed to house them for the duration. Already fascinated by the “eeriness of of taxidermied animals,” sparked her imagination and this novel was born.
Thirty-year-old Hetty Carwright is sent to oversee a large portion of the mamal collection, including a polar bear, hummingbirds, an elephant, a jaguar, butterflies and beetles, a black panther, a lion, a lync, an infested owl and many, many more. While she is grateful to Lord Lockwood for so generously opening his home, she isn’t prepared for the amount of work that will be involved to keep her charges safe.
And she isn’t prepared for the hauntingly beautiful, and rather disturbed, daughter of the Manor, Lucy.
The story is told from two points of view: Hetty’s and Lucy’s. Healey used italics for all of Lucy’s chapters, which only served to both annoy me and up the creepiness factor.
Hetty has her hands full with protecting the animals from guests and servants, and even from Lord Lockwood himself. Plus, there are secrets in the manor. Secrets I never saw coming until it was too late. Oh I had my suspicions, but they weren’t nearly as unsettling as the truth. And the end was magnificent; I will be thinking about it for weeks to come.
“The Animals at Lockwood Manor” receives 4 out of 5 stars in Julie’s world, mostly due to the italics for Lucy’s voice.
Most of the London museums are sending their collections to be housed in British country estates throughout the English countryside. While author Healey was researching the history of London’s Natural History Museum, she came across an article referring to the “wartime eviction of its collections.” And the people who agreed to house them for the duration. Already fascinated by the “eeriness of of taxidermied animals,” sparked her imagination and this novel was born.
Thirty-year-old Hetty Carwright is sent to oversee a large portion of the mamal collection, including a polar bear, hummingbirds, an elephant, a jaguar, butterflies and beetles, a black panther, a lion, a lync, an infested owl and many, many more. While she is grateful to Lord Lockwood for so generously opening his home, she isn’t prepared for the amount of work that will be involved to keep her charges safe.
And she isn’t prepared for the hauntingly beautiful, and rather disturbed, daughter of the Manor, Lucy.
The story is told from two points of view: Hetty’s and Lucy’s. Healey used italics for all of Lucy’s chapters, which only served to both annoy me and up the creepiness factor.
Hetty has her hands full with protecting the animals from guests and servants, and even from Lord Lockwood himself. Plus, there are secrets in the manor. Secrets I never saw coming until it was too late. Oh I had my suspicions, but they weren’t nearly as unsettling as the truth. And the end was magnificent; I will be thinking about it for weeks to come.
“The Animals at Lockwood Manor” receives 4 out of 5 stars in Julie’s world, mostly due to the italics for Lucy’s voice.