It’s such a pleasure today to share my review of Time’s Prisoner, the forthcoming book from Linda Gillard – due for publication for kindle on 8th February, it’s now available for pre-order (just £3.99), with the paperback to follow soon after. Over Christmas 2019, I had the immense privilege of being asked to be an early reader of her last book, Hidden – a page-turning read encompassing secrets from the past and a compelling central mystery that I entirely loved and would highly recommend to all (you’ll find my review here). So when Linda asked if I’d be happy to do the same again for her latest, and gifted me an advance e-copy, there wasn’t a moment’s hesitation – once again, the experience made my Christmas.
I don’t know how many will be familiar with Linda’s name and reputation, but she’s been a personal favourite since I discovered her writing with Star Gazing way back in 2008 – shortlisted for Romantic Novel of the Year in 2009 – and I’ve since read (and loved) every book she’s written. With a capacity for constant re-invention, her books are all very different and difficult to define by genre or category: but all are enthralling stories beautifully told, with complex and well-drawn characters and the perfect emotional touch. Every so often, everything goes quiet and we wonder if there will be another – and then there’s the delight of hearing there’s one on the way, and the sheer excitement of knowing that it will be more than worth waiting for.
The dead are invisible. They are not absent.
With her personal and professional life in ruins, Jane Summers, author of historical whodunnits, receives an extraordinary bequest from an old enemy. But there’s a condition attached. If she is to become more than just a sitting tenant at Wyngrave Hall, a crumbling Elizabethan manor house, Jane must solve a centuries-old mystery.
She invites a motley crew of women to share her new life at the Hall: Rosamund, a tough but troubled nurse; Sylvia, retired actress and national treasure; loyal Bridget, gardener and handywoman, who knows the chequered history of Wyngrave Hall and understood the selfish eccentricities of its previous owner.
But unknown to the women of Wyngrave Hall, there is another, unseen occupant, one with a desperate agenda: to enlist Jane’s help solving the coldest of cold cases.
“I’d gone to great lengths to avoid the lonely life of a middle-aged, reclusive divorcée, but it was some time before I admitted to myself that I disliked spending a day working at home on my own, not because I feared to be alone in the ancient house, but because I feared I wasn’t…”
A romantic gothic mystery for fans of Daphne du Maurier, Susanna Kearsley and Mary Stewart.
An unexpected legacy – the tenancy of the Elizabethan manor house of Wyngrave Hall – provides Jane with the much-needed opportunity of a fresh start. Her family relationships were always complicated, her career as a writer of Elizabethan whodunnits has stalled, her marriage has recently ended in divorce, she’s experienced significant personal loss, and she’s facing middle age alone – so she chooses to share her new home with three women also at crossroads in their own lives. As she grows increasingly comfortable with her new future, she gradually becomes able to put her past to rest – and move forward, enjoying her new friendships and even opening herself to the possibility of romance. But that “unseen occupant” opens up a whole new layer to her story – a long hidden mystery, complex and heartbreaking, that she’s committed (and particularly well-suited) to resolve.
I loved everything about this book, but particularly enjoyed the characterisation. Jane describes herself as a “sex-starved, embittered, middle-aged woman, struggling to rise above the ignominy of being left for a younger woman” – but she has a wonderfully wry take on the hand that life has dealt her, and I found her efforts to survive and flourish very easy to identify and empathise with. Her character becomes increasingly rounded through the sharing of her unsent emails to a friend recently lost – and through the interactions with the women she’s chosen to share her life with, all equally perfectly drawn.
Sylvia particularly won a place in my heart – a former actress with an anecdote for every occasion, her increasing fragility and diminishing eyesight handled with particular sensitivity. Ros’s acerbic asides frequently made me smile, and should I ever find myself acquiring a dilapidated Elizabethan pile needing constant maintenance, I really hope it’ll come complete with the capable Bridget. I very much enjoyed the developing relationships between them all – but also Jane’s slow steps, lowering her defences as she builds an increasingly strong relationship with Jesper, who joins them at first to restore some of the hall’s neglected paintings.
And then, of course, there’s that watching presence, and the elements of the supernatural you’ll undoubtedly be rather expecting – especially after the book’s intriguing death-bed prologue. It’s all so perfectly handled that it gave me no issues whatsoever for me around suspension of disbelief, becoming increasingly central to the narrative, and enabling the telling of an emotionally engaging and compelling story rooted in Elizabethan times.
You might notice the quotes from Hamlet that begin each chapter, hinting cleverly at the developments to come – and the shared resonances within the story itself as it unfolds, although unfamiliarity with the play certainly wouldn’t be an obstacle to your enjoyment. And then there are the “lamentations” that are interspersed throughout the story – a contemporary Elizabethan account, author at first unknown, but with their identity becoming increasingly evident and integral to the resolution of the mystery.
Something the author does particularly well is balance the story’s lighter moments – and there are plenty, along with gentle humour – with the warmth of the relationships and the developing romance and the rather more chilling, dramatic and moving historical story that makes the pages turn ever faster. The book has a well developed sense of place – Wyngrave Hall is far more than a mere backdrop, its history captured within its fabric. And another element I found fascinating was the depth of detail about art restoration, wonderfully researched, and very much part of the unfolding story.
I know I’ve said it before – possibly about every other book this exceptional author has ever written – but this really is storytelling at its very best. The writing is immersive, the story compelling, emotionally astute, sometimes disturbing, very moving, full of the unexpected – but also quite wonderfully entertaining, with a lightness at times that you might not be expecting. I read this book in two glorious sittings – the world disappeared, and I found it impossible to put down until the very end. Be sure to add it to your reading list – I promise you’ll love it as much as I did.
About the author
Linda Gillard lives in North Lanarkshire, Scotland. She’s the author of ten novels, including Star Gazing (Piatkus), shortlisted in 2009 for Romantic Novel of the Year and The Robin Jenkins Literary Award for writing that promotes the Scottish landscape.
Linda’s fourth novel, House of Silence, became a Kindle bestseller. It was selected by Amazon as one of their Top Ten Best of 2011 in the Indie Author category.
In 2019 Amazon’s Lake Union imprint re-published The Trysting Tree as The Memory Tree, and it became a #1 Kindle bestseller.
Back in 2015, Linda was my guest on Being Anne: you can read our feature on her novels with a Scottish setting or connection here. She has an excellent website where you can find out more about the author and her writing, and a Facebook author page.
Thank you so much, Anne, for this marvellous review. I think it’s amazing how you’ve managed to write at such length, avoiding spoilers! That was a real challenge. I’m so pleased you enjoyed it.
Thanks for all your support over the years. It means a lot.
Yes, a bit of a challenge – but also an immense pleasure. Thank you for sharing your book with me so early in its journey, and allowing me to spread the word…