Huge thanks to Joe Thomas at HQ Stories, for asking me to join this enormous blog tour, and for a copy of The Lost Ones, by Anita Frank a book as beautifully haunting as the cover is enticing.
Our Author: Anita Frank
Anita was born in Shropshire and studied English and American History at the University of East Anglia. She lives in Berkshire with her husband and three children and is now the full-time carer for her disabled son. This is her first novel.
My Review: The Lost Ones
We firstly meet Stella, during a melancholy phase, having lost her Fiance Gerald during the First World War, her deep love for him resonates throughout the book and stretches into death.
Stella has led a good life and yet sorrow has crossed her path on more than this one occasion, the sad death of her sister Lydia at a young age from a house fire firstly creates this pain she holds.
Stella has come back from France after Geralds’s death, being unable to continue with her nursing post there. We follow her to Greyswick, where her sister Madeleine had been ensconced, home of the Brightwells. Madeleine, Stella’s sister is pregnant and has been moved from London to the safety of Greyswick to escape the bombings, by her husband Hector Brightwell. But Madelaine’s anxiety continues and it’s clear, it’s not just because of the usual pregnancy worries.
Stange toy soldiers appear in Stella’s bed and the housemaids are questioned, such behavior doesn’t sit well with Lady Brightwell, she expects a certain decorum in her household. Nonsense talk of ghosts and silly carry-ons are brought into question and Stella’s presence in the house is no longer requested.
But the ghosts won’t rest and neither will Stella in her quest to quieten them. She digs deeper and finds out secrets that will tear the household apart. Cold-icy hands of family members long since past are felt by Annie, Stellas maid and Stella feels their presence also.
How can they solve the mystery of Greyswick and lay the ghosts to rest?
Anita Frank has captured perfectly the very essence of Greyswick, the oppressive heavy drapery the house is decorated in, the scenery sumptuous and evocative and vividly imaginable in your mind’s eye. The way the characters speak and carry themselves also adds to the story and creates a grandeur resonant of the day.
The storyline is enhanced by this and so becomes even more believable with talk of ‘below-stairs’ and the manner of the way life was conducted ‘back then’. I truly enjoyed this tale of spooky goings-on at Greyswick and Stella’s fight for justice for the restless, of her and Annie’s connection and for the path she paved for the strength of will she displayed.
To buy The Lost ones: https://www.hive.co.uk/Product/Anita-Frank/The-Lost-Ones/23640844
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