Rotherweird by Andrew Caldecott

My Chronicle Book Box Review:

I received a review copy from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my review and all opinions are my own.

I have varied tastes in books and I am always on the look-out for something a bit unusual which is what attracted me to this book in the first place. This is indeed an unusual novel, quirky and sinister with a strong cast and peculiar setting. It is wonderfully Gothic with some very unusual characters some of whom are quite despicable.

It is also quite long at 464 pages plus depending on the edition so don’t expect to finish it in one sitting. It took me much longer to read than is usual for me as it is not what I would consider fast paced. This is not a criticism, it is simply that the storytelling of Andrew Caldecott is more of a slow burn and I must say I enjoyed the change of pace. I found myself thinking about Rotherweird and its inhabitants and trying to put together the pieces of the mystery rather than just rushing on with the book. I did, however, speed up significantly towards the climatic ending!

The novel is written in two different time periods, the origins of Rotherweird in the reign of Elizabeth I and (predominantly) the present day as well as from a number of different points of view. This ensures we get a good view of events from all different angles and character perspectives which works well in this context.

This is definitely a book worth getting in hard copy, I would suggest, to get the full impact of the illustrations, if the cover art is anything to go by. Unfortunately, the review copy from NetGalley only has 5 of the 12 illustrations included and I am therefore putting a paper copy on my birthday list so that I can enjoy them all.

Hi, I'm Louise the founder of My Chronicle Book Box and I hope you have enjoyed reading my blog post.

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