The Daughters of Foxcote Manor (Wheeler Publishing Large Print Hardcover)

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The forest looks like it’ll eat them alive, thinks Rita. The light’s gone a weird green and branches are thrashing against the car’s windows. She tightens her grip on the steering wheel. The lane narrows further. Wondering if she’s missed the turning to the house or if it’s around the next corner, she takes a bend too fast, then slams her foot on the brake. This novel has myriad threads that the author has successfully woven into an entertaining story. A story which I can confidently recommend to all readers who enjoy sagas teeming with family secrets. I truly enjoyed it. Rita, Jeannie, Teddy and Hera would make the five-hour driving trip from London to the family’s country estate, a manor house located in a remote, heavily wooded location. Rita envisioned these two developments with a foreboding feeling. She hated driving, and she despises the woods. But even so, considering how much she came to care for the family, and the fact that she loves her job, causes her to grit through these temporary annoyances. But within days a body is found in the grounds of their house and their perfect new family implodes.

It was sometime later that Jeannie Harrington informed Rita that this was the very moment she knew she was the right person for the job. She wanted, she explained, a “fun” and young nanny for her two children, not some, “cross old boot.” Rita’s mind had raced. First, if she left, where would she go? How would she live? Nan had died a few months earlier—not a bad case of indigestion, after all—and the council had reclaimed her bungalow. She had been determined to give Nan a proper send-off and a gravestone. The cost had wiped out her savings. Gothic mystery The Daughters of Foxcote Manor by Eve Chase alternates between the past and the present to tell a story of mothers and daughters that's as chilling as it is moving."Years later, Sylvie was making plans to leave her husband. They were calling it a trial separation, but she knew that they had drifted apart and that it was time for a permanent change. I’ve read and enjoyed Eve Chase’s two previous novels, so it was with some excitement that I requested a copy of this, her third book. Once again, she features an old house and a dual time-line narrative, both elements that I enjoy.

At the beginning of the book I was unsure if I was going to enjoy it but then something resonated and I found myself drawn into the storytelling. This is the story of two women, Rita and Sylvie that centres around Foxcote Manor in the Forest of Dean in Gloucestershire. This is the second home of the wealthy Harrington family, the father is stern Walter, the mother is Jeannie who is having an affair with odious Don who is a friend of Walter. Some friend. Walter and Jeannie have two children Hera and Teddy to whom Big Rita is the much loved nanny. Rita is exceptionally tall and very striking. The second principal character Sylvie Broom who is recently separated from Steve and they have a daughter Annie. In ways you don’t see initially the Harrington family’s lives intertwine across the generations with those of Rita and Sylvie and what unfolds is an atmospheric and intriguing story. The tale is told in different timeframes by Rita, Sylvie and Hera which works really well. An] atmospheric mystery...Ample foreboding and evocative prose propel things to a gratifying close. Gothic suspense fans will be delighted." — Publishers Weekly I just love Eve Chase’s lyrical writing and evocative sense of place. The Daughters of Foxcote Manor is her best yet…A treat.” —Louise Candlish, bestselling author of Our House Exploring family dynamics by using alternating timelines, Chase (The Wildling Sisters, 2017) captivates readers, especially fans of Kate Morton, with eloquent prose and sympathetic characters." Booklist

An] atmospheric mystery...A mple foreboding and evocative prose propel things to a gratifying close. Gothic suspense fans will be delighted.' Publishers Weekly, US Working as a nanny for the wealthy Harrington family, Rita Murphy is anxious about being secluded in England's beautiful yet ominous Forest of Dean for the summer. She should be. Gothic mystery The Daughters of Foxcote Manorby Eve Chase alternates between the past and the present to tell a story of mothers and daughters that’s as chilling as it is moving.” — PopSugar