hardcover, 352 pages
Published Oct. 18, 2021 by St. Martin's Press.
Jane Shoringfield sees the world in numbers, patterns, and logical projections, and by her math, she needs one thing above all else: a husband who wants a marriage of convenience. At the top of her list is Augustine Lawrence, a young, reclusive doctor. He agrees to her proposal, with only one requirement: she must never visit Lindridge Hall, his ancestral, crumbling house several miles out of town. He is compelled to return there each time the sun sets, despite night calls and ailing patients, but Jane must never accompany him. He says it's just because of disrepair brought on by a country doctor's salary, but on their wedding night, an accident brings her to his door past sundown and she finds him changed. Gone is the bold, courageous surgeon, and in his place is a confused, fearful man.
By morning, Augustine is himself again, but something is deeply wrong at …
Jane Shoringfield sees the world in numbers, patterns, and logical projections, and by her math, she needs one thing above all else: a husband who wants a marriage of convenience. At the top of her list is Augustine Lawrence, a young, reclusive doctor. He agrees to her proposal, with only one requirement: she must never visit Lindridge Hall, his ancestral, crumbling house several miles out of town. He is compelled to return there each time the sun sets, despite night calls and ailing patients, but Jane must never accompany him. He says it's just because of disrepair brought on by a country doctor's salary, but on their wedding night, an accident brings her to his door past sundown and she finds him changed. Gone is the bold, courageous surgeon, and in his place is a confused, fearful man.
By morning, Augustine is himself again, but something is deeply wrong at Lindridge Hall. At night, strange figures stalk the halls, and Jane catches glimpses of a beautiful red-eyed woman in the mirrors and windows of the house. Augustine claims she was a patient of his who died two years before, but unexpected house guests tell a different story: her name was Elodie Lawrence, and Augustine believes he killed her.
Soon, Jane is fighting for her sanity and her life, drawn into a world of secret societies, theoretical mathematics, impossible magic, and rituals gone wrong. And now that the secrets of Lindridge Hall have met her, they're not about to let her go.
This was good! I think of the 3 Caitlin Starling books I've read it's my least fav, but the world especially is fascinating, I'd love to read more about this setting. Certainly the least directly scary of her books, but a great read
This might be the best use of title I've seen in a book yet. There's something uniquely ominous about starting a book entitled The Death of Jane Lawrence only to find from the very first page that the protagonist is a Jane who is not a Lawrence yet, but is actively trying to marry into that name. It also makes for a very interesting counterbalance to the natural wanting-things-to-go-well-for-the-protagonist that comes with an absorbing story with a relateable lead. I forgot the title pretty quickly in my absorption, and the farther I read, the more sobering the title was and the less I wanted to take it at face value.
This is a horror book! It's all very Gothic-esque: the house itself taking up as much weight as a character on its own, relationships as a source of both terror and desire (alternately, mostly), spooky atmosphere, vague-but-extremely-threatening danger both physical …
This might be the best use of title I've seen in a book yet. There's something uniquely ominous about starting a book entitled The Death of Jane Lawrence only to find from the very first page that the protagonist is a Jane who is not a Lawrence yet, but is actively trying to marry into that name. It also makes for a very interesting counterbalance to the natural wanting-things-to-go-well-for-the-protagonist that comes with an absorbing story with a relateable lead. I forgot the title pretty quickly in my absorption, and the farther I read, the more sobering the title was and the less I wanted to take it at face value.
This is a horror book! It's all very Gothic-esque: the house itself taking up as much weight as a character on its own, relationships as a source of both terror and desire (alternately, mostly), spooky atmosphere, vague-but-extremely-threatening danger both physical and psychological, and so on. Interestingly, the things which caused the most fear in Jane - though understandable, especially given various things which made her mind not work as rationally as usual (lack of sleep, for one) - were not the things that really stuck with me. Not sure if this is the way horror usually works, or if it's just my personal way of engaging with it, but what I find most horrifying overall is that which is most understated. Those little things that niggle away at you after you've put the book away, even after a satisfying conclusion.
Which is to say: this book had that. It had both! Upfront horror, understated horror, the works!
Also it was very absorbing; had a resonance in its magic system - though I hesitate to call it a "system" as such; had a lead who, despite a plot which had her mostly reacting to her environment, felt like a full person with interests of her own; had a woman acting desperately in defence of a man; and had a conclusion which was at once narratively satisfying and disquieting, in that niggling little way. I liked it at the start, and grew into loving it as it went.
Selling points: spooky; eldritch calculus (which is just regular calculus, but presented as EXTREMELY ELDRITCH); autistic protagonist (with a surprisingly relatable doesn't-know-how-to-deal-with-these-feelings romance); all those things in the paragraph above, really.
Warnings: gore; body horror; gaslighting (in addition to the actual gas lighting); cocaine; self-harm, ritualised; unreality; medical implements/procedures (Victorian-era); all the emotions all over the place; death; illness; confinement; problems arising from lack of clear and honest communication.
I liked this one at first. Through the first 60% I thought it was a 4 star. But the last 40% not so much. It was long and often repetitive and dull. And confusing because she was trying to make her magical stuff make sense, but it was just too vague and muddled.
I liked the gothic period feel of the first part quite a bit though. That makes me give it 3 stars. The romance was fun, the medical stuff was gross, the magical stuff was weird and creepy.
Then it tried to be more complicated and systematic, and it was just too much.
That's probably all I can say on finishing this mess of a book. It felt like it were three different books crammed into one and none of them made sense. Maybe it's just me, I dunno. Maybe all the contradictory plot holes were what this book was really about? I'll probably never find out. I (kinda) understood the ending, btw, but still, it's a definitive No from me.
CW: blood/gore, medical procedures, body horror, illness/death, miscarriage/abortion, drugs, sex scenes, mc eating weird stuff (which is described in yucky detail), lies/gaslighting, violence, blurring reality/imagination, cults
Magic in this book sounds like Lorn music.
Absolutely sublime. The book accomplishes everything it sets out to do with flying colors. It also fixes the problem I had with the author's previous work - the Luminous Dead is wonderful, but I felt its ending was a little off, tonally, from the rest of the work. The Death of Jane Lawrence keeps its tone consistent throughout, has a lovely breakneck pace, and in a rare twist, a complex magic system I didn't find absolutely boring. Highly, highly recommended.
Yep. Favorite book of 2021 right here. My brain melted a little at the end, but it did that thing I love where I SORTA figured it out but there's just one more twist that takes it to a whole 'nother level. Chef's kiss
