Black Rabbit Hall: The enchanting mystery from the author of The Glass House

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Two storylines., the past getting to know the children, experience the changes in their family after the tragedy. The future, thirty years later when a young bride is looking for a place to have her wedding. Remember the hall from when she, her mother and father would travel to the Cornish coast each summer. Although now dilapidated and needing extensive work she falls under its spell. Like the setting of Robert Frost’s Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening, Chase’s novel is lovely, dark and deep..”— Richmond Times-Dispatch For the four Alton children, it's the perfect summer escape where not much ever happens - until one stormy evening their idyllic world is shattered. Eve Chase writes this book so beautifully. These are just a couple of passages which took my breath away whilst reading:

This book was recommended to me by a friend ages ago! It was sitting in my to-read pile for weeks, until finally I managed to sit down and begin. I was hooked from the start. The only thing I questioned was why had I taken so damn long to read it?! A gorgeously written novel describing the love and affection that hold families together and the powerful forces that can tear them apart.”– Huffington Post The basic set up here is that you have the Altons: owners of a rambly pile in Cornwall, the traditionally English father fell in love with a warm-hearted American heiress, because don’t they always. Anyway, they had four kids (two twins, Amber and Toby, then Barney, then Kitty) who had a pretty much idyllic childhood with their stupidly-in-love parents and their country house to spend their summers in. But then Nancy dies in a horse-riding accent and everything unravels from there.Before long, Lorna becomes involved with the matriarch of the house and the housekeeper, vowing to help bring in more clients by writing up an article regarding the history of the house, and its family legacy. Little did she know her vague memories of the house connect her in a direct way to its past and could possibly shape her future.

There are two storylines which weave and connect throughout the novel. The author, Eve Chase, did a fantastic job of keeping my attention piqued within each storyline throughout the book. I had a hard time putting this down. This sentence, with its tone, its setting, its haunting foreshadowing, sets the rest of the book up perfectly. Equal parts romance, mystery, and historical fiction. For readers who are interested in complex period drama such as Daisy Goodwin’s The American Heiress, or who enjoy a touch of the gothic such as in Daphne du Maurier’s Rebeccaor Diane Setterfield’s The Thirteenth Tale.”– Library Journal(starred review) Chase deserves high marks for her atmospheric setting and vivid prose, and fans of old-fashioned gothic stories will find this a winner.” –-Publishers WeeklyEach character was well developed - I was completely immersed in their emotions and situations. I absolutely FELL IN LOVE with the Alton family, especially the four children - Toby, Amber, Kitty and Barney. Each one of them captured a different piece of my heart throughout the novel. I admired the strength the siblings had with one another - they loved and protected each other fiercely. I adored their mother, Nancy, who seemed to have such a natural, maternal way of loving them. What this family endured threw my heart all over the place - was a bit of an emotional roller coaster.

The old house definitely is a trove of memories and untold secrets and stories. You can smell the dust, see the family’s comings and goings, hear the water dripping from the leaky roof, and visualize the people who lived there. I love books with parallel storylines, especially those that involve grand houses, a mystery that has to be solved and skeleton in the closet. So, when I saw this book I just knew I had to read it. And, I wasn't disappointed. I was instantly hooked and couldn't wait out to find out more about what really happened in the 60s that could destroy a family so.How gloriously gothic! There are hundreds more beguiling passages like these, but I don’t want to give anything away! You’ll have to read it for yourself.