Review: The Animals at Lockwood Manor

The Animals at Lockwood Manor by Jane Healey
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is a story of ghosts and monsters.

The bright, colourful cover is a bit misleading, because this is a spooky sort of story. There are animals, sure, but they are stuffed specimens with empty glass eyes that bear witness to the strange happenings at Lockwood Manor.

Plot: Hetty is sent from London to watch over the animals, which have been moved from the museum to Lockwood Manor for the duration of the war, so that they might have a better chance of survival. Only, the manor's lord is a menacing sort of fellow, and strange things are occurring - animals are moving about or being misplaced, and there are rumours of a ghost being seen in corridors. Feeling isolated and out of place, Hetty focuses her efforts on protecting the museum's specimens, while slowly becoming closer to the lord's daughter, Lucy.

This was definitely creepier than I was expecting, which I really loved. All those stuffed animals really gives it a spooky atmosphere, and the unfriendly locals and rumours of ghosts helps to charge the tension. Hetty is a quirky sort of girl, and rather obsessed with taking care of her charges, which was both admirable and frustrating at the same time. It certainly didn't make her any friends. Aside from Lucy, that is.

Lucy is a bit strange herself, which is part of what draws the two characters together. They have some similarities in the way they don't seem to fit in with their peers. It was rather interesting getting to know these two, and how they were both similar and different. The growth of their relationship was quite enjoyable, though I was rather saddened by the fact that they seemed to view all men as brutish and simple.

The story starts strong, and becomes eerie almost immediately, but it did slow around the halfway point with not a lot of development. The tension was steady when I wanted it to continue to increase, and I felt that there were a lot of secrets that weren't utilised efficiently. There was no real exploration of the dark and menacing, choosing instead to flick the focus of the story back to the developing relationship between the two women instead. I would have enjoyed it more if it had taken the time to elaborate on all the creepy occurrences.

I also felt that the climax of the story was both too little too late, and a bit weak. I think once I felt like I was in a horror story, the deviations from that felt out of place to me. But this isn't a story of the supernatural - this is a story of people, and how the mind conjures its own ghosts and monsters. So that element I did rather enjoy.

It's a unique sort of story, with more charged atmosphere than galloping action. It's a slow journey of getting to know the people and the manor itself, and focuses on the relationships between people and the power of fear and the subconscious mind.

I really enjoyed it, though it did slow down after the halfway mark and the ending was a little anti-climatic for my tastes. It is, however, beautifully written with a real Gothic horror feel to it, which was unexpected yet not unwelcome.

With thanks to Macmillan for a copy to read and review

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