Secrets of Rose Briar Hall by Kelsey JamesMy rating: 3 of 5 stars
Narrated by Sofia Willingham
Presented by HighBridge Audio
Not quite what I was expecting, so a little disappointing, but still some interesting ideas.
I thought this was going to be a murder mystery, but it was really more concerned with feminism and the treatment of women as objects during this time period (early 1900s).
The story's catalyst is a party, during which a guest died. Our protagonist, Millie, hosted the party with her husband, Charles, but remembers nothing of it. She awakens weeks later with a pounding headache and no memory of what's occurred.
From the beginning, everyone is very secretive, and it's instantly frustrating how everyone coddles Millie, refusing to tell her the truth. The story that follows seems more a question of whether she's a victim of gaslighting or whether Millie truly is mentally unwell.
I liked Millie as a lead - she's quite intelligent, and not afraid to speak up for herself. She suspects wrongdoing and makes it known, but then is forced to face the consequences of not being quiet and meek and going along just to get along.
I enjoyed that aspect of it - exploring the discrimination from someone willing to speak out against it, but also seeing those consequences of being so outnumbered. At the same time, I thought there would be more about the events of the party than there was, so I was a little disappointed in that regard. Still, I was kept curious about the truth of what had happened and was happening.
The romance didn't do a lot for me, and I was disappointed in Millie a bit for her actions at times. Some of it made her a little hypocritical I felt, even if it made sense.
The narrator did a decent job of invoking sympathy for Millie, and differentiated the characters well. I did listen at 1.75x speed, so lots of pauses, but otherwise she read it okay.
This was an easy listen - not quite the murder mystery I was expecting, but an interesting historical fiction providing a glimpse into the discrimination women faced during the early 1900s.
With thanks to NetGalley for an audio ARC
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