Published 1st April 2021 by Quercus.
From the cover of the book:
Dark and brimming with suspense, an atmospheric Victorian chiller set in brooding County Durham for fans of Stacey Halls and Laura Purcell.1871. An age of discovery and progress. But for the Wainwright family, residents of the gloomy Teesbank Hall in County Durham the secrets of the past continue to overshadow their lives.
Harriet would not have taken the job of governess in such a remote place unless she wanted to hide from something or someone. Her charge is Eleanor, the daughter of the house, a fiercely bright eighteen-year-old, tortured by demons and feared by relations and staff alike. But it soon becomes apparent that Harriet is not there to teach Eleanor, but rather to monitor her erratic and dangerous behaviour - to spy on her.
Worn down by Eleanor’s unpredictable hostility, Harriet soon finds herself embroiled in Eleanor’s obsession - the Wainwright’s dark, tragic history. As family secrets are unearthed, Harriet’s own begin to haunt her and she becomes convinced that ghosts from the past are determined to reveal her shameful story. For Harriet, like Eleanor, is plagued by deception and untruths.
Harriet would not have taken the job of governess in such a remote place unless she wanted to hide from something or someone. Her charge is Eleanor, the daughter of the house, a fiercely bright eighteen-year-old, tortured by demons and feared by relations and staff alike. But it soon becomes apparent that Harriet is not there to teach Eleanor, but rather to monitor her erratic and dangerous behaviour - to spy on her.
Worn down by Eleanor’s unpredictable hostility, Harriet soon finds herself embroiled in Eleanor’s obsession - the Wainwright’s dark, tragic history. As family secrets are unearthed, Harriet’s own begin to haunt her and she becomes convinced that ghosts from the past are determined to reveal her shameful story. For Harriet, like Eleanor, is plagued by deception and untruths.
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Welcome to brooding Teesdale Hall, County Durham, the home of the Wainright family - a family that guards the truth behind its traumatic history very carefully. Into this picture of less than domestic bliss, governess Harriet Caldwell, escaping demons of her own, has arrived to care for the young lady of the house, Miss Eleanor. Almost as soon as Harriet crosses the threshold she learns that her task will be to spy on her intelligent, but unbalanced pupil rather than teach her - a fact that Eleanor is very aware of, and none too happy about.
Eleanor's hostility and the strange family dynamic at Teesdale Hall soon begin to wear Harriet down, and she becomes drawn into Eleanor's obsession with the dark secrets that the Wainright family have done their utmost to hide. Manipulated into playing Eleanor's game, Harriet's own ghosts from the past begin to haunt her, and she is convinced that her shameful secrets will be revealed - including her deception about who she really is. Some secrets refuse to stay hidden, and Harriet proves to be the catalyst that will bring the shocking truth to light, with tragic consequences for herself and the Wainright family.
It's true to say that many of the characters here come across as those you would expect to see in a Victorian melodrama, especially the males of the piece (I couldn't quite rid myself of the the image of Harriet's evil uncle as the baddie with an enormous bushy moustache and staring eyes), but this actually plays beautifully with the kind of story Helen Scarlett clearly wants to explore when it comes to her female players.
For it is the women of this story that are we are really here to read about, and through them we get to see many different sides of female powerlessness at the hands of men, all mixed up in a wonderfully atmospheric, Gothic mystery. We have women cast in the roles of dutiful wife, obedient daughter, tractable ward - all of whom stubbornly refuse to follow the male-defined character outlines given to them . Our 'dutiful' wife is in fact weighed down with the sorrows of a life in which she has almost constantly been pregnant, and suffered the trauma of seeing most of her children taken from her in one way of another, while being forced to stand-by and watch her philandering husband take his pleasures where he will (without much sympathy from her harridan of a mother-in-law); our 'obedient' daughter is damaged by the neglect of her parents, despises the female pursuits she is expected to confine herself to and longs for the same freedom to travel, learn and experience life that her brother takes for granted; and our 'tractable' ward has in fact escaped the clutches of her despicable uncle after refusing to be persuaded to take part in his sick fantasies, while being forced to leave behind all that is rightfully hers. All these women have good reason to be dissatisfied with their lot, and yet, denying the roles they are expected to fulfil on this male dominated 'stage' can only lead to pain, sadness and the constant fear of being labelled hysterical.
We also see the suffering of the women below stairs, in service, as they are subjected to the sexual advances of their masters, for them then to be cast aside, labelled as whores, and left to degradation (and worse) at the first hint of trouble. All apparently, due to their own 'wanton nature'.
There is certainly a lot of injustice and gaslighting towards the fair sex on display here, but interestingly Scarlett writes her women with degrees of light and shade, and is unflinching in delving into the nitty gritty of their motives, behaviours and even sometimes, complicity, which leaves you to make up your own minds about the grey area between justice and revenge - and you may not like everything that you find out about them in the process, even if you sympathise with their situations and struggles.
The Deception of Harriett Fleet is a very enjoyable Victorian murder mystery, family drama and romance that gives more than a little nod towards Gothic on the Bronte scale, especially the wonderful Jane Eyre, and I was impressed with the way Scarlett works her complex themes into the telling of it. The threads of the tale play out at just the right pace, with a slick twist I did not see coming, and the oppressive setting is perfect for a tale of terrible family secrets and retribution.
I think, perhaps, there might not be enough supernatural creepiness for the die-hard Laura Purcell fan here, but if you are a lover of a ghostly whisper, rich historical detail and a fascinating look at social history on the scale of Stacey Halls and Michelle Paver's Wakenhyrst, then The Deception of Harriett Fleet should definitely be on your reading pile. I thoroughly enjoyed it.
The Deception of Harriet Fleet is available to but now from your favourite book retailer.
Thank you to Katya Ellis at Quercus for sending me a copy of this book in return for an honest review and for inviting me to be part of this blog tour.
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