Mrs England by Stacey Halls

 

Mrs England by Stacey Halls.

Published 10th June 2021 by Manilla Press.

From the cover of the book:

A gripping feminist mystery where a nanny must travel to a grand house filled with secrets. For there's no such thing as the perfect family...

'Something's not right here.'
I was aware of Mr Booth's eyes on me, and he seemed to hold his breath. 'What do you mean?'
'In the house. With the family.'

West Yorkshire, 1904. When newly graduated nurse Ruby May takes a position looking after the children of Charles and Lilian England, a wealthy couple from a powerful dynasty of mill owners, she hopes it will be the fresh start she needs. But as she adapts to life at the isolated Hardcastle House, it becomes clear there's something not quite right about the beautiful, mysterious Mrs England.

Distant and withdrawn, Lilian shows little interest in her children or charming husband, and is far from the 'angel of the house' Ruby was expecting. As the warm, vivacious Charles welcomes Ruby into the family, a series of strange events forces her to question everything she thought she knew. Ostracised by the servants and feeling increasingly uneasy, Ruby must face her demons in order to prevent history from repeating itself. After all, there's no such thing as the perfect family - and she should know.

Simmering with slow-burning menace, Mrs England is a portrait of an Edwardian marriage, weaving an enthralling story of men and women, power and control, courage, truth and the very darkest deception. Set against the atmospheric West Yorkshire landscape, Stacey Halls' third novel proves her one of the most exciting and compelling new storytellers of our times

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Mrs England takes us into the world of the children's nanny in 1904, but not just any nanny, because Ruby May is a highly esteemed Norland nanny - the kind employed by the finest families in the land.

When Ruby is employed by a wealthy mill-owning family in the north of England to look after their four children, she is expecting a fine house and the kind of traditional family she has become familiar with, but what she finds at Hardcastle House has her bemused. While Mr England is charming and welcoming, fitting the bill as the perfect father, Mrs England seems distant and withdrawn, with little interest in her own children. There is something not quite right about what goes on behind closed doors in this house, and Ruby is inclined to think that the odd behaviour of Mrs England is the cause of the uncomfortable atmosphere, but stuck as she is in a position somewhere between that of a servant and family member, she does not really have anyone to talk to about her worries. However, it turns out that she is the perfect person to see what is actually happening here, and the traumatic childhood that she has done her best to hide may be the very thing that gives her the power to make a difference.

As she does so well, Stacey Halls beautifully recreates another historical setting in which complex female characters are at the mercy of a world ruled by men, this time in Edwardian Yorkshire, and there is a lot of fascinating social history about the changing times that she weaves subtly into the story. It is a delicious slow-burner of a tale that explores power, control, mental health and family secrets, with a pervasive feeling of insidious menace that nips at the corners of your mind, and I thoroughly enjoyed the way the truth about all the characters unfurls ever so slowly as events play out. The way Halls uses letters as an important story device is really interesting here, and the relationships that develop between Ruby and many of the characters as she finds her feet and makes peace with her past is delightful.

While I can't really go into the plot in any depth without giving the game away, suffice to say this is one that will keep you guessing all the way through as Halls leads you down the garden path until knocking you for six with a glorious climax full of female rage on the windswept moors. It's definitely my favourite Stacey Halls' book yet!

Mrs England is available to buy now from your favourite book retailer in hardcover, e-book and audio formats.

Thank you to Manilla Press for providing me with an e-copy of this book, via Netgalley, and to Tracy Penton of Compulsive Readers Tours for inviting be to be part of this blog tour. I have also purchased a special edition hardcover edition of this book.

About the author:

Stacey Halls was born in Lancashire and worked as a journalist before her debut The Familiars was published in 2019. The Familiars was the bestselling debut hardback novel of that year, won a Betty Trask Award and was shortlisted for the British Book Awards’ Debut Book of the Year. The Foundling, her second novel, was also a Sunday Times top ten bestseller. Mrs England is her third novel.