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. Ostracised by the servants and feeling increasingly uneasy, Ruby is forced to confront her own 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 landscape of West Yorkshire, Stacey Halls’ third novel proves her one of the most exciting and compelling new storytellers of our times.

My Review

I got this audiobook from Borrowbox. It’s such a great service from the library and it’s free. Plug for our libraries, but let’s get on with the book itself.

As you know Gothic mystery / horror is one of my favourite genres, particularly the ones where an often feisty governess (in this case she’s a children’s nurse) takes a job at a remote house in the countryside. It’s spooky with shadows on the walls of corridors and messages written on mirrors, and the master is dark and broody. And handsome – obviously. The mistress is often ill (or dead) or locked in the attic (think Jane Eyre). Or supposed to be dead, but lives in the attic. But I digress.

In Mrs England, we have most of these things. Except Lilian England is very much alive, but she’s fragile, forgets things, and walks in her sleep. Her family is very rich and powerful. Mr England, however, is in charge of the house and the mill.

Ruby May, her previous family having moved to America and she didn’t want to emigrate with them because of her own family, takes a job looking after four children, Decca, Saul, Millie and baby Charlie, in deepest Yorkshire. She particularly gels with eleven-year-old Decca, who is intelligent and thoughtful.

Ruby is from Birmingham and the book is narrated from her point of view. I love the narrator’s accent. Ruby has devoted her life to being a nanny, rather than marriage and children of her own. Her feelings towards Mr England trouble her.

It’s initially a slow burn, but then it becomes mysterious and scary and I loved it more and more. I adored The Foundling, and I am now on the waiting list for The Familiars, the author’s first novel.

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.