Ashton Hall

Exquisite . . . The way the author has weaved several storylines together is brilliant. -Mystery and Suspense This book has Daphne-Du-Maurier-meets-Kate Morton-vibes and I was THERE FOR ALL OF IT. The setting, the skeleton, the mystery, the lovable characters ... What an addictive read! -Julie Clark, New York Times bestselling author of The Lies I Tell and The Last Flight Belfer's writing is gorgeous. -The Jewish Book Council Lauren Belfer's Ashton Hall is masterful, riveting, and atmospheric historical fiction. It made me want to don a velvet cloak, brew a cup of tea, and settle in to watch Hannah and her ingenious son unravel the fascinating, dark, centuries-old secrets of a manor home. -Alka Joshi, New York Times bestselling author of The Henna Artist In Ashton Hall, Lauren Belfer has treated us to a novel infused with the brooding gothic atmosphere of Jane Eyre or Rebecca. And like those classics, this is at its heart a story about a woman's journey of self-discovery. How does a wife and mother reclaim her dreams when her world is turned upside down? In her quest to learn the identity of a skeleton entombed in the heart of a British manor house, Hannah Larson tries to piece together the puzzle that has become her own life. This is a novel that must be savored, one page at a time. -Melanie Benjamin, New York Times bestselling author of The Children's Blizzard Belfer's latest is a brilliant, immersive story about one woman searching for answers after a terrible discovery from centuries earlier. The captivating threads of the plot-an English manor house with secret rooms and a dark past, a mother struggling with her atypical son-are rounded out by a lively cast of locals who had me laughing out loud. -Fiona Davis, New York Times bestselling author of The Magnolia Palace Belfer explores timeless ideas of family, sacrifice, and female resistance. . . . The labyrinthian portrait she paints of [Ashton Hall] successfully conveys mystery and adventure. . . . For lovers of libraries and Tudor history. -Library Journal A touching story about the themes that resonate through centuries. -Kirkus Reviews Belfer offers a nuanced exploration of the ways women's lives are constricted. Anglophiles and Tudor history buffs will enjoy this immersive tale. -Publishers Weekly [Belfer's] exquisitely illuminated story offers the vicarious indulgence of a stay at an English country house combined with an Elizabethan-era mystery and a meditation on women's age-old struggles between independence and motherhood. . . . Belfer shows how history is a tangibly close presence. -Booklist