HuckleBuck411
Very tense gothic horror story that switches back and forth between timelines and the viewpoints of two young pregnant unwed women, Mabel and Pearl, sent to the creepy, accursed Lichen Hall in the Scottish Borders, centered near the Ghost Woods, to have their babies and give them away to couples seeking to pay for obtaining children outside of the main channels of adoption. The proprietor of Lichen Hall, Mrs. Whitlock, is a cold manipulative taskmaster, who coerces some of the women, who have no lives outside of Lichen Hall, to remain as captives and servants. Her weak and ailing husband has a macabre collection of the flora and fauna that surrounds the Hall, concentrating mainly on the abundant species of fungi that are found everywhere around the location. The Whitlock's grandson is an uneducated, slothful character who ambles in and out of the Hall and around the grounds occasionally causing problems. And there appears to be a dangerous someone or something that lurks in the fungi-filled Ghost Woods that threatens women who dare to enter the woods at night.
The timeline of the two main characters centers around the end of the 1950s thru the mid 1960s, a time when unwed pregnant women were shunned by society at large. It is around this theme that stems some criticism I have of the story. The author makes sure that all adult males in the story are shown in a poor light and the injection of lesbianism in several instances pushes the typical LGBQT victimhood memes. I am not sure why these meta terms were not included in the Goodreads listing for the book. Except for the traumas of unwed pregnant women during the time period, the queer additions add nothing to the overall story and could have been left out. Otherwise, the story is well-written and very creepy.
Very tense gothic horror story that switches back and forth between timelines and the viewpoints of two young pregnant unwed women, Mabel and Pearl, sent to the creepy, accursed Lichen Hall in the Scottish Borders, centered near the Ghost Woods, to have their babies and give them away to couples seeking to pay for obtaining children outside of the main channels of adoption. The proprietor of Lichen Hall, Mrs. Whitlock, is a cold manipulative taskmaster, who coerces some of the women, who have no lives outside of Lichen Hall, to remain as captives and servants. Her weak and ailing husband has a macabre collection of the flora and fauna that surrounds the Hall, concentrating mainly on the abundant species of fungi that are found everywhere around the location. The Whitlock's grandson is an uneducated, slothful character who ambles in and out of the Hall and around the grounds occasionally causing problems. And there appears to be a dangerous someone or something that lurks in the fungi-filled Ghost Woods that threatens women who dare to enter the woods at night.
The timeline of the two main characters centers around the end of the 1950s thru the mid 1960s, a time when unwed pregnant women were shunned by society at large. It is around this theme that stems some criticism I have of the story. The author makes sure that all adult males in the story are shown in a poor light and the injection of lesbianism in several instances pushes the typical LGBQT victimhood memes. I am not sure why these meta terms were not included in the Goodreads listing for the book. Except for the traumas of unwed pregnant women during the time period, the queer additions add nothing to the overall story and could have been left out. Otherwise, the story is well-written and very creepy.