Rosie Andrews’ debut novel, The Leviathan, left me with mixed, but generally positive, feelings – I loved the setting and atmosphere, but was less interested in the fantasy/horror elements that began to dominate in the second half. I was curious to see whether her new novel, The Puzzle Wood, would be more to my taste.
The novel begins in 1852 with the recently widowed Catherine Symonds applying for the position of governess at Locksley Abbey in Herefordshire. Catherine doesn’t really need the work – her husband was a wealthy man – but she has another reason for her application: her sister, Emily, was the previous governess at Locksley Abbey and has been found dead in the woods nearby, believed to have taken her own life. Catherine is not satisfied with this explanation and in order to investigate her sister’s death, she needs to find a way to insert herself into the household without anyone guessing her connection with Emily.
Once at Locksley Abbey, Catherine meets her new employer, Sir Rowland, and her young charge, his daughter Georgie. The more she learns about the family and their history, the more she becomes convinced that there’s more to her sister’s death than has so far been revealed. Meanwhile, there’s another newcomer – Arthur Sidstone, a doctor who has recently returned to the area after working abroad. Arthur’s grandfather, who is interested in the history of the forests surrounding Locksley, has grown concerned by reports that Sir Rowland is planning to sell off the land for development. Arthur has come to ask him to reconsider, but ends up becoming much more closely involved in the affairs of Locksley Abbey than he had bargained for.
Set in the Black Mountains of Herefordshire close to the England-Wales border, on a remote estate surrounded by ancient woods steeped in folklore, with a plot incorporating family secrets and mysterious deaths, The Puzzle Wood promised to be a great, atmospheric Gothic novel. However, it didn’t have as much atmosphere as I expected and the Puzzle Wood itself played a surprisingly small part in the story. Instead, a lot of time is spent on another storyline revolving around the productivity of the mine on Sir Rowland’s land and the working conditions of the miners employed there, as well as Arthur Sidstone’s backstory and his involvement with the Chartist movement. I found these two threads quite interesting but they didn’t really blend together very well with Catherine’s story. The spooky/supernatural elements grow stronger towards the end, although certainly not as strong as in The Leviathan and I think readers who pick up this book hoping for something similar could be disappointed.
I seem to have read a few other novels recently with similar plots involving young women working as governesses or servants in lonely Victorian mansions – Elizabeth Macneal’s The Burial Plot and Katie Lumsden’s The Secrets of Hartwood Hall are two that come to mind and both were more enjoyable than this one. Maybe if I hadn’t read so many of this kind of book I would have found The Puzzle Wood more captivating as I do like Rosie Andrews’ writing. I’m not sure if I’ll try more of her books, but depending on the setting and subject I could be tempted.
Thanks to Raven Books for providing a copy of this book for review via NetGalley.
Book 25/50 for the Historical Fiction Reading Challenge 2024
She Reads Novels 
It sounded so promising, what a shame!
Yes, it’s disappointing. It could have been so much better!
This seems like the perfect story for that spooky supernatural element, especially with a title like The Puzzle Wood. I’m disappointed that played less of a role in the story.
Yes, I was hoping for more atmosphere and spookiness. It was disappointing!
The governess in the remote house is such a Gothic trope! This one sounded promising, but it looks like it doesn’t quite deliver.
I don’t think it’s a bad book, but I didn’t find anything very memorable about it either. It could have been a lot better!
Too bad
The title definitely made me think this would be more speculative! Such a shame.
It wasn’t what I expected! More of a standard ‘governess novel’ with a few speculative elements near the end.
My mother particularly likes books set in Herefordshire and has a birthday coming up but this does not sound right for her. I did get her The Seeker by MacLean and am pondering what else to buy. I just bought Pamela Belle’s new book for me as it is Kindle which doesn’t seem very gifty.
I see you are reading Black Lamb and Grey Falcon which I have started at least once but never finished. I’ll be interested to hear what you think.
It can be difficult choosing books for gifts. I hope your mother enjoys The Seeker. I would like to read the new Pamela Belle book as well.
I haven’t read much of Black Lamb and Grey Falcon yet, but I’m finding it interesting. It will take me a long time to finish it as I’m reading it very slowly alongside shorter books.
I’ll read this because, although the structure of The Leviathan didn’t quite work for me, I really enjoyed the gothic atmosphere of the novel. It looks as though her follow up is also good in some respects but not quite the complete package. Hopefully she has a first rate novel in her and it’ll come out at some point!
I like her writing and she has some good ideas, but for some reason neither of her books have really worked for me. I hope you’ll enjoy this one more than I did!