Genre Fiction
![Caitlin Starling - [object Object] author](https://res.cloudinary.com/readsomnia/image/upload/authors/a_B07HDTSY4C.jpg)
The Death of Jane Lawrence: A Novel
***AN INSTANT BESTSELLER!***
From the Bram Stoker-nominated author of The Luminous Dead comes a gothic fantasy horror--The Death of Jane Lawrence.
"A delicious Gothic romance.... By the time the book reached that point of no return, I was so invested that I would have followed Jane into the very depths of hell." ―NPR.org
"Intense and amazing! It's like Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell meets Mexican Gothic meets Crimson Peak." ―BookRiot
Practical, unassuming Jane Shoringfield has done the calculations, and decided that the most secure path forward is this: a husband, in a marriage of convenience, who will allow her to remain independent and occupied with meaningful work. Her first choice, the dashing but reclusive doctor Augustine Lawrence, agrees to her proposal with only one condition: that she must never visit Lindridge Hall, his crumbling family manor outside of town.
Yet on their wedding night, an accident strands her at his door in a pitch-black rainstorm, and she finds him changed. Gone is the bold, courageous surgeon, and in his place is a terrified, paranoid man―one who cannot tell reality from nightmare, and fears Jane is an apparition, come to haunt him. By morning, Augustine is himself again, but Jane knows something is deeply wrong at Lindridge Hall, and with the man she has so hastily bound her safety to.
Set in a dark-mirror version of post-war England, Caitlin Starling crafts a new kind of gothic horror from the bones of the beloved canon. This Crimson Peak-inspired story assembles, then upends, every expectation set in place by Shirley Jackson and Rebecca, and will leave readers shaken, desperate to begin again as soon as they are finished.
"Don't read this one alone at night; Caitlin Starling has done it again. Unsettling, atmospheric, and downright brutal at times, The Death of Jane Lawrence will continue to haunt you long after you leave Lindridge Hall…if the house lets you leave, that is." ―Genevieve Gornichec, author of The Witch's Heart
From the Bram Stoker-nominated author of The Luminous Dead comes a gothic fantasy horror--The Death of Jane Lawrence.
"A delicious Gothic romance.... By the time the book reached that point of no return, I was so invested that I would have followed Jane into the very depths of hell." ―NPR.org
"Intense and amazing! It's like Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell meets Mexican Gothic meets Crimson Peak." ―BookRiot
Practical, unassuming Jane Shoringfield has done the calculations, and decided that the most secure path forward is this: a husband, in a marriage of convenience, who will allow her to remain independent and occupied with meaningful work. Her first choice, the dashing but reclusive doctor Augustine Lawrence, agrees to her proposal with only one condition: that she must never visit Lindridge Hall, his crumbling family manor outside of town.
Yet on their wedding night, an accident strands her at his door in a pitch-black rainstorm, and she finds him changed. Gone is the bold, courageous surgeon, and in his place is a terrified, paranoid man―one who cannot tell reality from nightmare, and fears Jane is an apparition, come to haunt him. By morning, Augustine is himself again, but Jane knows something is deeply wrong at Lindridge Hall, and with the man she has so hastily bound her safety to.
Set in a dark-mirror version of post-war England, Caitlin Starling crafts a new kind of gothic horror from the bones of the beloved canon. This Crimson Peak-inspired story assembles, then upends, every expectation set in place by Shirley Jackson and Rebecca, and will leave readers shaken, desperate to begin again as soon as they are finished.
"Don't read this one alone at night; Caitlin Starling has done it again. Unsettling, atmospheric, and downright brutal at times, The Death of Jane Lawrence will continue to haunt you long after you leave Lindridge Hall…if the house lets you leave, that is." ―Genevieve Gornichec, author of The Witch's Heart
Editorial Reviews
"A delicious Gothic romance.... It has to walk the line between romance and horror and not flinch away from either. The Death of Jane Lawrence is up to this task…. By the time the book reached that point of no return, I was so invested that I would have followed Jane into the very depths of hell." ―NPR.org
"Inspired by Crimson Peak, the horror in this gothic set in an alternate postwar England subtly increases as the novel progresses, unease seeping into the pages." ―Buzzfeed
"Don't read this one alone at night; Caitlin Starling has done it again. Unsettling, atmospheric, and downright brutal at times, The Death of Jane Lawrence will continue to haunt you long after you leave Lindridge Hall…if the house lets you leave, that is." ―Genevieve Gornichec, author of The Witch's Heart
"With The Death of Jane Lawrence, Caitlin Starling establishes herself as a queen of gothic horror. I absolutely loved this smart, compelling book about the weight and consequence of love, and how far we are willing to go in its service." ―Kat Howard, Alex Award-winning author of An Unkindness of Magicians
"With labyrinthine twists and characters to fall for, Starling's gothic horror is a tale that haunts you even after you're done. The Death of Jane Lawrence is Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell with sharp teeth and a Crimson Peak you're scared to look in the eye." ―Linden A. Lewis, author of The First Sister
"A sublime Gothic romance with bonesaw prose and a spreading stain of cosmic horror." ―Seth Dickinson, author of The Traitor Baru Cormorant
"Elegantly atmospheric and grotesquely visceral, The Death of Jane Lawrence both haunts and tears open the ghost to show the gory insides. I loved every page!" ―C.A. Higgins, author of Lightless
"A keen, visceral study in dread, The Death of Jane Lawrence is a harrowing plunge into the beating heart of hope and madness. The occult magic of Lindridge Hall captured me from the first page, and I never wanted it to let me go. Starling is a master of mind games with a twisted talent for dragging her characters through hell. I will read anything she writes next." ―Kate Dollarhyde, Nebula award-winning game writer
"This blood-soaked book was chilling from beginning to end, with great reveals and an intense romance, plus lots of ghosts, gore, and guts!" ―BookRiot
"A torturous book. Horrifying in small, cutting, personal ways, and in the more classic scare-in-a-dark-room way. But there's an iron rod of panicked strength that runs through the middle of it." ―NPR, Jason Sheehan, on The Luminous Dead
"This claustrophobic, horror-leaning tour de force is highly recommended for fans of Jeff VanderMeer's A...
"Inspired by Crimson Peak, the horror in this gothic set in an alternate postwar England subtly increases as the novel progresses, unease seeping into the pages." ―Buzzfeed
"Don't read this one alone at night; Caitlin Starling has done it again. Unsettling, atmospheric, and downright brutal at times, The Death of Jane Lawrence will continue to haunt you long after you leave Lindridge Hall…if the house lets you leave, that is." ―Genevieve Gornichec, author of The Witch's Heart
"With The Death of Jane Lawrence, Caitlin Starling establishes herself as a queen of gothic horror. I absolutely loved this smart, compelling book about the weight and consequence of love, and how far we are willing to go in its service." ―Kat Howard, Alex Award-winning author of An Unkindness of Magicians
"With labyrinthine twists and characters to fall for, Starling's gothic horror is a tale that haunts you even after you're done. The Death of Jane Lawrence is Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell with sharp teeth and a Crimson Peak you're scared to look in the eye." ―Linden A. Lewis, author of The First Sister
"A sublime Gothic romance with bonesaw prose and a spreading stain of cosmic horror." ―Seth Dickinson, author of The Traitor Baru Cormorant
"Elegantly atmospheric and grotesquely visceral, The Death of Jane Lawrence both haunts and tears open the ghost to show the gory insides. I loved every page!" ―C.A. Higgins, author of Lightless
"A keen, visceral study in dread, The Death of Jane Lawrence is a harrowing plunge into the beating heart of hope and madness. The occult magic of Lindridge Hall captured me from the first page, and I never wanted it to let me go. Starling is a master of mind games with a twisted talent for dragging her characters through hell. I will read anything she writes next." ―Kate Dollarhyde, Nebula award-winning game writer
"This blood-soaked book was chilling from beginning to end, with great reveals and an intense romance, plus lots of ghosts, gore, and guts!" ―BookRiot
"A torturous book. Horrifying in small, cutting, personal ways, and in the more classic scare-in-a-dark-room way. But there's an iron rod of panicked strength that runs through the middle of it." ―NPR, Jason Sheehan, on The Luminous Dead
"This claustrophobic, horror-leaning tour de force is highly recommended for fans of Jeff VanderMeer's A...
Readers Top Reviews
AmraiLauren Peterson
One other reviewer mentioned the 60% mark - that seems about right. I don't like how immediately our main character is obsessed, although I understand how it's important for the character to be obsessed. I just don't have to like it. Yes, there is some body horror, so if you are of faint heart this is not for you. The math theorems bothered me. Quite a bit, and I don't know why(I don't mind math) I made myself finish the book hoping for ... Something. A better ending? More character development on side characters? Regretted spending the time on it.
R. Gilbert
It's interesting - though not surprising - to see so many divided reviews on this book. I've noted a few talk about how it "changes" a lot midway/60% of the way through the book. That's definitely true! I didn't know a thing about it when it was recommended to me (on the strength of my affection for Crimson Peak, but my disdain for Crimson Peak's ending), so I began it initially thinking that it was a perfectly pleasant and enjoyable gothic romance that would likely have some sort of unique twist, but was not totally sure until the first mention of magic. I think that, for some, if you go into this book expecting a fairly straightforward gothic romance/horror story in terms of typical tropes, you'll definitely be half-satisfied. If you go in knowing that there's a very unusual turn partway through, and that it eventually becomes a very interesting sort of approach to coping with trauma and shame, you'll likely be more forgiving/less shocked when suddenly it's not really a ghost story as you thought it was. I'll be thinking about the end for a while; I think I get it, but I'm not sure, and I may re-read just to see ---- but all the same, it was highly enjoyable and so engrossing that I read most of it in one night. I appreciated the unique spin, the interesting characters, and the unusual take in terms of incorporating discussions of "magic" and the way in which the mind operates. Definitely a fun, spooky fall read. I just again emphasize that it's a good idea to adjust expectations if all you're looking for is a story about a crumbling mansion haunted by someone's dead wife!
