House of Furies is a YA novel written by Madeleine Roux. I read this book several months ago, but I have fallen behind on my review writing, and I am just catching up now.
As the story begins, Louisa accepts a position as a maid at Coldthistle House. She does not particularly want to be a maid, but she finds herself in a precarious position and need a place to hide out, so the offer of employment seems infinitely more appealing than being on her own.
Coldthistle House is not an ordinary manor house, and there is something unusual about Mr. Morningside, the house’s enigmatic owner. He has transformed the home into a boarding house, and Louisa quickly makes friends with one of the guests, a charming young man. There is a shroud of malevolence hanging over the house, and Louisa does not know whether it would be more dangerous to flee or to remain in a house full of secrets.
House of Furies is a creepy gothic set in the Victorian era. Roux teases the reader with hints and vague allusions, but for the most part, we are just as much in the dark as Louisa. The horror lies mostly in the fear of the unknown. Or rather, we know that something is amiss, but we can’t quite place what it is.
I would recommend House of Furies. I do enjoy the gothic genre; I even did an independent study in 19th century gothic novels in college. This book is reminiscent of some of those classics. The book ends on a cliffhanger, and I am looking forward to finding out what happens next in the series.
