Charlotte's Story by Laura Benedict (thoughts)

Summary from Goodreads:

"The fall of 1957 in southern Virginia was a seemingly idyllic, even prosperous time. A young housewife, Charlotte Bliss, lives with her husband, Hasbrouck Preston “Press” Bliss, and their two young children, Eva Grace and Michael, in the gorgeous Bliss family home. On the surface, theirs seems a calm, picturesque life, but soon tragedy befalls them: four tragic deaths, with apparently simple explanations.
But nothing is simple if Bliss House is involved. How far will Charlotte go to discover the truth? And how far will she get without knowing who her real enemy is? Though Bliss House may promise to give its inhabitants what they want, it never gives them exactly what they expect."

My Thoughts:





Wow!  I don't say this lightly at all but this is an author to watch!  I'm a sucker for a good gothic novel....love them, love them, love them.  This book had everything that I love about these type of books and I couldn't help but love this book because of it.  One of the things I enjoyed most about this book was the uncertainty I felt while reading it.  At the beginning of this book tragedy unexpectedly strikes and it was the aftermath/causes of this tragedy that the book focused on.  For me, I always seem to enjoy a book where I don't quite know what is going on.  I find that with books like this I am able to put my trust in the author's capable hands and just enjoy the ride.  Early on in the book I started to question things and before I knew it I was completely lost in the story.  I loved the atmosphere that the author created in this book which was filled with more questions than answers and loads of suspense.  There was some foreshadowing but the author was able to use this to create even more questions for me as the reader.  All of these different things made for such an intense reading experience.

I also really enjoyed the way that Bliss House is portrayed in this book.  It comes across as a living, breathing entity that managed to give this book such a creepy feel because of it.  I never quite knew if what was happening was because of the house or due to the people living in it.  It had a presence in this book that I can only liken to the house in the book The Haunting of Hill House.  Both books have these houses that almost seem to come alive and both books were able to thoroughly creep me out.  The ending of this book is wonderfully done with the story wrapped up but in a way that questions were still left open.  I can't say more without spoiling other than I loved the way that this book ended!  And now I absolutely cannot wait to read more by this author!

Overall this book left me so completely excited about this author!  A dark, forbidding house, ghostly presences, even a seance....I couldn't have asked more more from this book!  I truly mean it when I say that it took everything that I love from gothic novels and wrapped it altogether in this one book.  I found myself completely engrossed while reading this book and also very creeped out.  I will definitely be reading more by this author!!!  Easily recommended!

Bottom Line:  A book that isn't to be missed if you are a fan of gothic novels!


Disclosure:  I received a copy of this book thanks to the publisher as part of a TLC book Tour.