The Animals at Lockwood Manor, Jane Healey
The Animals at Lockwood Manor follows Hetty, an assistant at the natural history museum, elevated to supervisor due to the beginning of World War II and the loss of the men of the department to enlistment. Hetty’s in charge of the evacuation of key parts of the museum’s collection, including invaluable type specimens, to a house in the country: Lockwood Manor. At first, the site seems close to ideal, but almost immediately there are issues: valuable items disappear, things are moved around when Hetty isn’t looking, and something sinister seems to be happening which makes her begin to doubt her sanity.
It’s all very Gothic and a little spooky, with brief interlude chapters from the point of view of Lord Lockwood’s daughter, Lucy, who is clearly haunted by the wild behaviour of her mentally ill mother. Throughout, there’s a sense that either there’s some serious gaslighting going on, or Hetty and Lucy are truly haunted — even as they become close and start a romantic relationship, clinging to one another amidst the awfulness of the seeming haunting and of Lord Lockwood’s dalliances with women younger than his own daughter.
On the one hand, I couldn’t point to anything special about the book — nothing I thought stood out, or particularly made it worth reading. On the other hand, I read it practically all in one go: there’s something about it which is gripping, helped along by the connection between Hetty and Lucy (at its best before they say a thing to one another, laying tension into each scene) and the fact that I am interested in Hetty’s job and the work she’s described as doing. It was enjoyable, though not outstanding; I may not even think of it again, but it certainly whiled away a few hours entertainingly.
That sums up my reaction rather neatly too. It was all very readable, but… (I had much eye rolling in the final act, it was still a fun read overall)
It sort of degenerated into being very obvious, didn’t it? And wow that DRAMA.
No character flaw left untried. Just as well moustaches were available for twirling, really. I couldn’t decide if Healey was worried we might not spot the villain / believe he was terrible or if my limited exposure to actual Gothic novels left me underprepared for just how much drama a modern take on the genre should aspire to 😉
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I thought at first that Lord Lockwood’s warmth and protectiveness toward Lucy could really complicate his portrayal and give the book a bit more subtlety, but it kind of dropped out of circulation.