ABOUT
When concert pianist Vivienne Mourdant's father dies, he leaves to her the care of an adult ward she knew nothing about. The woman is supposedly a patient at Hurstwell Asylum. The woman's portrait is shockingly familiar to Vivienne, so when the asylum claims she was never a patient there, Vivienne is compelled to discover what happened to the figure she remembers from childhood dreams.
The longer she lingers in the deep shadows and forgotten towers at Hurstwell, the fuzzier the line between sanity and madness becomes. She hears music no one else does, receives strange missives with rose petals between the pages, and untangles far more than is safe for her to know. But can she uncover the truth about the mysterious woman she seeks? And is there anyone at Hurstwell she can trust with her suspicions?
Fan-favorite Joanna Davidson Politano casts a delightful spell with this lyrical look into the nature of women's independence and artistic expression during the Victorian era--and now.
MY REVIEW
This book was so well written that I found myself questioning my own sanity in this book set in a Victorian Asylum. It felt so much that these were places that people were sent to be out of sight and out of mind. Vivienne finds herself inside of one in order to find someone who had been lost that she discovered after her father's death.
She finds herself in the Asylum as a nurse aid under an assumed aid and eventually is committed. This story is mournful and haunting, much like the music Vivienne hears in the world around her, I found the writing to paint a story that was as painful as it was beautiful. I found myself hoping that the people in the Asylum could find their way out of it. The side characters had stories nearly as complex as the main character and were just as compelling. I found myself wanting to know all of them and save them.
Seeing this through Vivienne's eyes brought layers to the story that were enlightening, This story was a study in dark and light, Seeking hope and finding light in the darkest places. Interwoven in the story was the music that healed and brought truth into the darkest night,
I loved this beautiful and compelling story,
I received an early copy from the publisher through NetGalley and this is my honest review.