Fyneshade is the first stand-alone novel by British author, Kate Griffin. When her beloved Grandmere dies, Marta is sent to be a governess at Fyneshade in Derbyshire. It’s an imposing place, but she is well-equipped with Grandmere’s teaching about herbs and remedies, knowledge that saw her referred to as a witch.

When she meets her ten-year-old charge, Marta is surprised at Grace’s appearance (she has encountered the moonface features before) and that she is virtually non-verbal. She’s meant to teach this girl French, to transform her into a lady? Marta, it turns out, is not what the housekeeper, Mrs Gurney expected either: young and attractive is a concern.

It’s quickly clear that the staff at Fyneshade all love and care for Grace, that she’s a talented sketch artist, wilful, definitely not dumb, and possessed of a certain guile. And she knows every inch of the house like the back of her hand.

But Fyneshade is filled with mysteries: the master, Sir William Pritchard, seems to be absent; excepting the groom, all the staff are freakishly unattractive women whose dislike of Marta is soon plain; and the north wing is kept locked.

To Mrs Gurney’s consternation, Marta accidentally encounters Grace’s older brother Vaughan and his hawk. Marta realises that the housekeeper had acted to avoid this, and she now warns Marta off: Vaughan Pritchard may be the heir to Fyneshade, but he is barred from the house, and Marta should not trust him, he is a devil. Marta has her own ideas about that…

As she gets to know Fyneshade and its people better, Marta realises that deceit typifies every encounter, that everyone has secrets and none of what is said can be trusted. But Marta, too, is practiced at deception and coercion, and protecting her own interests above all.

Griffin gives the reader an enthralling gothic horror tale that might just be a prequel to a certain Henry James novella. If the reader is initially sympathetic of Marta’s plight, her emerging nastiness and cruelty might alter that a little, but by then it’s hard to look away. Clever, twisty and quite dark.
This unbiased review is from an uncorrected proof copy provided by NetGalley and Serpent’s Tail/Viper.