THE VANISHING AT CASTLE MOREAU, by Jaime Jo Wright, Bethany House Publishers, April 4, 2023, Paperback, $16.99 (older young adult/ new adult/ adult fiction)
Two young women trying to escape their pasts find themselves at the center of a dark mystery in The Vanishing at Castle Moreau, by Jamie Jo Wright.
A haunting legend. An ominous curse. A search for a secret buried deep within the castle walls.
In 1870, orphaned Daisy François takes a position as housemaid at a Wisconsin castle to escape the horrors of her past life. There she finds a reclusive and eccentric Gothic authoress who hides tales more harrowing than the ones in her novels. As women disappear from the area and the eerie circumstances seem to parallel a local legend, Daisy is thrust into a web that could ultimately steal her sanity, if not her life.
In the present day, Cleo Clemmons is hired by the grandson of an American aristocratic family to help his grandmother face her hoarding in the dilapidated Castle Moreau. But when Cleo uncovers more than just the woman’s stash of collectibles, a century-old mystery and the dust of the old castle’s curse threaten to rise again . . . this time to leave no one alive to tell the sordid tale. —Synopsis provided by Bethany House Publishers
Set in midwestern Wisconsin, The Vanishing at Castle Moreau is a gothic Christian romance that spans more than 100 years. It’s the multiple-time, multiple-perspective story of a Daisy, living in 1870, and Cleo, living in present day, with a few chapters set in 1801 featuring Ora, the first woman to live in the Castle. It’s an elderly Ora that Daisy comes to work for. Cleo works for Virgie Tremblay, one of Ora’s descendants.
Author Jamie Jo Wright does an excellent job setting the scene. The creepiness factor is high from the very first chapter. It’s not hard to imagine yourself walking through the castle halls beside her main characters.
Daisy, Cleo and Ora are well-defined, complex characters that aren’t always likeable, but remain compelling.
Even with all its positives, it did take me a while to get into The Vanishing at Castle Moreau. Everything moved a bit too languidly for me at first. Things do pick up later, though, so it’s worth sticking with it.
The Vanishing at Castle Moreau is published by Bethany House, one of the largest independent Christian book publishers. As such, readers should go into the book with the understanding that Christian themes — specifically that of faith — are present throughout.
Though not written specifically for a young adult audience, The Vanishing at Castle Moreau, doesn’t feature anything objectionable, and it’s main characters are young enough to resonate with older YA readers.
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