Lying with Lyons takes place nearing the end of the Edwardian era, which was preceded by the Victorian era. The timeframe is very important as it is also happening at the turn of a century fraught with political struggles.

Lady Helen Bryant, is the matriarch of a titled and powerful family. In shades of women’s rights, or the lack thereof, Lady Helen is faced with making a plan to hold on to power through her son.

Agnes Ashford finds herself in a rather interesting position as she works for Lady Helen, but is also in a physical relationship with her employer. Lady Helen relies on Agnes to perform the important and daunting task of cataloging the archive of the Bryant family. However, due to the nature of her work, Agnes becomes aware of a dark secret and must decide how she will proceed.

Lying With Lions is an engaging read on many levels, and I quite enjoyed the story.

I haven’t read too much historical fiction but when I do I am reminded how much I enjoy it.

This book was historical fiction but with a gothic feel about it. The romantic elements were written in a way that you could feel the tenderness of it. We also saw how society changes during the Edwardian era into the era of George V. The family Agnes is working for has to change too. Agnes was a real character that I loved reading about. Cannot say too much as I will give away the ending of the book.

I look forward to reading more of this authors work now.

I was contacted on TikTok to review this book and give my honest thoughts and feedback. There are minor spoilers below!

So this was the first historical fiction book I've ever read, so I honestly was not sure what to expect. The premise of this book seemed interesting so I decided to give this book a read.

Overall I really enjoyed the beginning and ending of this book. The beginning was very captivating and hooked me in from the first chapter, and the ending was INSANE!! I did not see it coming at all!! I also really enjoyed watching the evolution of Anges's character. The seeds of doubt are there throughout the book and then it comes full circle by the end! I really thought her development was very well done. Another thing I really enjoyed was Helen's character, because she is a very complex character. She is the textbook definition of and abusee who becomes and abuser, and I loved to see how she uses every thing she has to get what she wants, but disguises what she wants as "what is best for everyone". Lastly, the twist at the end was genius! It made sense and ended the book with a bang!

The only thing I didn't like about the book was the middle section. Personally I like fast paced stories, and it the pace of the mid section was very slow, and not much happened. So it took me a while to get through this portion of the book.

Overall, I would recommend this book to everyone! I think it was a solid read and very enjoyable!

Lying With Lions is an intriguing and captivating tale of the privileged Bryant Family who hold some very dark secrets. Our protagonist Agnes discovers these shocking truths and find herself caught up in the family’s cunning ways especially her involvement with the powerful Lady Helen.

The main characters are selfish, greedy and even corrupt. There is a heavy gloom that shadows around the Bryant Family and you know from the very start that some twisted truths are going to be unleashed.

It has a bit of romance and I found it so refreshing having some LBTQ+ rep in one of the main storylines. I particularly loved the details the author wrote so beautifully about the era before the First World War whether it’s political events, descriptions of the everyday lives of people of that time to the immersive, vivid details of Hartfell Hall.

The author successfully keeps you gripped throughout with the tense atmosphere she creates and the suspense of each unravelling of truth that then escalates to a shocking ending.

A compelling and entertaining read that fans of historical fiction will revel in.

First of all, I would like to thank NetGalley and the publishers for providing me with the eARC of this book, Lying with Lions by Annabel Fielding.

Lying with Lions is a work of historical fiction that follows Agnes, an archivist, who works for the noble Bryant family and discovers secrets from their past which they would rather be left uncovered. It progresses as Agnes becomes more intertwined in their deceit and struggle for power over the course of several years.

Unfortunately this book just did not grab my attention, whilst I enjoyed the premise it just failed to live up to what I wish it could have been. I enjoyed the insights provided into the characters and their dynamics with each other but that was overshadowed by the fact that I heavily disliked the pacing of the book. I also felt that the timeline just wasn’t made clear and there was quite a lack of development for so long.

Agnes is a young archivist who closely works with the Bryant family. As she gets closer to Lady Bryant dark secrets start to reveal themselves. Soon she will have to face an impossible choice…

Thoughts:

I spent ages reading this book mostly because I found it so hard to understand. The first half was quite jumbled up and not very clear so it was weird trying to understand the plot.

One thing to be noted about this book is that it jumps around. It went from one year to another within a few chapters so you had to make sure you were quite alert in reading this.

I really enjoyed the uniqueness of this book I haven’t read anything like it in terms of plot and timeline combined. The historical element made a nice background to the book and kept it enjoyable.

The ending was something else. Honestly I was in shock for an hour later. It was definitely a plot twist and a half, yet very fast forward and action based compared to the rest of the book.

I found the writing style quite compelling yet sometimes it would of been nice to have more explanation of what was happening.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and KDP for sending me this eArc in exchange for an honest review.

3.5 stars and would recommend to history lovers.

I was really excited for this book. The premise looked intriguing and the title itself suggested something dark and peaked my curiosity.

We follow Agnes, who is employed by the Bryant family to catalogue their archives. She discovers a 'dark' secret and the story unfolds.

The story itself was interesting and the connections between the characters builds as the novel develops. The setting of Edwardian England is intriguing and I felt I learnt a lot about this time.

That said, this felt like two different books. Around the 55% mark it switched tone, pace and general content - it was hard to stay gripped by the story. The latter half was very politics heavy which wasn't introduced in a particularly engaging or informative manner - I felt quite lost at times and this did impact my enjoyment of the novel.

The writing itself was descriptive and at times poetic and beautiful. It did well to situate the reader within the context and environment that the main characters were experiencing.

My main gripe was the need for a serious edit! I am sincerely hoping that the net galley edition is NOT the one that readers are buying either a hard copy or or the e-book because it was absolutely littered with grammatical errors, typos and general issues. I highlighted over 150 throughout the book and am passing them onto the publisher just in case. If I was this author I'd be incredibly disappointed in my editor!

I think if you are into historical fiction, a lot of scandal and can use your imagination to go beyond what might be considered believable or likely (particularly around the scandal elements) you will enjoy this book. I would have loved more depth and less superficiality in this book - there was SO much potential there and it just seems that it was kept hidden away, much like the secret Agnes stumbles upon...

A very entertaining and utterly captivating Edwardian drama very reminiscent at times of Trollope and Du Maurier and cleverly plotted with enough venom to keep the innocent reader on pins and needles all the way to its higly satisfying conclusion. The story is told by Agnes, a young and rather dull archivist employed by and living with an aristocratic family full of dysfunctional idiots armed with enough murderous hate and poisonous spite to make the Forsyte green with envy. I loved this novel. None of its characters managed to stir a tiny bit of empathy in my heart. On the contrary, I greatly relished their despicable personalities. All of them. .A marvellous tapestry of British upper class deviousness and decadence blessed at times with some rather nasty verbal pyrotechnics. Highly recommended and to be enjoyed without any moderation whatsoever!

Many thanks to Netgalley and KDP for this terrific ARC

Lying with Lions is not the typical book I read but on occasion I am willing to venture out and try new genres. I found an intricate character-driven plot and knew immediately this was my type of movie as opposed to my type of book. As I read, the thought that I would enjoy this on the big screen accompanied was often on my mind.

The story is written in present tense, which was a bit jarring at first. Eventually I settled into it along with the feeling that I was watching the events unfold as an omniscient narrator allowed me a glimpse into the machinations of high society through Agnes. From a humble background, Agnes is hired by the Bryant family to serve as their archivist to compile and organize the family history. Eventually she becomes more than just a bystander, becoming Lady Bryant’s secretary. Rather than an observer, she becomes a willing participant in the political maneuvers of those she comes to be associated with.

Agnes was often an enigma to me, making it hard to figure out her motives. Is she being genuine? Does she have something planned? Is she a “good” person? Part of me wanted to skip to the end because I wanted to know the why behind Agnes’s actions. My urge to spoil the ending was further spurred on by the novel’s slow build. It was not until about a fifth of the way when the pieces started to fall into place, and I recognized with some amount of certainty where the book was heading. The pace was slow, but it was the deliberate kind that encourages readers to be immersed in the plot and observe as well as question the decisions of characters, what will those in power do to remain in power? I had to exercise a fair amount of self-control but the ending was worth it as revelations are made.

As usual with a three star book I have a bit of a hard time reviewing it. Lying With Lions wasn’t a bad read at all and I did enjoy some aspects of it but I also didn’t end up loving it as much as I would’ve wanted. I feel kinda caught between the liking and disliking feeling. So I’m going to review it in this kinda manner.

What I liked about the book:

The beautiful way it was written was actually my favorite thing in the whole book. The author clearly has a great talent for it and almost couldn’t get enough of that. I also really liked that the story had a lesbian relationship between Agnes and Lady Helen in it because we need to have more of that, especially in historical fiction. And I enjoyed that it was set in Edwardian England because the early 1900’s fascinate me.

What I disliked about the book:

The book had a great start but somewhere along the way the story started losing me because a lot was going on with the characters and the many scandals. I felt like there were many little plots going on and eventually that starts getting confusing. I also didn’t really care a lot for the characters even if I did like Agnes and Helen’s relationship.



Set in Edwardian England, Lying With Lions is a story that definitely catches the readers attention. The prose is beautiful and it’s a page-turner. Personally I wanted to connect more with the characters but even so it does have a lot of good things going for the story. It just didn’t end up being a favorite for me.

I was hoping to enjoy this far more than I did. I love historical and gothic mysteries, and that this has a lesbian love story in it made it just my thing. I don't know why but this a very slow read to me. It took a long time to get me invested in what was happening, to the point when the romance actually started, I was surprised at how sudden it was.

I will say I enjoyed the characters, especially Agnes Ashford, the supposedly meek young archivist who has motives of her own. Lady Helena is fine the way she is, and I liked how she is so driven. Beyond that, it is hard to root for them as a couple, because the relationship is inherently toxic. I still would have found their relationship compelling, especially since Fielding didn't really romanticize it, and it helped spice of some of the more boring political powerplays. I knew that one of them was a true snake, or more dastardly than I'd initially thought, and it was fun to unravel that.

Overall, this didn't really jive with me, even though I can see where folks would enjoy it. It was a little too slow for me, with most of the actual fun stuff happening at the latter half of the book. I thought it was a little too careful setting up the game, but it didn't pay off for me.

A cleverly written historical fiction full of scheming characters, politics and family drama.
The story reads like a family saga- each of the characters caught up in their own scenes plotting against eachother for personal gain. Family secrets kept as weapons for future use.
Agnes is an interesting main character- cunning and ambitious, she manages to work her way into family life from the lowly role of archivist to Lady Helen’s right-hand woman, involved in all of the family’s drama.

Lying With Lions by Annabel Fielding - ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️. Thank you so much to @netgalley for a review copy of this excellent self published (I think?) gothic historical novel.

Edwardian England, just prior to the outbreak of WWI, Agnes Ashford is hired as the family archivist to the Bryant family, grateful for a position and very aware that she must hide the truth about her past. Taking advantage of events at the house and against the backdrop of a rapidly changing world where class divisions are starting to fall away she manages to rise to be the right hand of Lady Helen Bryant, the glittering matriarch who entangles Agnes in some of the families deepest, darkest acts as they fight to cling onto their wealth, position and titles as the world changes around them.

The narrative is meandering, but still compelling. It jumps from being a country house gothic novel to being full of summers in Italy and political machinations in Westminster, but it does all come together in the end and the writing is so good, the thematic jumping around does not matter all too much. This book is about the journey as much as the destination - actually, while I guessed the big reveal at the start, cleverly, Fielding made me forget I’d even sussed it as I read on. She also made me forget how ruthless her characters could be, sullying the waters further in the build up to a very satisfying ending.

If you enjoyed The Animals at Lockwood Manor, The Lost Ones or The Quickening, I just know you’re going to love Lying with Lions. It’s available now (it came out earlier this week) and it is free to read if you’re a Kindle Unlimited member, and, might I add, is so much better than some of the utter dross I encountered there during my trial membership…!

There is always a delight in reading a novel that mixes in historical fact with fiction. This gives the author more scope for creativity. Annabel Fielding has created a novel that mixes these two together well, and written something that feels real.

Agnes Ashford knows where she stands when it comes to being the archivist to the Bryant family. That she needs to be grateful that she’s found employment. However, as Agnes combs through the tomes of papers, and letters she comes across family secrets that could damage the family and change the course of Agnes’ life. Just what is Agnes capable of doing to hold onto her rising rank?

Helen Bryant, Lady of the house is just as much of a mystery to Agnes when she arrives in the Bryant home, but what Helen does to protect her son and heir is just as shocking as what Agnes is capable of.

The family are prepared to survive the dawn of a new century even if that means casting aside loyalties to their country as the threat of war looms. Political and social standing mean everything even if that means lives are sacrificed and people die.

The pace of the story is set just right, it’s not swamped in endless description that takes the reader an age to reach the key events. We are given enough detail to keep you engaged and turning those pages.

I did wonder how the politics, family secrets and the love story between Agnes and Helen would come together, as there seemed to be separate entities, but Annabel Fielding has done a great job of marrying it all, especially given the time period it is set. It all comes together about halfway and culminates in a rather unexpected dramatic ending.

This is a great read, that’s full of mystery, a bit of espionage with a touch of thriller thrown in. It has been a pleasure to read and I look forward to seeing what Annabel writes next.

I have read quite a lot of historical fiction recently but I struggled a lot to connect with the characters and the story of this book. I really liked a morally grey protagonist like Agnes and her character development. There was enough family drama but I still couldn’t understand why Agnes is hell-bent on saving the family. The climax was the biggest letdown for me. It was unexciting and very predictable.

I've devoured this book and, well, I am still digesting it. The title "Lying with Lions", the mysterious cover as well as the prospect of a historical fiction with a sapphic romance in it already sounded intriguing to me so I was very excited when I received this book for a review (thank you!)
It is set in the edwardian era and we follow Agnes, who is an archivist for the Bryant family; in her work she uncovers some family secrets and from this point on her relationship with the family, especially Lady Helen and herself start to change, as more and more mysterious events take place, politics come into game and further secrets are revealed...
This was very fast paced which suited the story well; it constantly had me at the edge of my seat. Some parts feel a bit staccato- changing the location/situation etc quite quickly, which was sometimes a bit confusing. especially in the beginning, but throughout the book it became much more fluid. The writing is beautiful- I underlined many quotes, and truly enjoyed reading the descriptions and dialogues. Some plottwists really caught me off guard; while others I expected and was pretty dissapointed with how they were resolved. The characters were very interesting and complex- especially the Helen and Agnes- I was never sure what their next move is going to be and it was very fun to follow along this game of power. I liked the way their relationship was integrated into the story and how we were able to follow it througout the years.
Overall I really enjoyed this book, I couldn't put it down- my biggest remark is that I personally hoped for a different kind of ending, but at least it surprised me and left me with a lot think about in retrospect. Excited to read more by this author!

(make sure to check for trigger warnings before picking this up. death, rape, murder...)

⭐️⭐️⭐️.5/5⭐️
Thank you to Annabel Fielding and Netgalley for this gifted e-copy in exchange for an honest review.

Edwardian England. Agnes Ashford knows that her duty is threefold: she needs to work on cataloguing the archive of the titled Bryant family, she needs to keep the wounds of her past tightly under wraps, and she needs to be quietly grateful to her employers for taking her up in her hour of need. However, a dark secret she uncovers due to her work thrusts her into the Bryants’ brilliant orbit - and into the clutch of their ambitions.

This is one of few books I’ve read set in this time period. I really liked how historical events were woven into this story and added more depth to the setting.

The writing was careful to set the tone and stick to the themes of that time period.

I enjoyed the fact that Agnes was neither an angel not evil and like most of us was just trying to make the best of the situation she found herself in.

The perceptions of the men in the book do appear to be skewed to the negative but I felt this was done purposely as our protagonist is enamoured with Lady Helen.

Although a little slow in places I did like the book overall and the atmospheric, almost gothic writing was really enjoyable and has given me a renewed interest in historical fiction.

<i>Thank you to the author and NetGalley for providing me with an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.</i>

3/5 stars
<i>Lying with Lions</i> is an atmospheric historical fiction novel full of danger, politics, and conflict. It follows our main character Agnes, who is the archivist for the Bryant family. However, as Agnes uncover a web of life-changing secrets, she must make some tough decisions.

WHAT I LIKED:
The writing was fantastic. It is easy to tell that Annabel Fielding knows what she is talk about, as this novel is rich in description and atmosphere. The dialogue was also captivating. If you are someone who appreciates complexity and detail, you will enjoy this book. Furthermore, I liked the subtleness within the drama. The LGBTQ+ representation was the main reason I wanted to branch out and try this genre once again (historical fiction usually doesn't work for me), and I was surprised how quiet the relationship was. This is not a bad thing at all--I love when LGBTQ+ books can have queer relationships without it being the center of the book. It makes it feel normal, and also places the drama and conflict of the book elsewhere.

WHAT I STRUGGLED WITH:
Historical fiction is a difficult genre for me. I love the idea of it, but I often struggle to comprehend it. This is 100% my own preference of the genre as a whole, and not a reflection of the book itself. I also got a bit lost with the plot. It became a bit too political and complex for me, but if you are someone who likes plot-based books, this one is for you. I much prefer character-driven novels, and actually enjoy when books have little plot, so I was really looking for more character development.

Overall, I would recommend <i>Lying with Lions</i> to anyone who likes historical fiction novels that are dark, atmospheric, and complex, especially if you are looking for something with sapphic representation. This somewhat reminded me of the atmosphere of <i>Wuthering Heights</i>, so if you enjoyed that book, check out <i>Lying with Lions</i>.

In the last 10% of Lying with Lions, the protagonist, Agnes Ashford, and her lover/patron, Lady Helen Bryant, are confronted with a terrible choice: either sacrifice Helen’s wealth and independence, or the crimes she and Agnes committed to protect it will be revealed to the public. Agnes feels torn between her survival instinct, her loyalty to Helen, and her conscience. Every scene raises the stakes until Agnes is driven into desperate action with real consequences.

It’s a satisfying ending to Annabel Fielding’s turn-of-the-century gothic drama. Unfortunately, it also seems to belong to a different draft than the previous 90% of the novel.

Fielding’s writing is sometimes confusing (with frequent tense shifts that I hope will be caught in a final edit before it’s released on the 20th), but it’s more often beautiful, even poetic. I frequently highlighted passages I found moving or insightful.

Agnes and Helen are complex, often unlikable women with both agency and power. It’s clear that their lives and personalities are based on real Edwardian women. Even when they’re reckless or cruel, their actions are logical and grounded in a way I should have found compelling.

Best of all, every detail of their world is consistent and (as far as I can tell) accurate. Fielding is a history blogger, and she cites dozens of texts as sources for this novel alone. It’s clear that it was important for her to give readers a sense of what it was like to live in Edwardian England, from politics to social norms to infrastructure and even lighting.

So why didn’t this book work for me?

I think my problem was almost entirely structural. Though it’s a single novel, the plot of Lying with Lions is unusually episodic. Agnes and Helen will recognize they have a problem. Agnes will (briefly, without much emotion) contemplate the problem for a few pages, while Helen develops a solution offscreen. Agnes will execute the solution. Then, we get an equal number of pages of sightseeing or current events. Repeat for 200 pages.

This structure doesn’t allow the kind of tension that keeps me reading until 2 in the morning. Instead, I felt discouraged from worrying about the characters, because the repeated pattern of problem, contemplation, quick and tidy solution lulled me into thinking nothing truly bad could happen to Agnes or Helen. Neither Agnes nor Helen even seemed to suffer from guilt or anxiety at any point, even when their solutions have body counts.

Even the romance between Agnes and Helen suffers from this structure. There is no time for yearning. There are no tender, playful moments between the couple. There are some sex scenes, but these are really only settings for the conversations in which Helen gives Agnes instructions and Agnes reports her results.

It’s clear that Helen values Agnes’s loyalty and obedience, but that’s about it. Helen takes what she wants from Agnes, and Agnes gives it without conflict or self-doubt or even much prolonged joy, just the satisfaction of a job well done.

Again, the ending of this book is fantastic, but it’s also confusing. Agnes suddenly does mind their body count. She does care about the impact of her actions on other people. She does want to do the right thing. Not because anything happened or she had a change of heart; it’s just presented as though this is the character Agnes has been the entire time. I wish it were.

I think readers who are primarily interested in historical fiction for the details of the setting will love Lying with Lions. I also think it could be adapted into an incredible movie or mini-series. The right actors, with the right on-screen chemistry, could make the relationship between Agnes and Helen really compelling. However, readers seeking a historical lesbian romance are likely to be disappointed by the novel.

Lying with Lions travels through early 20th Century England through the view of Agnes, archivist turned secretary for the esteemed Bryant family.

On the one hand the view of a changing world is fascinating but on the other hand there was sometimes too much going on to get the sense of a story rather than simply a timeline. The author’s narrative weaves Agnes and the family into major events in British history but at times I was definitely left wondering what the point of it all was. For example, a foray into Irish independence was of vital importance to the characters but somehow I can’t explain why.

There were far too many times where I felt I was getting bogged down in the details of the story and unable to see the bigger picture. This was further compounded by a weak climax that came out of nowhere and provided no closure.

I wanted to like this story, and at times I did, but my overall impressions was just wondering what the point of it all was. Why was Agnes involved with the family? Why was she protecting them? What did she actually get out of it?