I received a complimentary ARC on June 7, 2022, of this very interesting novel from Netgalley, Lauren Belfer, and publisher Random House-Ballantine. Thank you all for sharing your hard work with me. I have read Ashton Hall of my own volition, and this review reflects my honest opinion of this work. Lauren Belfer is an author I try to keep current with. I really like her style. I'm pleased to recommend this novel and her work to friends and family. She tells a fine tale very well.

From the first-person perspective of visiting American Hannah Larson, we see life in Ashton Hall, a manor dating back to the 11th century on the outskirts of Cambridge, England. Ashton Hall is several stories tall with many wings and various hallways, those open to the public, those used by staff and maintenance, and those connected by hidden doorways. She and her 9-year-old son Nicky, who is diagnosed rather highly on the spectrum scale, are prepared to spend the summer, probably the last days of his life, with her Uncle Christopher, a man who has been her confidant and moral support throughout her life.

The house, altered and updated and expanded and redecorated many times over the last ten centuries, is a treasure trove for a curious boy like Nicky, as with the able assistance of Christopher's golden lab called Duncan, they explore. They spend the early mornings while Hannah is working, exploring all the nooks and crannies, finding all sorts of interesting mysteries. Most he doesn't bother his mother with. If she knew he was prowling past the areas of the manor open to the public she might be upset. But when he finds Fred's girlfriend -Fred is an exhibit in his science classroom back home in New York City - he has to share. And of course, he will have to show Hannah where said girlfriend is located. And then he will have to show Mrs. Gardner, the lady who handles the manor, both the publicly accessible areas and those private rooms reserved for apartments for the remaining family members, descendants of the last Lord Southbrooke who with his only two brothers died in The Great War. And of course, there are areas that have not been restored at all in living memory. Is it possible that Nicky has found a 5,000-year-old mystery? Perhaps he has found even more than that - among those rooms in the wing shut off from the rest of the manor are accounts, library loan records, and recipes. Enough information to give Hannah a true picture of life in the manor over the 15th and 16th centuries. It is a distraction that Hannah definitely needs as she welcomes her Uncle Christopher as he returns home after a failed experimental treatment, and faces the death of her marriage and a possible battle for custody of Nicky.

This book was an unusual mystery dealing with history from the Tudor period. It begins with a young boy finding a secret room with a skeleton who appears to have died an agonizing death in the mansion Ashton Hall where his uncle lives. Here starts the mystery how did this person die? Or was he/she killed? Though at first the book seemed to ramble a bit and I was having a hard time following it, its all tied together in a great way in the final chapters. Some parts of the book were fascinating to me. Others not so much. It is a satisfying read and I recommend it.

I truly enjoyed this book. The two parallel yet intertwined stories of, first, delving into the mysterious past of the titled Ashton Hall and, second, family drama centered around Neuro-atypical children kept me intrigued throughout.
It is interesting to see how, step by step, the protagonist, Hannah, "divines the lives" of the people who lived in Ashton Hall in the 16th century after her son, Nicky, finds an unknown wing of the building with mysteries waiting to be unearthed. Adding the next clues to the previous ones, the former residents come to life.
The mystery, the 3 dimensional characters, and the family dramas combine to make this a very interesting read. Highly recommend.

Loved the creepy/beautiful setting here - I'm not sure if the past was adulterated by the present or vice versa. Some interesting and some charming characters. So MUCH going on! I loved the stories and the ending.

Thank you Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine and Netgalley for the opportunity for the arc.

Ashton Hall is a mixed with history, mystery and beautiful architecture. I don't want to give too much away. I really enjoyed the author's writing. I felt she was very detailed and atmospheric. I really could see in my mind the story unfold like a movie. I was engaged and intrigued. And the dialogue was solid. I think this is a great book to read in the fall. It just gives you this cozy atmosphere of exploring a home with mystery along with it. I remember exploring people's homes sometimes when I was babysitting. Especially with big houses. And I would get the chills just wandering around seeing what I could look at. I really got that same sensation for meeting this book. Thank you to netgalley and Balantine publishing for this Arc. I really enjoyed it.

This book definitely felt like a old-style Gothic novel. Nothing terrifying or horror-ish happens, but the general feeling of unease and uncertainty is palpable. I enjoyed the interplay of the historical elements with the modern day story, and the way that women were centered throughout the book. The characters were unpredictable at times, which added to the weird feeling.

I received this book for an honest review.
The book tells us of a man named Christopher who is in the eighty and suffers from cancer. Christopher lived in Ashton Hall in an an apartment. The trust that held the property wanted people to live here so that Ashton Hall would remain a home rather than turn into a museum.

Christopher grew up originally in Arkansas. He had a law degree. His main career was an Art Dealer. His wife died several years ago. Her name was Constance and she was an attorney. Her work got them to live in London. The couple had no children.
A man named Nicky would move in to help take care of Christopher.

I wasn't sure what to expect with this one was but was pleasantly surprised. It has so much to unpack! Motherhood and what we are willing to do for our children, neuro-diversity and the challenges it can include, family illness, marital dilemmas, expat living and a mysterious death that takes us into research on British history and teaches us so much about the past, which in turn reflects to boldy in the present. This book made me consider many things about life and happiness and choices we make. I love a book that makes me think introspectively but keeps me enthralled as I do. I liked following Hannah's journey, and her subsequent following of Isabel. I enjoyed the atmospheric writing and profoundness throughout. I wish there was an epilogue of a more in the future recap of how it all turned out as I was invested in what became of these characters. But it still ended with a hopeful outcome, and a slight twist to the mysterious death too!

I received an ARC of this book. This was a dark, gothic-style mystery that I thoroughly enjoyed! Complex and absorbing, I just had to keep reading. Highly recommend.

I was given this book by NetGalley, the author and publisher in exchange for an honest review
From the time I started reading, I was hooked! The main characters were believable and likable. It took place in modern times but in a 1600s manor house near Cambridge England. The main character, Hannah and her son Nicky are American but they traveled to England to help care for a dying uncle. Soon after arriving Nicky discovered a skeleton hidden away, this beginning a mystery- who was this, how and when did they die? Nicky is a neurodevelopmentally different boy - I felt the author did a wonderful job detailing the joys and tribulations of having a son with challenges.
Differences between the English and American cultures and language were particularly interesting to me.
Themes of libraries, research, historical restraints on women, the struggles of the aristocracy in England holding on to their property, marital fidelity, were all part of the story. Uncle Christopher was a favorite character.
This is a highly recommended book!

Based on the summary, not what I expected. But, much better. When Hannah and her son, Nicky, leave their home in NYC to care for her sick uncle, Christopher, they have many surprises waiting. They arrive in Christopher's home, the ancient Ashton Hall manor, just as Christopher is leaving for treatment in the states. They stay on and make many discoveries. Hannah's marriage is in a difficult state as is her standing in the academic world. Nicky discovers unknown remains in a walled-in part of the manor. Hannah discovers that the women who lived in the manor house before her had many difficult times just as she has difficult times of her own. This is a story of women's struggles throughout history and what they've done to survive. Must have been extensively researched, this book makes me want to read more by the author, Lauren Belfer. My thanks to Random House and the author for this ARC. I enjoyed it and you will, too! :)

Hannah and her son Nicky visit her uncle Christopher in England at his home Ashton Hall. Her uncle has to leave shortly after they arrive but ask them to stay. During their stay, they begin to settle in to their apartment, and get to know the staff and the people in the village. One morning Hannah awakens to find Nicky telling her about a lady he found. He takes them on quite an excursion through the house to find a long dead woman. If the story had stayed the course, I would have loved this book. However, it veered off into present day issues with marital problems and neurodiverse children. It felt like the author had an agenda on this part of the story. The Author's Note was very interesting - don't miss reading it if you read this book! Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this e-book.

I picked this book solely on its looks. Yep, that’s why I wanted to read it. Shallow huh? Well maybe. So many covers are that great and I loved this one. Loved.
About the book.
It’s a historical and present day telling. Basically it’s present day and something is found at Ashton Hall and it will need a lot of investigating. The book gave me a front row seat to the MC life.
The author portrays difficult relationships with overwhelming situations and it had a several. I just can’t even imagine this woman’s life. I’d not given much thought or heard much about neurodiverse children. I guess no one wants to talks about.
I also enjoyed the speculation about what happened. Lots of scenarios were played out. It really made me think.
The part of the book that really cooked my pot was about monogamy. Like mo one can do it. Emotionally faithful? Is that a thing we’re really excepting today??? And then I want to ask that person if they ever where cheated on. Yeah, that’s what I thought.
Anyway I thought the book good and very interesting. It made me think about women. And what’s our opportunities and what holds us back in society. Can we really be as “successful” as men? Just a thought.
I almost put this down because it starts out slow but ended up finding my pace with it. I do recommend it.
Thanks Ballantine Books via Netgalley.

I left my review on Amazon, Instagram, Kobo, BB, B&N, FB and Goodreads.

I went into this story thinking it was a mystery about a home, and it was. But it was also heavily an emotional story about a woman and her son. I would have liked so much more about the home and the mystery. I felt like it was too slow of a burn, and I really wanted something to happen. It will be a good read for slow-burn readers!

When Hannah Larson and her young son Nicky travel from their home in New York to Ashton Hall, an English manor house, they aren't counting on becoming embroiled in a centuries old mystery.
I didn't know exactly what I was expecting from this book, however what I got was not it. Most of the story dealt with her son's social and emotional issues and the problems in her marriage. I would have liked more about history of the estate and mystery of Isabella Cresham. It started off well, but after a while I felt like I was waiting for something to happen. Actually my favorite part of the book was the chapter of Hannah's novel and the Author's notes. I found both very intriguing.

I voluntarily read and reviewed a copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Ashton Hall is a wonderful story with Americans Hannah and her son Nicky arriving in England to visit and stay with her 'uncle' who is ill. As she arrives he informs her he is going to the US for new medical trials for his illness. Hannah is upset that he is going but he insists that she stay at Ashton Hall while he under goes treatment.

Hannah has been struggling with the daily care of Nicky. She hasn't wanted to pigeon hole him with a diagnosis, but he reacts somewhat violently when things don't go his way. He is also a very gifted child which make it harder to deal with. Before leaving for England Hannah witnesses her husband Kevin in an intimate moment that she has not dealt with or confronted him about.

One morning Nicky wakes his mother saying he had discovered a female skeleton in the castle. As they maneuver their way through a crumbling hidden passageway which leads to a walled up room in a forgotten part of the house which became her tomb.

As the story unfolds it is determined the remains date back to the 1550's Tudor period. As Hannah researches who the woman was and why she would be in a windowless sealed room, she becomes more attached to the woman. When Isabella Creshan comes to life slowly this story becomes an unforgettable book of her manner of life and her her faith.

This is a fabulously told story that weaves the past with the present and the choices each were confronted with.

A thoroughly enjoyable modern gothic mystery.

I picked this one up because I loves me a gothic mystery. Spooky old houses and a centuries old mystery? Sign me up. The mystery of this creepy old house was compelling and the results surprising. What I didn’t expect from this book was such a nuanced look at motherhood and its complexities. Children are not perfect. I mean we all know that right? But I feel like until you’ve experienced parenting a child with developmental or emotional issues or neurodivergence then it can be hard to comprehend how challenging that can be. This book speaks to that.

“We all look for hope in the narrative, for a positive trajectory, but sometimes there isn’t hope. It’s more of the same for decades, and parents have to adjust. Not just take things day by day, with everything unpredictable. Hoping against hope that their kid will become the child of their dreams, instead of reconciling themselves to the person their child actually is.”

Oh hell, that quote hit me right in the heart at 2 in the morning. In my home, as with many other parents we are dealing with increased anxiety and depression. In large part this is because of the things these kids have been experiencing the last few years. Climate anxiety, increasing gun/school violence, the pandemic and quarantines … it’s been a lot for them to deal with. I know that many of us are finding ourselves in the position of trying to shepherd our children through this seemingly unsurmountable worries. I don’t have any answers for how to help our young ones through this morass, except to keep loving them and keep adjust our own expectations. Adjust adjust adjust and then adjust some more with empathy.

Ok, big sigh, but back to the book and the main conceit of this novel, which is unravelling the mystery of who this dead corpse belongs to. Figuring that out was definitely intriguing and I enjoyed that aspect of the book a great deal. I’m going to keep an eye on this author for future books. I really liked their style. I enjoy an interesting story that also speaks to the human condition in a complex say. I hope you will like this book as well.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for this early read. As the novel opens, Hannah Larson and her young son Nicky arrive at Ashton Hall, an historic English country manor where her ailing uncle Christopher rents rooms. He leaves almost immediately, to try an experimental cancer treatment in the US. At loose ends, Hannah and Nicky fall into life at the manor house. Hannah, a scholar who put her PhD aside to raise her son, helps with historic research. Nicky goes exploring and finds a long-closed up part of the house. And a skeleton who has been bricked into a small room. It is soon determined that the skeleton, a woman, dates to the time of the Tudors, so the mystery is for the historians, not the police. As they learn more about the woman, Hannah can’t help but make parallels to the plight of women through history and to her own life, which includes an unfinished dissertation, a neurodiverse child, and a rocky marriage. I originally was drawn to this title, thinking it would be more gothic in nature – Ashton Hall, a skeleton, a mystery – but it is more of a contemporary story, about the role of women in society, then and now, what has changed and what remains the same. If you liked Matrix by Lauren Groff or Circe by Madeline Miller, this is a lighter take on the same kinds of themes.

Modern gothic literature is one of my favorite genres so I was thrilled when I was approved for the arc, Ashton Hall by Lauren Belfer. Filled with atmosphere, this book assuredly lived up to my interpretation of the genre and had other themes that I did not expect.

Hannah and her neurodivergent son Nicky have left New York City for Cambridge England for the summer to care for her dying adopted uncle at the estate, where he lives. Leaving her troubled marriage behind she welcomes this opportunity to get away. While exploring the estate, Nicky discovers a walled up room with the skeletal remains of a woman from the Tudor era inside. Using the estates old ledgers Hannah and Nicky embark on a quest to solve this centuries old mystery and along the way learn how the lives of women today aren’t that different from the ones of the past.

I really loved this book. I found the academic research that Hannah does to solve the mystery of the manor to be fascinating. The manor house and it’s history slowly come to life with each little bit that is discovered. The way the old estate library ledgers were used as a portal to the past especially appealed to me. And even though this book is heavily laden with the research element, it still has all the gloomy and dark gothic atmosphere I do
love.

This book manages to be several thing at once- a historical mystery and family drama combined with elements of gothic literature. This book wasn’t a fast read but that is because I wanted to take in every little detail of the past as it was discovered. And even though the mystery of the past appears to take center stage, this book ends up being about Hannah’s life in the present as themes of monogamy and motherhood are explored. The addition of this family drama to the story gave it a layer of depth I had not expected. Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed my journey on this time travel mystery.

I found thjis to be a fairly run of the mill book. If you like the genre, you will like the book. Just don’ expect it to stay with you for any amount of time. Characters were stilted and thin but the story moved along well enough.