Croydon, England - 1964

Helen Hansford is an art therapist at Westbury Park psychiatric hospital. She is also in a love affair with one of the psychiatrists, the very attractive and popular Gil Rudden, who also happens to be married. Helen is very attuned to the patients that she works with, and strives to help bring out the best in them. While her love life must be kept hidden from all at the hospital, Helen is aware that the affair could end at any moment, especially if Gil's wife finds out. To make matters more precarious, his wife is one of Helen's cousins!

One spring day Gil includes Helen in a strange incident. Called by the authorities, Gil takes Helen to a decrepit old house where an elderly woman and her nephew have had an altercation. Clothing has been thrown from the second floor and draped over trees and bushes. Upon arrival they deal with the aunt, removing her to Westbury Park for care as she is obviously mentally distressed. But to their surprise they find the nephew, nearly naked and sporting a waist-length beard and long hair. He, too, goes to the hospital with his aunt. It's apparent from the start that he is mute, and very confused, not to mention that no one in the neighborhood knew that he lived there, and that he has apparently been hidden for decades.

Careful to approach the new arrival, Helen finds that his name is William Tapping, and although he doesn't speak, it's apparent that he can read, and especially that he is a very talented artist. Determined to get to the crux of William's disability, Helen begins including him in her classes, encouraging his love of animals in his artwork. But why was this thirty-seven year old man kept in the house for so many years? Helen wants to find out, but it may take time.

SHY CREATURES is an amazing story of how different lives evolve, some for the good, and some not so good. Helen's own secret to be kept from family and fellow workers imprisons her in its own way. William, while far from having led a normal life, is also far from being insane. His aunts who raised him probably meant well, but were completely wrong in their decision to keep him hidden. As lives begin to unravel, readers will learn about William's past, as well as how Helen will deal with her own problems.

Don't miss SHY CREATURES, it's beautifully written with incredible characters.

This book was compulsively readable. I haven't found a book that I quite literally did not want to put down in a very long time. It was beautifully written, which is what I expect from Claire Chambers, and the plot hooked me and kept me hooked. I felt all of the emotions at one point or another throughout this book and it left me feeling equal parts hopeful and devastated. What an absolute beauty of a book.

I often judge books by their covers, but in the case of Shy Creatures the badger on the cover was a good sign. Clare Chambers has written a book with an interesting plot, and believable characters, complete with lovely prose. It is based on a real event but Chambers has given the main character, William, a slightly nicer life. Set in the mid-1960s, Helen Hansford is an art therapist in a British psychiatric hospital. There she meets William Tapping who has been admitted after an altercation in a nearby crumbling mansion. He is mute, with waist-length hair and beard, and after he shows an interest in art, Helen digs into his past to find out he ended up this way. The author is an acute observer of the human condition, and with this book, she raises questions of love and protection vs. control and wants and needs vs. what is in a person's best interests. It's a novel about kindness that also raises lots of questions about relationships, identity, and independence. This novel was emotional without being overwrought, humorous at times, hopeful, and compassionate, with a moving ending.

Thank you to Mariner Books and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this book. It will be published on November 12, 2024.

Who doesn't love the story of a recluse, living in a falling down home in post-war London? It was more than easy to picture William living with his eccentric aunts - I could picture the muddy boots by the door and the falling down fence and the drafty attic bedroom so clearly. William's story is told backwards in time. Moving the story forwards in time is Helen, an art therapist at a nearby psychiatric hospital. I loved both of their stories and they ways they intertwined. Loved. Will be one of my top ten of the year no doubt.

A tender read about healing, growth, and understanding.

I was deeply invested in Helen and William's characters. As it weaves through William's past and Helen's present day, Chambers reveals what William has lived through. You can't help but love Helen, even when her choices are so frustrating at times. And, it's easy to root for William. I think in the end I left the book feeling hopeful.

Thank you NetGalley and Mariner Books for the advanced E-book!

First thank you to NetGalley for sending an ARC copy of Shy Creatures.

It is a fantastic book on so many levels. Clare describes small details of ordinary life in the the 1960s - which really helps to set the scene of the times, baring in mind it's only nineteen years since the end of World War II. It tells the story of Helen an art therapist in a hospital and William who has been discovered living with an elderly aunt and not know to the outside world.

I love the way the story unfolds from Helens and Williams POV. The story is told gently, but covers many serious issues and how times have changed in it's attitudes to mental health and families expectations.

I think it will be a very popular read.

4.5 stars

I found Shy Creatures to be an enjoyable read, even though it deals with heavy subject matter such as cheating, mental illness, sexual abuse, and family issues. The historical fiction aspect was a big draw for me, and I liked that Chambers showed a more positive side of hospitalization for mental illness in the story. The doctors and staff are portrayed as really caring for their patients and want to find the best ways possible to treat them. Most books in this type of setting portray bleak, abusive mental illness treatment, so this was a great change from that type of story.

Helen and William were great characters, and I loved how they both used art as treatment. I was glad to see both of the characters grow. Helen is finally able to face the actions of her affair with Gil, and William moves forward from the trauma and hiding that he has had to endure from a young age.

The story is told in two timelines, and we get the present POV from Helen, with intervals of William's past. I enjoyed this format, because it gives great character development for both Helen and William. I think Chambers did a great job making Helen a likeable character, but also giving you moments of being frustrated with her character's choices. And William's POVs really pulls on your heartstrings, once the story starts revealing what happened during his childhood and his life following that event.

This was my first read by Clare Chambers, and I definitely recommend Shy Creatures if you love historical fiction, complex characters and a story that has depth and beautiful writing.

This book is thoroughly charming, as I’ve come to expect from Clare Chambers. Helen is funny and clever and just prickly enough to be interesting, and the backstory of William and Francis was doled out in small enough chunks to keep me interested without being distracting from the main story.

I absolutely loved this book. I loved all the characters and all of their back stories. Ms. Chambers had an amazing idea for this book and I appreciate her look into what might have been. I will definitely refer this one to my friends and I will definitely read more of this authors books. Thank you NetGalley and Ms. Chambers for allowing me to read and review this book.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC. This was soo good! I really enjoyed this dual POV story about art therapist Helen, and her patient William, who has been discovered after not leaving his house for over 10 years. Knowing the area somewhat, I loved the setting in 1960s Croydon, with flashbacks to the previous thirty years. There are lots of funny scenes, such as Helen and her partner discovering the Beatles for the first time. I really liked the scenes of the minutiae of daily life, Clare Chambers is really good at this sort of thing without it dragging the plot. The therapy angle was very interesting and I learnt something about the state of mental health treatment in the 1960s - actually a lot of more progressive than I thought!
The reason for William’s condition is drawn out slowly, but each chapter from his perspective still reveals something new. I’d say I still liked Helen’s storyline more and wanted to skip ahead to that at times.
Overall, great read and recommended. I also loved Small Pleasures by the author so now off to read the rest of her backlist!

The vibes of this book are similar to John Steinbeck, and as a lover of his stories, I enjoyed it.

The main character, Helen, is intriguing enough that her negative traits didn’t bother me as much as they do with other characters.

I enjoyed the mystery type aspect to the story and the hopeful ending it has.

The story did take me a little longer to get into but I think that’s because I just had a hard time reading physical books for a couple months.

First, thank you to NetGalley and Mariner Books for an advance copy in exchange for my honest review!

Grey Gardens meets One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest (if it had a happy ending) with a British flair in this heartfelt novel. The themes of lost time and the regrets that can come with that, but also the hope of new beginnings for the characters really shines through. I will admit that for me, the book didn’t grab me immediately—it took a few chapters to get into the story and used to the layout of the storytelling (present day, then further backwards in time). I’m glad I kept pushing because this book really is lovely. It will be a great pick for book clubs everywhere, and to me that’s such a high compliment!

Also, can we get a little commotion for the cover? It’s gorgeous and what initially drew me to the book ❤️

A sensitively wrought tale of a young man living as a hermit for decades in a tumble down house in the English countryside.


Chambers has set this story in 1964, when the effects of World War II are a not-so-distant memory, and social changes are rocking society. The author introduces us in alternating chapters to two seemingly disconnected characters; William, a bearded, mute man living with his elderly aunt, and Helen, a practitioner of the fledgling field of art therapy. Their paths cross when William is admitted to her facility. While William and Helen are fundamentally different, they share common tendencies and are keen observers of the world around them and Helen is immediately taken with William when she discovers his talent for drawing. She’s determined to solve the mystery of what led to his isolation and to help him heal but must confront her own complications as she’s engaged in a clandestine affair with a brilliant doctor, Gil.

Take for example when she and Gil are out at a clandestine dinner in Chapter 14. The two observe an older couple enjoying an intimate dinner largely in silence and then departing;

“‘Promise me we’ll never reach that stage,’ said Gil, shaking his head. Helen didn’t reply, because she was watching the woman tuck her hand into the crook of her husband’s arm and lay her cheek for the briefest moment on his shoulder as they waited at the kerb for a taxi. Far from despising them, she had been thinking how pleasant it must be to have such a careless abundance of time together that whole evenings could be comfortably squandered without a word spoken.”

In reading the afterword, I was struck by the fact that Chambers based this story upon a real life individual. She has filled in the details of this man's life with sensitivity and nuance and shows us the powers of kindness and resilience are real. This book is not to be missed.

Thank you to Mariner Books and NetGalley for providing an advance copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. The book will be published on November 12th, 2024.

Note: Thank you to Mariner Books and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read an e-ARC of Shy Creatures!

Rating: 4/5 Stars!

Summary: In 1964 London, Helen Hansford is an art therapist working at Westbury Park, a psychiatric institute on the cutting edge of psychiatric medicine. For the past three years, she has been involved with a dashing- but married- colleague of hers. One afternoon, Gil Rudden, her colleague and affair partner, receives word of a dispute leading police to find a mute, disheveled man named William Tapping, whose hair and beard are down to his waist. His elderly aunt, his only remaining relative, dies soon after his discovery. At a loss, Gil and Helen decide to observe William, leading Helen to discover not only is William of sound mind; he is also a talented artist. As Helen works to uncover the story of William’s life and he came to be this way, she will come to face her own life, and the choices she’s made.

Review: This novel was a slow start for me. This perhaps has to do with me going a bit outside of my regular genres with this novel, but once I was in, I was invested. My persistence was rewarded doubly- triply, even- with beautiful storytelling that seamlessly came together in a way that surprised me as it happened, but felt so natural as I wove all the clues I’d been handed throughout the narrative together. William’s story will, at times, leave you haunted, heartbroken, and mournful of the circumstances that came to shape his life.

With all that said, let’s talk about characters. Helen, though flawed, was a character whom I rooted for and wanted her to navigate her way to a brighter, happier future for herself and those she cared about, such as her niece Lorraine. William, secluded in the home he shared with his aunts due to an incident when he was very young, has never done anything wrong in his life, ever, and I love him very much. I was rooting for him the entire time, and I wish him nothing but happiness in his future after the conclusion of the novel. Their stories, both in the present and going further back in time until the inciting incident in William’s POVs- the novel is told both in Helen’s POV and William’s POV- connect in such a heartbreaking way. Though frustrating, you can tell his aunts loved him and wanted the best for him in their own way, even if the way they chose was misguided at best.

This novel ends in such a satisfying way for all characters involved, and I thank Clare Chambers for that- given her source material was a real story with a tragic end, she chose happiness, and I can’t thank her enough for that.

Please let it be noted that I now ship Francis and Helen, and would like to know the names of William’s spaniels.

Thank you again to Mariner Books and NetGalley for the e-ARC!

This book was a delight. There’s a mixture of sadness and hope with a story centered on a vulnerable, childlike character. I rooted for him the whole book and couldn’t stop reading until I learned his whole story.

I really loved this book. William was a great character, and I love how the mystery of how he came to be a recluse is slowly revealed.

I also liked Helen and found her to be very relatable. Over the course of the book she grapples with loneliness and guilt over her ill-advised affair with a married coworker and her desire to help her struggling niece.

This isn't a very action packed book. It's more about slow character development. It's beautifully written and very uplifting. Thank you, NetGalley for providing me an arc!

Clare CHambers takes you through the fantastic story of Helen, an art therapist, who seems content with her current life until she begins questioning her choices and the path she is on. William who is a new patient at Westbury Park psychiatric hospital is a mystery to the staff. He was hidden from the world for years and must be reintroduced as he overcomes past trauma. The author will quickly catch the reader's attention from beginning to end as the all of the characters overcome the challenges in their lives.
Thank you to Mariner Books and NetGalley for an Advance readers copy.

30-something-year-old Helen is a woman happily working as an art therapist at a mental hospital, conducting an affair with a married doctor, and generally living a quiet, pleasant life in 1964 Croyden (UK). But along comes an extraordinary patient: a silent, shaggy man who has hidden in his aunts' attic for decades as almost a hermit, kept away from the world for reasons that are only slowly revealed. In helping him, Helen's life is turned on end in the best of ways.

Set in a more innocent (or perhaps a more restrained) time, the characters--even when they fail-- are mostly attempting decency. Their optimism (and funding) for mental health treatment and the distance Helen feels from the coming social changes (she feels quite au courant listening to the Beatles so she can connect with a neice) gives the well-crafted writing an old-fashioned vibe, reminiscent of Barbara Pam. There's beautiful character development and well-crafted writing to savor in this subtle, heartwarming story about truth and kindness.

Thanks to NetGalley and Mariner Books for the eArc in exchange for my unfettered opinion. Publication is set for November 2024.

Clare Chambers’ Shy Creatures will draw you into the story quickly and hold you there until the very last page. Her writing is wonderful as is her character building. The premise of the story is so intriguing. What happened that caused William to be hidden away with his spinster aunts for years? Will Helen, an art therapist working at a psychiatric hospital, be able to unravel his past and help him? These are perhaps the most pressing questions but Chambers gives us such a fuller story! I found so much to take in and think on. How many different ways there are to hold power over someone else. When does love and the desire to protect someone tip over into controlling them? How does status play into the idea of causing someone to submit to another’s wants and desires above their own best interest? Can healing for past trauma ever really come about? Finally I appreciated the conclusion that answered this question for us. This was a wonderful read, so well written and so captivating. I will definitely be looking for more from Clare Chambers. Thank you NetGalley and Mariner Books for the chance to read an advanced reader copy!

I adored this book about the mystery of William who is discovered to have been inside and isolated for the better part of his life. It alternates between his lived experiences over time and with Helen, an art therapist at a mental hospital. I loved everything about this book - the setting ( psych-hospital in the 1960s and an old manor during the 30s-60s), the characters - William, his aunts, Helen. And the writing! It was just wonderfully written and I appreciated the layout - little glimpses back into William’s life that slowly unravel the mystery then back to Helen’s POV in their present. This was my first book by Clare Chambers and I will definitely read her again. Her sentences and descriptions were delightful. (Also, lots of British words and slang which was so fun to read). Thank you SO much to @netgalley and @marinerbooks for the opportunity to read and review this book! This title will be published November 12, 2024. 🦡🦡🦡🦡❤️@goodreads #21/55