I'm always going to read certain types of book. Books with dark castle-type fortresses, a brooding leading man, usually with some sort of physical ailment left over from a war, a woman, usually an orphan, escaping her past.... Jane Eyre being the prime example of this. Rebecca being the second.
The Woman in the Mirror by Rebecca James falls into this sort of story. Alice leaves London and her past to become a governess to two twins in the lonely and dark Winterborne. Captain Jonathan de Grey is her employer and owner of the castle. The twins instantly treat Alice as a beloved member of their family, smothering her in kisses and sweet words.
In modern day, Rachel is a successful gallery owner in New York. An orphan, she wants to know more about her past, and as luck would have it, a letter arrives, telling her of the death of an unknown Aunt, who has left her Winterborne.
The Woman in the Mirror straddles the lines between historical fiction and a mystery/thriller. A house that seems to live and breathe. Strange noises and stranger rooms. Broken men and broken women, everyone looking for love and for answers.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for the opportunity to read and review this book.