Book set in Scotland and Singapore -Greyfriars House, Emma Fraser

Submitted: 11th August 2023

A gothic tale of a crumbling mansion and war time secrets

This is a quite remarkable read. It evokes two very distinct locations – a small fictional island in the Scottish Highlands and war time Singapore. Greyfriars House is a crumbling mansion where in the present day a woman travels there for answers. Her mum used to live with her sisters in this house. One day, something changed. The house was left abandoned. There are stories of ghosts on the shore. The real ghosts however are living in its walls…Book set in Scotland and Singapore -Greyfriars House, Emma Fraser

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Boarding Pass Information: Greyfriars House

Destination : Scotland

Author guide: Emma Fraser

Genre: fiction

Food and drink to accompany: Scottish Salmon and Singapore noodles

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Be transported to Scotland to a mysterious house

I picked up this book as the name of the house caught my eye. Greyfriars – did it have anything to do with Greyfriars bobby? The famous dog which sat beside his masters grave for years and years? turns out yes, the house is named after him. That’s just the first delicious link to history and stories of the past that this book is all about.

I loved meeting the characters and travelling to two very different times and locations. I haven’t read a book in a while that dealt with two such very different locations but still manged to blend them into such a compelling storyline. There is heartache and drama, secrets and lies, and a gothic house that I could see so vividly that when the ghost story started to drift from the pages, I almost cried out in shock thinking I was in that turret looking down on to that beach.

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It was very cleverly plotted with each delicious detail coming out at just the right time to tease and satisfy the reader. The story of the house is told in two timelines – Olivia is a child at first exploring the house and the story. Years later, her daughter Charlotte comes to stay with her rather strange aunts. She also feels a presence in the house and wonders about the strange behaviour of those around her. When the reader is taken to Singapore, this adds to the mystery and never jars. War affects people for a lifetime and the author didn’t just take us there in flashbacks. We stayed, we saw and by the time we were back in Scotland, the tears were still falling…

The Singapore sectinos of the book were raw and visceral. The tone of the novel changed but it had to. Once back in Greyfriars, the house took on a more ominous tone and the two threads really complemented each other. A skilled author is necessary to keep two such seemingly disparate threads together and Emma Fraser is one of them.

BookTrail Travel to the locations in Greyfriars House

Trust me – you should read this slowly. I wanted to meet the people of Oban who help Charlotte in her quest. Just as I wanted to hate those in Singapore. I felt chilled in Greyfriars but excited of Olivia and Charlotte’s passion at exploring it. Oh and Jamie! I even heard the wind at the windows…but was it wind?

Brilliantly evocative and immersive. Location wise it sings, story and writing wise it flies. Highly recommended on so many levels.