The Mysterious Affair at Castaway House

Author/Guide: Stephanie Lam

Why a Booktrail?

1924, 1965: A mysterious house on a cliff with secrets to reveal but even more to hide away…

ISBN: 978-1405917001
Genre: Fiction, Historical, Mystery

Comment

What you need to know before your trail

1965 – 18 year old Rosie Churchill has run away from home and everything she knows to rent a bed in the rundown Castaway House. What she runs into however is a world of mystery and intrigue – for whose are the initials of R.C apart from being her very own? and what is the mysterious words carved into a window frame?

1924 – nineteen year old Robert Carver makes his way to Castaway House to stay with his wealthier, older cousin Alec. The house that appeared so run down and in disrepair was once the epitamy of glamour – ornate and a place of dinner parties and gossip. There is also a great deal of intrigue however as he soon finds that Alec has married and the house he walks into is not the house he thought he would see, The summer he spend there will change his and others lives forever.

Locations

Reset

Travel Guide

Stephanie Lam guides:

I love the old Regency buildings of Brighton and Hove, and they really helped me to imagine Castaway House. The Regency Town House, on Brunswick Square in Hove is occasionally open and it’s great to go inside and visualise the buildings as they were when they were complete houses. But Helmstone is inspired by a few seaside towns – the amusement park on Hastings’ seafront became Helmstone’s fun park, where Rosie works in 1965.

There are also elements of the Isle of Thanet in the book – for example Riccardo’s, the ice cream parlour in the 1965 section, is based on Morelli’s, a fantastic café in Broadstairs that still has its 1960s fittings.

Booktrailer Review

Susan: @thebooktrailer

Oh how I enjoyed this book! Creepy and exciting at the same time and I just love books about old creaky houses with secrets to share. There’s just something about them. This house had many secrets and it was just a great way to immerse myself into a lovely old building from start to finish. I just wish Helmstone was real as I would really like to go there!

The star of the show was the one setting described and evoked so differently that was a booktrail favourite, it was like holding a old black and white photo over a modern setting. The difference is as stark as silk and rough taffeta – Alec is trying to project an image of glamour and a privileged world with ladies who wear silk before switching to the poorer sixties where the texture of society as well as the clothes is somewhat darker and rougher. There was no rough friction slips between the two time periods however and the overall effect was smooth and effective.When they converge – the effect is quite something!