Thornby Manor – A Study in Gothic

Submitted: 3rd April 2026

Thornby Manor – A Study in Gothic

Thornby Manor – is a gothic delight and an historical dream. It is a house like no other. A house where the floorboards creek and the candles flicker. A house with secrets in its walls and windows that seem to lead to rooms on floors that aren’t there…..

Map of locations in Thornby Manor

thornby manor postcard

It reminded me of the great books of the past….Jane Eyre….Rebecca…..I mean listen to the first line…

“Last night I had the nightmare again.”

Map of locations in Thornby Manor

When we first see the house in the book, it approaches thus….

“I would never forget the first time I saw it. It emerged from the fog like a monolith carved from a rock face: an imposing edifice of slate-grey brick smothered in a mass of impenetrable vines….”

Thornby Manor title

The house comes alive right from the pages. There’s a wind on the hill where it stands, the mist swirly around it and a figure spotted in the distance…..The grounds are vast and mysterious but then once inside the house, the mystery merely deepens….with the noises in the walls, the footsteps at night and the noises from the floor that is all but closed off for ever.

This is Ashby Manor House in Warwickshire where the fictional Thornby Manor is….

Map of locations in Thornby Manor

Gothic charm

If you are looking for a novel that takes all the gothic charms of novels gone by and mixes them, elevates them into a delightfully layered tale of mystery, madness and more, then this is the book for you. The house sits remote in Warwickshire and observes the landscape around it. A man on horseback enters the scene but is he all he seems? The graves in the graveyard play their part in a morbid show of shadows…..and a bell that announces someone has escaped from the nearby asylum…

Could this be more like Thornby Manor?

Winter

“Winter had arrived at Thornby Manor, its stealthy advance concluded with a sudden ambush. It searched my clothes for weakness as I walk to the stables, and a Tucked my scarf firmly into the lapels of my coat, Beneath a blanket of fog, the lake slept peacefully.”

Map of locations in Thornby Manor

Thornby Manor house

The characters

There is no house complete with the characters that fill its walls. And Lord and Lady Danville are no exception. It’s the mystery behind what happened to the lady of the house that takes the story in one direction followed by another. All the while, the enigmatic Marie Clara who reminded me of Mrs Danvers from Rebecca in more ways than one. She creeps about the house, appears as if from nowhere and holds many many secrets….

Gabriel? or Toby Stephens

Then we have Gabriel. the errant son, the man that shows kindness to Briar Monroe who finds herself staying in the house unexpectedly. It is Briar who tells the story of Thornby Manor and through her eyes we see its shadows and secrets revealed. She and Gabriel are very interesting characters and are both suspicious of each other but then share confidences…or do they?

A brilliant, brilliant read. I took a week to read this as I wanted to savour every word, every scene and every feel.

Out on April 23 2026. A must buy! And this is a DEBUT? Phenomenal.