The Hidden Girl by Louise Millar

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


The Hidden Girl
From the very start it could be said that the problems Hannah and Will encounter on their moving day are bad omens. No signposts, branches ‘clasped in the middle like witches nails’ blocking out the light, featureless land, flat mud and even their house looks different, more neglected and dirty. But Hannah is determined; no amount of damp and locked doors will stop her from making this house into a home and she has only two weeks to do it in. As mystery upon mystery and strange happening upon strange happening occurs Hannah’s plans keep being set back and the one goal she had in sight begins to feel unobtainable. Left alone in the big house whilst Will returns to London, shut off with no plumbing, jobs needing to be done, odd neighbours, braying donkeys and an intruder, Hannah finds a local handyman to help her but as he becomes over-familiar and her neighbours increasingly unfriendly and as things continue to go missing or happen in her house Hannah gets the uncomfortable feeling that something is not quite right with her new idyllic world.
This book truly catches the imagination and keeps the pages turning. There is an atmospheric build up, a combination of the description and the hints that there is something going on that only Hannah and the reader are unaware of. It is very easy to picture in one’s head the neglected and grubby Tornley Hall, where piles of rubbish merge into vagrants and books move, food disappears and shadows skulk in dark corners and locked rooms.....
Add to this the contrast of Will in London leading his normal life which is where we learn what Hannah’s big concern is and why she is so determined to make a home in two weeks and we see the cracks that underpin their marriage which then adds to the tension of the book and brings into question Hannah’s stability; is she becoming slightly derailed by the pressure she has put herself under or is there really something sinister at Tornley Hall?
It is a book that keeps you guessing until the end but for all the sinister goings- on there is an element of humour and also of emotion in this book. Hannah and Will’s relationship and the issues within are very real and dealt with appropriately whilst the more sinister characters cover dark secrets which will have the reader shuddering in horror.
With thanks to Netgalley and Pan Macmillan for the ARC of this book.