but none of the ones I've read mention Jane Eyre, the debt to which was far more overt to my eyes: the governess, the housekeeper, the pupil, the sort of master, the dog, the secret in the locked wing. Marta very much looks down on the other characters in the book and her sense of superiority will not appeal to some readers. Separated from her lover and discarded by her family, Marta has no choice but to journey to Pritchard’s ancient and crumbling house, Fyneshade, in the wilds of Derbyshire. And the writing style is so good it draws you straight in to the spooky atmosphere of the house and keeps you there until the final page. What Marta expects before her arrival in Derbyshire and what she actually gets are two very different things indeed.

Grandmere is not a witch and neither is Marta but she should remember, says Grandmere, that stories often have great power. She was calculating and ruthless and I kept wondering until the very end who was the real villain of this story. It’s quickly clear that the staff at Fyneshade all love and care for Grace, that she’s a talented sketch artist, wilful, definitely not dumb, and possessed of a certain guile. After a few false starts, I was taken on as a trainee reporter by a local newspaper where I worked very happily for several years.Marta experiences the house as a ‘maze of stone'; the house exudes an unusually hushed, and suffocating atmosphere.

The house of Fyneshade itself holds even more troublesome secrets, some hidden deep within its walls. It had echoes of The Others too, with some truly creepy moments, and some so totally and utterly revolting that they were funny (the odd machine in the black bedroom, for example, or the dismembered doll). The pace of the novel is perfect, slowly drawing the reader into this strange world and I couldn’t get enough! Marta is offered a governess position at Fyneshade following the death of her beloved Grandmere, who was believed to be a witch by the locals.

I highly recommend reading The Turn of the Screw, or at least a summary of it before starting this book. Find your next must-read with the Serpent’s Tail newsletter and discover gripping crime and mystery from Viper Books. Actually, though, it was another classic that inspired this magnificently brooding little tale, one I’ve been meaning to read for ages and have now put at the top of my list: The Turn of the Screw. There’s an old house stuffed with secrets and darkness, there’s eerie plinky plock music floating down the corridors, a governess named Marta, the woman of the house who is not who she seems and some weyward children to boot.

The power, emotion and intensity of this novel, where all the classic elements of a gothic novel are present, are overwhelming; : Fyneshade, the remote manor where Marta is appointed as governess to her pupil Grace, the supernatural elements (the influence of the moon, 'moon spells', rituals), the weather and environment, isolation (the nearest inn is 6 miles away, and due to the heavy snowfall, the residents of Fyneshade are trapped in the old, chilly manor ). The young girl is not at all what she expected and the house, Fyneshade, a mysterious and dark place, the staff mostly hostile. Initially, I admired Marta's strength and the way she dealt with Grace, and how she managed to hold her own in that chilly, cold house with all its secrets. There were some real gut retching moments where the pit of your stomach drops because you know what’s coming and cannot bear to read on- yet must!At times it reminded me of the film, Southern Comfort – you have no idea who the goodies or the baddies are, you simply have this horrible sense of dread. On the day of her beloved grandmother’s funeral, Marta discovers that she is to become governess to the young daughter of Sir William Pritchard. When Marta finally finds a new appointment at Bly Manor, all the pieces of the puzzle fall into place. Besides the setting and the vibe, I also adored Marta, the protagonist and the type of morally grey character that you can’t help but simultaneously admire and loathe to a certain degree.