Judy's Review:

I chose this mesmerising debut novel because it’s so lush and gorgeous. When times are full of worry, as now, it’s lovely to lose yourself in this historical saga set in the beautiful Irish countryside of County Kerry, with fabulous female characters and a really rich family tale to tell.?

The story jumps between 1939, 1958 and the present day, and the house of the title is Blackwater Hall, home for generations to the aristocratic Rathmore family. The atmosphere in 1940, overshadowed by the Second World War, is tense. Society is changing, especially for women, and Charlotte, daughter of the class-obsessed Charles and Niamh Rathmore, wants a new future and freedom from her rigid parents. One day she disappears; her broken pearl necklace is found near the estate’s lake, and everyone assumes she has drowned.

Richard's Review:

The story skips to 2019, and we meet Ellie Fitzgerald, a journalist who’s left Dublin in disgrace after getting a political story badly wrong and returned to live with her mother near Blackwater Hall. She discovers an old letter in a box of antiquated books at a charity shop, and soon finds herself on a mission to discover what really happened to Charlotte.

THE MIDNIGHT HOUSE is full of intrigue and fascinating threads of Irish history. The descriptions of, in Geard’s own words, “this wild landscape, part tamed by generations of rough hands. . . ; vast histories stretching back generations, their imprints left on the land,” are breathtaking.

It’s a treat - enchanting, with a generous sprinkling of Irish magic.