The Death of Jane Lawrence

Starred review from May 3, 2021
Starling (The Luminous Dead) captivates and horrifies by turn in this intricately plotted, deliciously bonkers secondary world gothic fantasy. Mathematical, methodical Jane Shoringfield, not wishing to be a burden on her guardians when they move to the capital of Great Bretlain or to live in the still shell-scarred city where her parents died during a recent war, proposes a marriage of convenience to Augustine Lawrence, the only doctor in her small town of Larrenton. Lawrence agrees on one condition: Jane is never to spend the night at his ancestral home, Lindridge Hall. But when a mudslide destroys her carriage, Jane is forced to break this promise, staying overnight at Lindridge Hall and confronting the secrets that haunt her new husband. The novel spirals out into a tale of creeping terror, both psychological supernatural, before a masterful third-act twist. Those with low tolerance for gore should be warned there are multiple graphic bloodlettings and surgeries, including one while the patient is still conscious. Gothic purists may initially balk at the secondary world setting, as it’s somewhat at odds with the genre’s emphasis on how women are imprisoned by real-world patriarchal structures, but Starling’s magic system is so spookily and fully realized, and the final twist so brilliantly turns the novel on its head, that even the most skeptical will be won over. This proves impossible to put down.

May 1, 2021

All Jane Shoringfield wants is a marriage of convenience that will allow her to live as independently as possible, and she believes she's found the perfect husband in handsome if decidedly solitary doctor Augustine Lawrence. His only condition is that she never visit him at Lindridge Hall, his tumbledown family manor in the sticks. But circumstances land her at his door in a thunderous downpour on a dark, dark night, and what she discovers there should be worthy of a Bram Stoker and Locus Award nominated author. With a 60,000-copy first printing.

Copyright 2021 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

July 1, 2021
Opening with a very creepy Rebecca vibe and set in a fictional world reminiscent of post-WWII Europe, Starling's latest introduces the very practical Jane as she proposes a business arrangement: marriage to the local doctor, Augustine Lawrence, a brilliant and kind outsider who keeps to himself. Dr. Lawrence's only rule for their marriage is that Jane sleeps at home in town, while he must return to the crumbling family manor home each evening. After a storm forces Jane to break this agreement on the very first night, what began as an uneasy story steadily builds with unrelenting tension, further enhanced by the intensity of Starling's narration. Readers are compelled to follow Jane as she discovers the truth at the manor home, unravels her husband's lies, and battles real or imagined horrors; but they will also thoroughly enjoy falling into this immersive and unsettling journey. A perfect choice for those who enjoy writers who play with the well-trod gothic trope to create something wholly new, utterly terrifying, and supremely satisfying, such as Mexican Gothic, by Silvia Moreno-Garcia (2020), and Now You Are One of Us, by Asa Nonami (2007).

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Starred review from October 15, 2021

When Jane Shoringfield proposes marriage to Dr. Augustine Lawrence, she has only a business arrangement in mind. Her guardians are moving away, and she believes that a marriage of convenience is the best way for her to maintain her independence. She offers to use her formidable accounting skills to help run his practice, and he reluctantly agrees to her proposal with one condition: she must spend every night in the apartment over his offices while he stays at his decrepit ancestral home outside of town. She agrees, but on their wedding night, a carriage accident strands her at Lindridge Hall, and she quickly realizes that something is very, very wrong with the house and her new husband. She sets out to learn more about the dark history of Lindridge Hall, drawing on her mathematical acumen and steely resolve to set things right. VERDICT Starling's (The Luminous Dead) gothic horror is an immersive delight that will be adored by fans of alternate histories, the film Crimson Peak, ghost stories, magical experiments gone wrong, and stories about women becoming aware of their own power.

Copyright 2021 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.