Rottenheart is a book that totally took me by storm. I loved Hungerstone from Dunn, so I was expecting great things. But this Gothic Horror story transported me! Keep reading this book review of Rottenheart for my full thoughts.
Summary
Revenge me. For I am murdered . . .
Odette and Cecilia are young women, living between their grand homes in Hampstead and the imposing, ancient Herne House in Suffolk. Though Odette’s artist mother Lydia keeps a tight grasp on her, she and her beloved Cecilia are mostly left free to roam, to learn and to love.
But when Lydia inexplicably sickens and dies, a dark veil falls. As the funeral rites are performed, Odette’s aunt, the cold and implacable Claudine, increasingly takes charge of the household, while her father retreats to his study. Odette, lost in grief, disappears into the shadows.
But as Claudine is announced as Odette’s new stepmother, a sinister presence in the house makes itself known. To her horror, Odette realises that despite her death, Lydia never really left. And now she wants revenge . . .
Review
(Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher. This has not impacted my review which is unbiased and honest.)
Inspired by Hamlet, I knew Rottenheart was going to be a story about revenge. It’s about the idea of legacy, ambition, and what we would do to get what we want. I adored the author’s note where it says that in Hamlet we talk more about fathers, but that Rottenheart was going to be about mothers. And I adored this theme and the ways Dunn explores this relationship of love, resentment, and anger all wrapped up into one. Through Odette and Cecilia, Rottenheart examines this complex relationship of mothers and daughters, the expectations and the (un)conditional love.
The difficulty, joys, and identity of being mothered. The weight of having a mother. Rottenheart explores how much of a being a child is the role of being someone’s child, someone’s purpose, and what it means to step out of that role. The pressure to stay even when we must leave. Rottenheart is a stunning gothic horror about ghosts and the weight of justice. It exists within the shrouds of morning, the stirrings of a ghost, and secrets which will disappear in the light of day. Predictably, Rottenheart devolves into a descent into doubt – what we see, those who have died, and the actions of others. It’s a story about grief, the loss of a mother, and the cost of exposing the truth. Find Rottenheart on Goodreads, Storygraph, Blackwells, & Libro. fm.