I received and advanced readers copy of The Silk House from NetGalley and Hachette Australia for my honest review.

About the book.

Weaving. Healing. Haunting. The story of a mysterious boarding school sheltering a centuries-old secret…

Australian history teacher Thea Rust arrives at a boarding school in the British countryside, she is to stay with a group of girls (the first girls ever to be educated at the school) in Silk House, a building with a long and troubled past.

In the 1700s, Rowan Caswell leaves her village to work in the home of an English silk merchant, at Silk House. She is in a new world where her talent for herbs and healing soon attracts attention…will she be persecuted as a witch?

In London, 1700s, Mary-Louise Stephenson lives in the times of the weaving trade and dreams of becoming a silk designer, a job that is considered only for men. Can she get her designs woven and sold in the silk trade?

How do all three lives weave together?

What I thought.

I really enjoyed reading The Silk House.

The first three chapters really did have me wondering weather this book would be for me or not, but by chapter four I was really enjoying it. I just LOVE that the story involved weaving, literally and figuratively as it wove the stories of the characters together, and the buildings they lived and worked in, in more ways than one, over a few centuries.

The characters and the story were rich in detail and mystery. The story is beautifully written and I was hooked on each of the three protagonist’s stories. The characters are all likable and I started to worry about the fate of them, especially the women who lived in the 1700s.

My favourite character was Rowan, and I do wish there was more detail in the book about her…she was caring, smart, and underappreciated. I worried for her, with the constant threat of being called a witch and subsequent punishment looming over her throughout the story.

The Silk house is historical fiction but it also has a supernatural and mystery side to the story. With the story involving tales and hints of witches, ghosts and some kind of hidden society… there are bumps in the night, ointments and tinctures, and symbols all woven through the story to leave the reader wanting more…

Overall, this was a very enjoyable and satisfying book to read. I recommend it to anyone who likes historical fiction, especially with a hint of supernatural mystery involved. There is nothing menacing or too dark in this beautiful book about strong women.

The Silk House is to be published JUNE 30, 2020.

Kayte Nunn is a former book and magazine editor, and the author of four previous novels, including the international bestselling The Botanist’s Daughter and The Forgotten Letters of Esther Durrant. Kayte now lives in the Northern Rivers region of New South Wales. You can find Kayte at kaytenunn.com