The Death of Jane Lawrence

A Novel

By: Caitlin Starling

Narrated by: Mandy Weston

Best Books of 2021 · NPR
ALA/The Reading List Best Horror 2021 Pick
Longlisted for the Bram Stoker Awards for Superior Achievement in a Novel, 2021

From the Bram Stoker-nominated author of The Luminous Dead comes a gothic fantasy horror—The Death of Jane Lawrence.

"Narrator Mandy Weston's cool narration is the perfect match to this tale, making the twists and turns in the plot especially surprising ...This tale mixes gothic horror, ghosts, and a love story to create a potent listen." - AudioFile Magazine

"A jewel box of a Gothic novel." —New York Times Book Review

“Delicious.... By the time the book reached that point of no return, I was so invested that I would have followed Jane into the very depths of hell.” —NPR.org

“Intense and amazing! It’s like Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell meets Mexican Gothic meets Crimson Peak.” —BookRiot

Practical, unassuming Jane Shoringfield has done the calculations, and decided that the most secure path forward is this: a husband, in a marriage of convenience, who will allow her to remain independent and occupied with meaningful work. Her first choice, the dashing but reclusive doctor Augustine Lawrence, agrees to her proposal with only one condition: that she must never visit Lindridge Hall, his crumbling family manor outside of town.

Yet on their wedding night, an accident strands her at his door in a pitch-black rainstorm, and she finds him changed. Gone is the bold, courageous surgeon, and in his place is a terrified, paranoid man—one who cannot tell reality from nightmare, and fears Jane is an apparition, come to haunt him. By morning, Augustine is himself again, but Jane knows something is deeply wrong at Lindridge Hall, and with the man she has so hastily bound her safety to.

Set in a dark-mirror version of post-war England, Caitlin Starling crafts a new kind of gothic horror from the bones of the beloved canon. This Crimson Peak-inspired story assembles, then upends, every expectation set in place by Shirley Jackson and Rebecca, and will leave readers shaken, desperate to begin again as soon as they are finished.

A Macmillan Audio production from St. Martin's Press

Wild ride of mystery

I’m usually quite perceptive when it comes to storylines and where they’re going but this story threw me for a loop. Intriguing, weird, spooky and out of this world.

Possibilities, but

To begin with, this story had an excellent narrator. I hope to hear her in other selections.
The story, though properly gothic in atmosphere, losses you along the way with it's overwhelming details of mathematics, hallucinations, and confusing possibilities.
The last 3 hours began to drag so much with it that I found myself listening just to "get it done" and not out of the desire to really know the ending.
Lots of potential taken too far.

I loved it

If you like horror-romance, this is the book for you. I absolutely looooved the novel itself, and the audio narration was beautiful.

Last 1/3 dropped the rating

This story began and I was drawn in and fascinated. However, as it began to wrap up with 4 hours left it started dragging a bit. It was bogged down in wordiness and over explanation. The last third would make for a better visual than the writing gave. It as a bit convoluted and confusing and drug on for too long once the door disappears.

Worth the listen if you just want to fill the time before the next book, but easily skippable.

a mind f**k

Firstly: performance was FANTASTIC. Mandy Weston needs to be hired to narrate more books.

If there is one thing I have to say about this book, it is that it has definitely changed my taste in fiction itself. It is marvelous, even though there are small gripes I have about it. I took notes as I read the book and here are my initial takeaways when I was done:
- The book started to slow down at Chapter 30-ish. It felt like it was being dragged out.
- While the author gives us plenty to work with of the mental state of Jane and what she is feeling or thinking, it is too much at times.
- I love the setting. Post-war England. Augustine is a doctor/surgeon, Jane is an independent woman/accountant.
- Characters are WELL developed- as I said before, the author is good at letting us know what Jane is feeling. I definitely came to care for all the characters after a short time.

WARNING: SPOILERS BELOW

- LOTS of twists and detail. I didnt expect for there to be magic involved at all, you'd never tell when reading the summarization of the book. The author did lose me a bit when explaining logic throughout the magic portion of the book. I think it could have been done well without the additional explanations towards the end. It did feel like much of a filler.
- I think the way that Jane spiraled downwards was well written. She is a character who perceives herself to have great self-control and self-awareness, and realizes to a certain degree her sanity and decisions/judgement is slipping with the use of her magic and need to save Augustine. She is powerless to stop her actions, though.
- I could not put the book down. I was anxious the entire time, which is good, because the novel is gothic horror, and I think the author gave us the feelings that were intended (or at least to me)
- Plot twist at the end with Elodie and the "spirits" haunting Augustine as a whole. Mind blown. The whole plot twist really just makes the ending a mind fuck.

HUGE HUGE SPOILERS:
- The fact that Jane went back and forth with wondering if Augustine was dead or not after that time was annoying, even though I know there was a point to it. But the fact that it was semi-established but not FOR SURE that Augustine died after Jane trapped him in the crypt was confusing as a whole. So, did he ACTUALLY die? Why did he die so quickly? I am just confused at his death as a whole. People can survive days without food and water.
- Also, the entire 7 day ritual thing was SUPER anxiety inducing. Edge on your seat the entire time it was happening. It was all really a mind fuck. Starling did fantastic with that.

So in the end, the questions I really had were:
- Is Jane the original Jane?
- Is Augustine the original Augustine?
I think the answers to that are 'no', but I personally need more.

- Yes, Jane did die, as the title stated. But she lives. Amazing. Beautifully ended. Everyone loves a good happy ending.
- Did Jane see him die as the ghost echo? They both saw each other die. It is hard to explain. But my question is, since Elodie never existed as a "ghost" and she essentially helped herself when she was alive after she had died (as a ghost), does that mean the events play over and over in the universe? How did she become that ghost in the first place? Are all these events eternal? did she TIME TRAVEL!??! is it because the world Jane was in after she died wasn't truly a certain type of place, you could do essentially anything in that "plane"?
- The whole Dr. Nizamiev situation confused me. I read somewhere her last name is Devil or snake in Russian. What was her intent in the end? She was the one who turned Jane onto magic, ultimately, to save Augustine.

- I wish I had more with Augustine. I felt bad for him. I need there to be a second book, even though we had closure! Hahaha.

Anyway, I hope this review was insightful. Definitely a book that made it to all-time favorites!