Moonstone by Laura Purcell

I would like to thank Magpie Books for an advance copy of this novel in exchange for a fair and honest review

Published - Magpie

Published - Out Now

Price - £16.99 hardback £9.99 Kindle ebook

Don’t misbehave. Beware the moon. And never go out after dark …

Following a scandal at the Vauxhall pleasure gardens, Camille is sent to the woods to live with her reclusive godmother and her strange daughter, Lucy. Cast out from polite society, she must learn to live by her godmother’s strict rules.

Camille has never met anyone quite like Lucy before, and as they grow closer and cross forbidden boundaries, strange things begin to happen. Mysterious deaths, claw marks raking the doors, and the nights are pierced by the howls of a creature that sounds almost … otherworldly.

Should Camille be more afraid of what’s hiding in the woods – or her own heart?

Learning to push against boundaries is part of growing up. No longer wishing to be treated as a child, learning about the adult world and all the emotional hormonal changes that brings and also learning who you want to be. Horror is often quite skilled at exploring changes too with various monsters being metaphors for power and control. In Laura Purcell’s interesting historical YA fantasy we get a take of two young teenagers finding out their world is more complex and scarier than they ever realised.

Camille had caused a scandal - a single kiss in public is enough to set tongues wagging and hurt her family reputation. To allow things to cooldown her family send her to the remote countryside to stay with her Godmother Rowena and her daughter Lucy. Two women also used to family scandal. Camille finds herself alone, having to learn farming and household chores for the first time and Lucy is very hostile to her. However things in this remote house are strange, Lucy had a strange undisclosed illness, the family are constantly experimenting with herbs and now the countryside is getting terrorised by a large loose dog. More secrets are to be revealed and danger lurks.

What I enjoyed about Moonstone is how Purcell gently explains what women were expected to be in this period. A momentary kiss is enough to destroy a woman’s reputation (never the man’s). We also see Rowena was in an abusive marriage but her escape is such she must hide in the middle of nowhere as men have all the power. Purcell brings to life these constraints and a big part of the story is Camille coming of age. Told via Camille we feel her confusion, frustration and realisation things aren’t as she has been told.

We slowly get supernatural elements weaved in but in many ways this is less horror than gothic fantasy. A enclosed house, a sick/possibly mad young lady in the form of Lucy and the Camille’s young man appears back to tempt her further. We have a family saga and two young women learning to trust one another.

Now my one issue is pacing. For me it’s rather clear early on what the secret is. I know when people mutter about silver and moons where a story heads. But a YA reader may not and I have to caveat this criticism but I did feel the first half feels quite slow and perhaps an earlier reveal would have allowed the second half to breathe then we get more reveals about the family, betrayals and deaths (off the page) and a new dimension to Lucy and Camille’s relationship but it’s all quite rushed. A little more exploration of the relative and scenes would have helped earn the very good set piece awaiting the end of the tale.

Moonstone is a fun YA piece of gothic mild horror. For some it will be their first werewolf tale but older readers may need to remember we all started somewhere not knowing what lurks out there at night.