The Others of Edenwell

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I also loved finding out that Edenwell was in fact a real place; it’s a real shame it was demolished. It’s made me wish I could explore the surrounding woods for sure!

Norfolk, 1917. Unable to join the army due to a heart condition, Freddie lives and works with his father in the grounds of the Edenwell Hydropathic, a wellness retreat in the Norfolk broads. Preferring the company of birds – who talk to him as one of their own – over the eccentric characters who live in the spa, bathing in its healing waters, Freddie overhears their premonitions of murder. If you’re interested in the period or interested in wartime Britain during the First World War I have no doubt at all you’ll enjoy this. I think it was a great idea to make a historical drama with the added horror elements. If you’re ok with the historical fiction (that doesn’t actually feel like fiction because it’s so well written) being the majority of the book – the great character development, brilliantly brought to life setting and well researched history – with a side helping of creepy supernatural horror, you’ll find so much to love here and I’d really recommend it. Freddie and Eustace are two young men, boys really, who develop a close friendship and it’s really enjoyable to witness this relationship develop and the struggles of the two characters. They and a number of different characters at the Edenwell retreat are ‘others’ – men who haven’t joined the war effort abroad. As we know from history and is showcased well here are the attitudes, guilt and atmosphere around everyone’s contribution to the war effort. People’s perceptions are impacted in a large part by this and the war permeates every part of life and conversation. In my second year of my history degree, I almost exclusively studied wartime Britain – society, culture, politics, propaganda, you name it – and I’m massively impressed with just how brilliantly Holloway has captured everything and can’t stress this enough.

And yet. There’s cause to linger, to savour, to wallow. It’s a setting soaked in sepia, almost literally when the war photographer appears. And loss. The men who went to war, the men who remained, the women. Loss permeates everything here. And also a deep melancholy. As all such rising tension needs a resolution and a denouement, it’s all brought to a satisfying, surprising, but inevitable conclusion. Newcomer to the Hydropathic Eustace Moncrieff is a troublemaker, desperate to go to war and leave behind his wealthy family. Shipped to Edenwell by his mother to keep him safe from the horrors of the trenches, he strikes up a friendship with Freddie at the behest of Doctor Chalice, the American owner of the Hydropathic. Eustace Moncrieff is a troublemaker, desperate to go to war and leave behind his wealthy family. Shipped to Edenwell by his mother to keep him safe from the horrors of the trenches, he strikes up a friendship with Freddie at the behest of Doctor Chalice, the American owner of the Hydropathic. For the right type of reader, and there’ll be many, The Others of Edenwell has so much to offer. I’m really glad I read it.

A dark spirit haunts an isolated Norfolk retreat in this unsettling and sinister historical horror set in the early 1900s, perfect for readers of Michelle Paver, Silvia Moreno-Garcia and Andrew Michael Hurley. As the two friends grow closer and grapple with their demons, they discover a body, and something terrifying stalking the woods. The dark halls of the spa are breached, haunted by the woodland beast, and the boys soon realise that they may be the only things standing between this monster and the whole of Edenwell. I enjoyed this book immensely, despite it being quite different from what I expected. Though there are evil entities lurking in the margins, so much of the book is spent building atmosphere and tracing the growing bond between the two very central characters. This is done subtly and with great heart. As the plot unravelled, there was a general eeriness and intensity to situations as they gently worked their way to the unsettling conclusion.For a long time I was going to give this book a 3 out of 5 because whilst I found it a bit dull and muddled, it was inoffensive.

I also felt the book had a Pat Barker feel to proceedings (think Regeneration), dark and slightly morose, especially in the early stages. It had that starkness to the story as the characters were developed and placed within the setting.I’m thrilled to announce that my folk horror novel, The Others of Edenwell, will be published by Titan on the 4th of July 2023.