Inheriting Her Ghosts by S.H. Cooper

Eudora Fellowes leads for the most part a simple life, one for a woman of her time may appear to others as odd being single at forty three with only her dogs as companions, but for her she could not ask for anything more. That is until she discovers she is the sole heir to her Great Aunt Emmeline's fortune, including a seaside estate in the country side and while she is a little hesitant at first to accept, remembering little of the aunt or her home she decides a vacation home away from the city may be nice. The minute Mr. Bentley her aunt's solicitor brings her in High Hearth she knows she's made the right choice, the huge mansion may cluttered and too much for one woman and her dogs but she knows that this is her home. What she doesn't know is that others are already there, trapped for eternity, who spiraled from grief to madness. 

First of all that cover is next freaking level genius as well as the title it all ties in so well to the story that had I not already bought the book on the strength of the cover alone I'd buy it again. Hell, I might actually do that and buy a copy for my kiddo. 

Onto the review. 

This was a wonderfully done Gothic horror that delves into grief, women's agency, and how we all choose to approach these things in a manner that is so very complete for such a short read. Both Eudora and Emmeline faced ridicule in their lives due to their decisions to remain unmarried, and they both take very different approaches to deal with them. While Eudora certainly does not experience the pain of losing a child as her Great Aunt does, even if she had I simply do not see her opting to become the bitter, hatred filled human her Aunt does. The only thing I will disagree with Eudora on with this is I wholeheartedly believe her aunt was probably a horrible person her whole life. I understand snapping, but there's a difference between snapping and what Emmeline does. I definitely have zero sympathy for Emmeline. Which of course makes her a great bad guy! I have even less for Ms. Bell, I'm not going to go into her right now because I don't want to spoil too much, but woah, did that woman make a choice, and it was a terrible one. 

Since this was a short story, I'm not going to go too much into pacing as ya know it had to be quick, but I loved the world building here. Obviously the world is simply nothing more than a handful of rooms in a giant home but Cooper does such an excellent job describing this really kind of tiny area that by the end when the final battle goes down I didn't have to worry if I knew where the parlor was or what hall Eudora was referring too. She really does an excellent job of giving the reader important background details for both her life and her aunt's in a manner that is simply a part of the story. Again, given how short it is, these points could have come across as feeling like bulletpoint facts, but their beautifully worked into the story. Especially the fact that Eudora's parents supported her whatever she chose to do with her life. 

The dogs can not review this without the dogs. Let's just say Cerebrus and Black Shuck and the very best of boys!

Highly recommend this for anyone who likes a good gothic horror and especially if you like dogs!