Stephanie Elmas

Two stories in one cover...or is it two separate stories?

Serena takes a position as nanny for an unusual family, living in an old Victorian mansion at 36 Marguerite Avenue in London. She falls in love with the house and its inhabitants, who have all resided on the Avenue for generations. For her, she feels she has found a true home, having lived a difficult childhood. As time passes, she discovers the mysterious history of the family and the house itself.

In 1892, life on Marguerite Avenue goes on with Victorian style. A husband and wife reside at 34 Marguerite Avenue, living seperate lives, yet keeping up the pretense of a good marriage. At 36 Marguerite Avenue lives and unusual husband and wife, with ties to the theatre. The wife is glamourous and attractive to men. The result of this evening's activity is more than anyone could imagine.

The past and the present—how they parallel and interweave with each other will draw the reader in to a rich, eerie and suspenseful world. A world where things may not always be what they seem.

I stayed up till almost 4 a.m. reading this book. It kept me that interested and engaged.… (mais)

This creepy little mystery maintains almost all of the grand traditions of the Victorian gothic ghost story. It’s set in modern times, with a parallel tale harking back more than a century to an earlier era.

In the here-and-now, an eccentric wealthy family hire a troubled young woman to be a nanny / companion for the oddly precocious child of the household. No sooner does our heroine arrive at the tall townhouse in achingly fashionable Kensington, than weird things start occurring all around…

If this had been written with a heavier hand then it could so easily have lapsed into pastiche or parody, but author Stephanie Elmas plays it damn-near perfectly. The creaking, dusty, dank old houses are full of peculiar paintings, hidden chambers and confusing corridors. The extended family members are by turns beguiling and ominous. And the two stories reflect and tangle their paired narratives together until they unmistakably become one tale; of misery, mystery, corruption, insanity and the supernatural.

There's more thoughts on the plot and characters over at:
http://murdermayhemandmore.wordpress.com/2014/09/29/the-room-beyond-more-modern-...

TRB get a lot of coverage as ‘historical Victorian romance’. That label probably would have stopped me reading it, but happily I downloaded it without noticing that I’d somehow been suckered into reading a ‘romance’!

It's a very satisfying tale, one which concluded neatly and tied up an intense knot of relationships and dangling threads.

8/10… (mais)

The Room Beyond by Stephanie Elmas is a dual narrative full of mystery, secrets and ghosts. Serena starts work as a nanny in a mansion in Victorian London looking after a smart and charming little girl, but not everything is as it seems.

Meanwhile, in the 1890s, an infatuation becomes a dark obsession with repercussions that will last a lifetime.

I've read a few dual narrative novels lately, and while The Room Beyond was an enjoyable read, it didn't stand out from the crowd.

What I will remember from this novel though was the library at 36 Marguerite Avenue; a library which leapt from the page and one I'd love to visit.

The Room Beyond is a ghostly gothic novel, the twists and turns were enjoyable, but it's not a novel I'll be raving about in weeks to come.… (mais)

Beautifully written prose, and a very unique premise--a house that can't be seen, and ghosts who can be seen.
I loved the characters in the linked stories of past and present, and though much of the story is heartbreaking as it weaves together the tale of an obsessive love gone terribly wrong, it's different enough to make a reader want to turn the pages. A murderous ghost lingers after tearing apart two families.
Some of the mystery between past and present are resolved, and some things will remain a mystery, and I didn't mind that, since it allows the reader to yearn for more, and maybe that's what the author intends -- for the next book.… (mais)