‘The Attic At Wilton Place’ by C E Rose

Published by Canelo Hera,
30 March 2023.
ISBN: 978-1-80436297-6 (PB)

Young Ruth Parker feels out of place at home and at school. Her mother, Joy, favours Ruth’s brother, Tim, whilst the “alpha girls” at her school don’t want to know her.  The girl feels frumpy and miserable but comes alive when Vanessa, a well-known actress and Joy Parker’s long-time friend, praises her artistic skill. The relationship between Vanessa and Joy is strained but this does not dampen Ruth’s fascination with the glamourous celebrity.  Indeed, Ruth’s worship of Vanessa is amplified when the exotic thespian chooses her to be the only bridesmaid for her upcoming marriage to Sergio. Not everything goes to plan, however, and an unexpected discovery has quite an impact on the famous couple’s nuptials.

When she moves to a London university, Ruth hopes to see more of her idol.  She is not disappointed and finds herself welcomed into Vanessa’s Belgravia home.  Ruth is delighted to be given her own room to enjoy at weekends, but it soon becomes clear that, despite the lavish surroundings, not everything is hunky dory in Vanessa and Sergio’s home.  When old secrets are exposed, they reveal Joy and Vanessa in a new light.  Ruth, naturally curious about their respective histories, is unprepared for the truths that emerge from memories so long supressed.  This tinges the story with gothic undertones which begin to creep through the narrative as it moves towards its dénouement. 

The Attic at Wilton Place is populated with intriguing characters who are skilfully drawn and entice the reader into the mystery hidden within the story.  C.E. Rose’s carefully crafted prose drips with the devastating truth of the past as it intrudes relentlessly into the present.  This is an absorbing novel that creates and maintains a sense of foreboding throughout. Highly recommended.
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Reviewer: Dot Marshall-Gent

C E Rose, a pseudonym used by Caroline England was born in Yorkshire. She studied Law at the University of Manchester and stayed over the border. She writes multi-layered, dark and edgy ‘domestic suspense’ stories that delve into complicated relationships, secrets and the moral grey area. Her debut novel, Beneath the Skin, was published by Avon HarperCollins in October 2017, followed by My Husband's Lies, Betray Her and Truth Games, and The Sinner, published in June 2022.  Under the name CE Rose she has also penned four gothic-tinged psychological thrillers the most recent is The Attic at Wilton Place, published March 2023.  Drawing on her days as a divorce and professional indemnity lawyer, she loves to create ordinary, relatable characters who get caught up in extraordinary situations, pressures, dilemmas or crime.

www.carolineenglandauthor.co.uk

Dot Marshall-Gent worked in the emergency services for twenty years first as a police officer, then as a paramedic and finally as a fire control officer before graduating from King’s College, London as a teacher of English in her mid-forties.  She completed a M.A. in Special and Inclusive Education at the Institute of Education, London and now teaches part-time and writes mainly about educational issues.  Dot sings jazz and country music and plays guitar, banjo and piano as well as being addicted to reading mystery and crime fiction.