A review by kittykornerlibrarian
Ashton Hall by Lauren Belfer

4.0

It's hard not to put in historical fiction as a tag because the plot centers so much around historical discoveries... this book is told in first person by Hannah, a married woman who gave up her career as a historian to care full-time for her neurodivergent son, Nicky, who is eight when the story begins. Hannah and Nicky arrive at Ashton Hall in Cambridge, England, expecting to care for Hannah's honorary Uncle Christopher, who is nearing the end of his life. Ashton Hall is restored and open to the public, and when Nicky is exploring, he finds the skeleton of a woman. This is a mystery indeed... how long has the skeleton been there? How has it been hidden so long? Who was this woman? Hannah and some of the researchers at Ashton uncover historical documents that record the life of the household and attempt to find out more about who was living there and what their lives were like. Meanwhile relationships are changing for Hannah the longer she and Nicky stay in England. I didn't like the moments of self-flagellation that Hannah sometimes experienced but other than that I enjoyed this mixture of history and contemporary life. I would read another by this author.