The Room Beyond

The Room Beyond
Author: Stephanie Elmas

Synopsis: 
When Serena begins a new life working for the Hartreve family at 36 Marguerite Avenue she falls in love, not just with its eccentric and alluring inhabitants and their world, but with the house itself. Number 36 is a beautiful Victorian London mansion that has remained in the family for generations. Serena feels that by being here she has escaped the ghosts of her own sad childhood and found a true home, but she soon discovers that behind its gleaming surfaces Marguerite Avenue is plagued by secrets and mystery. Why does such a beautiful tranquil street seem sometimes to shimmer with menace? Is everyone in the family quite who they appear to be? And just what is it that the family is trying to hide from her?

It is 1892. On a hot summer night scented with jasmine, Miranda Whitestone hosts a dinner party at 34 Marguerite Avenue. Watching helplessly as her husband is seduced by her glamorous neighbour Lucinda Eden, she can have no idea of the consequences the evening will have.

For the history of Marguerite Avenue is more chilling than Serena could have imagined, and the fates of two women - the beautiful renegade Lucinda and the 'good wife' Miranda - will reach out from the past to cast a shadow over Serena's own future.

The Room Beyond is a thriller that delves beneath the romance and grandeur of a London house and finds a family haunted by the legacy of past wrongdoings. As the suspense grows and the fog thickens, will Serena be able to give up all that she has come to love? Will she ever escape?

Review:
I LOVED The Room Beyond by Stephanie Elmas! It was a unique and intriguing story that was told in two different times. I have a new appreciation for authors who are able to do that successfully without confusing the reader and Ms. Elmas appeared to have hit it on the head with this book.

I thought the characters were so well developed that it felt like they were friends of mine. You could almost guess what they were saying or doing before they did. In my opinion, it is rare to feel that kind of connection with characters in a story, unless it is a multiple book series that you have read from the beginning.

The old Victorian mansion is the perfect setting for this story! I couldn't have imagined a different house in it's place. Described so perfectly you could almost reach out and touch it, 36 Marguerite Avenue is stunning and it's easy to see why characters in The Room Beyond are drawn to it.

Stephanie Elmas is going to go on my list of must read authors! I wouldn't want to miss a book of hers!