Publisher: Harlequin Trade Books, April 4, 2023

Format: ebook

Pages: 336

Rating: 3.5/5 stars

Summary (Goodreads):

In post–World War I England, a young woman inherits a mysterious library and must untangle its powerful secrets…

With the stroke of a pen, twenty-three-year-old Ivy Radcliffe becomes Lady Hayworth, owner of a sprawling estate on the Yorkshire moors. Ivy has never heard of Blackwood Abbey, or of the ancient bloodline from which she’s descended. With nothing to keep her in London since losing her brother in the Great War, she warily makes her way to her new home.

The abbey is foreboding, the servants reserved and suspicious. But there is a treasure waiting behind locked doors: a magnificent library. Despite cryptic warnings from the staff, Ivy feels irresistibly drawn to its dusty shelves, where familiar works mingle with strange, esoteric texts. And she senses something else in the library too, a presence that seems to have a will of its own.  

Rumors swirl in the village about the abbey’s previous owners, about ghosts and curses, and an enigmatic manuscript at the center of it all. And as events grow more sinister, it will be up to Ivy to uncover the library’s mysteries in order to reclaim her own story—before it vanishes forever.

Lush, atmospheric and transporting, The Last Heir to Blackwood Library is a skillful reflection on memory and female agency, and a love letter to books from a writer at the height of her power.

My Review:

Read if you like: historical mysteries.
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This was a fun book about a young woman who inherits a haunted Abbey. I liked the mystery aspect of the book and think it is fun when there are supernatural elements to a historical mystery. When Ivy moves to the Abbey, mysterious things start to happen and she needs to work out the curse that is on the house/family.
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Overall though I didn’t love Ivy. She made some silly choices, which I understand was part of the curse but I struggled to root for her.
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Thank you Harlequin Trade Books for the copy of this book.