Book Review: The Fortunes Of Olivia Richmond by Louise Davidson

After a terrible tragedy, governess Julia Pearlie finds herself with no job, home, or references. When she’s offered a position as companion to Miss Olivia Richmond, her luck appears to be turning. But Mistcoate House is full of secrets.

Olivia has a sinister reputation. The locals call her the Mistcoate Witch, thanks to her tarot readings, and her insistence that she can speak to the dead. Her father, Dr Richmond, believes this to be girlish fantasy and is looking to Julia to put a stop to it.

Determined to prove herself and shake off her own murky history, Julia sets to work trying to help Olivia become a proper young lady. However, as she becomes a fixture at Mistcoate, it is soon clear that there may be more to Olivia’s stories than Dr Richmond would have Julia believe – not least because somehow, Olivia seems to know something of the darkness that Julia desperately hoped she had left behind.

As the danger grows, and the winter chill wraps around the dark woods surrounding Mistcoate, Julia will have to fight to uncover the truth, escape her past – and save herself.

*****

Julia Pearlie has found herself with no job and is trying to run from her past. When she is offered employment by Dr. Richmond, to prepare his daughter, Olivia for her introduction to society, she feels she has no choice.

However, things in this household are not what they seem and soon Julia finds herself being haunted by her past and feeling threatened by her present.

Having read the blurb for this novel, I couldn’t wait to get started and it seriously wasn’t long before I was completely engrossed in Julia’s story. I was completely hooked and didn’t want to stop reading. I am going to try and review without spoilers.

This novel plays with gothic, tarot and the supernatural and I was fascinated by Olivia’s character. My perception of her changed a lot through the book. That’s a big theme throughout actually – you’re not really sure who to trust. There are many sides to a few of the characters.

Julia is a flawed character but she’s also strong carries this novel’s plot well. The other characters including Dr. Richmond, Mrs Hayes, Ed and Alice bring a lot to the story too. As I said, the intentions of the characters are really hard to suss out and as the plot progressed, there were many gasping out loud moments. I also didn’t see the end coming.

The atmosphere created in this book is amazing. It weaves the gothic, supernatural and suspense so incredibly well and reading in October and close to Halloween added to the overall feeling (this book is worth reading, even when it’s not October. It gives you Halloween feels.)

This book is a spooky, compelling tale that had me questioning whether ghosts exist. It also had me thinking about how our perception of something can quickly be twisted into something people fear. I LOVED it and if you’ve not guessed by now, I totally recommend it.

This was Louise Davidson’s debut novel and going by how good this book was, I can’t wait to see what comes next.

(Thank you to Moonflower Books – they sent me a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.)

About Louise Davidson:

Born in 1988, Louise Davidson grew up in Belfast during the troubles with a Catholic mother and a Protestant father. The Catholic side of her family lived on Mountcollyer Street – the street featured in Kenneth Branagh’s Oscar winning film Belfast, that was badly affected by violent protests.

Louise’s earliest memory is of her parents deciding whether they should drive past a car that was on fire in the streets of Belfast. It was only when she left Belfast to study Creative Writing at University in the UK that Louise realised it was not normal to live in a permanent state of fear and anxiety. She says the sense of dread she has had from a young age drew her to Gothic fiction and is something she has tried to channel into The Fortunes of Olivia Richmond.

Louise was introduced to the idea of tarot, mediums and fortune telling from a young age as her Aunt Pat is an intuitive, with the ability to receive messages from the dead and to predict dreams. Louise grew up watching her aunt predict dreams and pass messages from the dead to bereaved families and this helped her to create the character of Olivia Richmond.

After a career working in theatre production with theatres including Tinder Box and Ransome Theatre in Northern Ireland and Intemission, RSC and the Lyric Hammersmith in London. Louise now teaches English and drama to A-Level students and lives in West London with her husband and stepson. The Fortunes of Olivia Richmond is her first novel.

Say hello to Louise via Instagram and X. 

The Fortunes of Olivia Richmond was released by Moonflower Books in September 2024. Click to buy on Amazon UK, Waterstones and Amazon US.

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Laura

I’m Laura. I started Novel Kicks in 2009. I wanted a place to post my writing as well as give other writers like me the opportunity to do the same. There is also a monthly book club, a writing room which features writing prompts, book reviews, competitions, author interviews and guest posts.

I grew up by the sea (my favourite place in the world) and I currently live in Hampshire. I am married to Chris, have a cat named Buddy and I would love to be a writer. I’m trying to write the novel I’ve talked so much about writing if only I could stop pressing delete. I’ve loved writing since creative writing classes in primary school. I have always wanted to see my teacher Miss Sayers again and thank her for the encouragement. When not trying to write the novel or writing snippets of stories on anything I can get my hands on, I love reading, dancing like a loon and singing to myself very badly. My current obsession is Once Upon a Time and I would be happy to live with magic in the enchanted forest surrounded by all those wonderful stories provided that world also included Harry Potter. I love reading chick lit. contemporary fiction and novels with mystery.