"The Madness of Miss Grey" by Julia Bennet [ ARC Review ]

 *I’d like to thank NetGalley and Julia Bennet for providing me with a free ARC in exchange for an honest review. 

“The Madness of Miss Grey” by Julia Bennet is the first book in the Harcastle Inheritance series, and tells the story of Helen Grey and Will Carter

Will Carter, a young doctor, arrives at an asylum in Yorkshire and promptly runs into Helen Grey as she tries to escape the institution. Unable to let the young woman freeze to death in the snow, he brings her to his mother’s cottage before escorting her back to the asylum. There he learns about Miss Grey’s apparent illnesses: hysteria, nymphomania and whatever her Doctor Sterling was able to rhyme together. Will is determined to help Miss Grey, not only for her sake, but also his career. Helen has her own plans for the young doctor, seducing him into helping her to escape. Ten years she has been locked up in the asylum by her benefactor who is unknown to her, ten years she has endured cruel abuse and misdiagnosis after misdiagnosis. She wants to leave before she truly loses her mind. But things don’t go as planned. While Will and Helen both try to execute their plans, they are confronted with a big secret and a burning desire between them. 

“The Madness of Miss Grey” is a unique story with interesting characters, an impeccable setting in the countryside of Yorkshire and an undeniable tension.

Will and Helen are amazing main characters: nuanced, flawed but lovable. They are opposites to each other, but complement each other perfectly. Will is the starchy, rags-to-riches doctor with a heart of gold. After tragedy has riddled his life, he is sternly focused on his career when Helen falls in his lap and he gets confronted with all the feelings he had locked up for almost a decade. He tries his best to stay away, but Helen has plans of her own. As the illegitimate daughter of an actress, Helen was raised as a free spirit, changing costumes and lives, opening her arms to men whether there is a ring on her finger or not. But in the eyes of stoic Victorian England her doctors, her open minded approach to life and love is interpreted as madness and nymphomania, and therefore to be cast out. Helen is an unbelievably strong FMC who truly endures the worst thing imaginable, yet keeps her spirit and hopes up. You can’t even judge her for trying to use Will, everyone in her position would have done the same. I loved the high tension between those two, but the slow burn of their romance. It takes a while for them to realize the depth of their feelings for each other, but when they do it was the sweetest thing to read. Of course, I have to mention the side love story of Helen and Hector, Will’s dog which gave much lightness in this rather dark and angsty story. I absolutely loved it.

As mentioned the story of Helen and Will is quite high angst. Their relationship is forbidden: he's the doctor, she’s the patient. On top of that, someone is trying very hard to keep Helen hidden in the asylum. These forces even try to keep Will in line as an upcoming physician. The scene in which Helen is tortured by her nurse is quite hard on the heart. 

But the entire darkness of the story perfectly encapsulated the themes of mental health, female sexuality and power.  I think fans of “Flower from the Storm” by Laura Kinsale will enjoy this novel!

I also very much enjoyed the setting of the old manor in the Yorkshire countryside. I can literally feel the cold and harshness of the surroundings drip from the paper onto myself. Truly amazing.

All in all a great Victorian romance with a twist of mystery. The darkness and angst might not be for everyone but it is for me. Helen and Will’s love story warmed my heart and I was saddened to let them go when I finished the last page. I highly recommend grabbing a copy of the re-released version of  “The Madness of Miss Grey” by Julia Bennet. Even if it’s just for the gorgeous new cover!