The Lost Girls of Foxfield Hall is a dual timeline story with part of it set in the present day, where Megan is trying to restore the overgrown maze behind the hall, and the other part set in WW2 where Eleanor is trying to take picture of the Green Lady (the ghost at the heart of the maze). The maze is dark and magical and one day Megan and Eleanor meet. When Megan later discovers that Eleanor went missing, just days after the time when she’d seen her, Megan has to unravel the mystery of what happened so that she can have a hope of stopping it from harming Eleanor. But she’s messing with forces that are far, far older and far, far more dangerous than she realises.
The mystery was gripping. Megan is a great character and her preoccupation with her own brothers disappearance (he’s MIA from a more modern war) feed into her need to save Eleanor from disappearing. There is a gentle romance between Megan and Nora, but the main thrust of the book is about saving Eleanor.
I found the book tense and a little bit frightening in places (in a good fantasy scary kind of way). But then, I find corn dollies very creepy at the best of times. It reminded me a little of books like The Children of Green Knowe and The Dark is Rising, which I loved reading as a child. I’d almost forgotten how much I loved that kind of real world/ magic blend.
I really enjoyed reading this book. I’d love to read more of this sort of thing.
I got beta read an early version of this book and then re-read a review copy from Netgalley.
Rhoda Baxter 