Gibbous House - A review by Tony Cook

This is a seriously good book, make no mistake about it. I’ve followed the gestation of Gibbous House on ABCtales and read it in various incarnations over the past three years but this final, published version is another step on. It’s a triumph and I highly recommend it to you.

This is a modern gothic novel. It is steeped in the 19^th century tradition and draws heavily on the works of Poe, the Brontes, Thackeray et al but be assured that you do not need to have a familiarity with those wonderful works to appreciate Ewan Lawrie’s debut novel. There are numerous nods to the past along the way – for example the mentions of the books by the Bell brothers ( the names under which the Brontes first published) – but this book adds a very 21^st century sense of tongue in cheek irony to it all.

The story itself is a belter. It’ll drag you along, through the twists and turns of the psychopath Alastair Moffatt as he comes into a distinctly flawed inheritance. The supporting cast of characters is luscious. There’s the dirty, flirty ward Ellen Provender, the cantankerous dwarf Jedediah Maccabi, the tight lipped policeman, Turner, the ill fated journalist Poe and my favourite of them all, the mysterious, randy and magical cook Mrs. Gonderthwaite.  Together they inhabit the weird and wonderful Gibbous House – a ‘time castle’ ensconced on the mudflats of the far North East. The action rocks along at a magnificent pace – you’ll be reading ‘just one more chapter’ time after time in the wee small hours of the morning – and the denouement brings everything you could hope for. This will make a stunning film when and if anyone chooses to pick it up.

If you didn’t support Gibbous House on Unbound then buy it now.  This is no mere puff, it’s a serious tick of approval: https://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=gibbous+house