Review: The Orphan of Cemetery Hill

The Orphan of Cemetery Hill by Hester Fox
My rating: 3.5 of 5 stars

Hester Fox (The Witch of Willow Hall, The Widow of Pale Harbor) continues her streak of writing evocative gothic novels with The Orphan of Cemetary Hill. Set in the 1850's, largely in Boston, the story centers on a young woman, Tabby, who possesses the ability to commune with the dead. Her adoptive father Eli, works at a graveyard and it is here that Tabby (short for Tabitha) first encounters Caleb in the year 1844 then again twelve years later in 1856, shortly after his father has died. He remembers her because of her striking eyes. Caleb, from a nice family that lives in comfort, is something of a ne'er-do-well, and as his father's heir is struggling to maintain his father's business. He is recently engaged to Rose, a beautiful young woman who is the daughter of a local newspaper publisher. Only Caleb is drawn to the ethereal Tabby. She is drawn to him as well but is wary because of her long experience with abuse at the hands of her aunt and uncle. She mourns the loss of her sister Alice. Tabby has few friends and few safe connections and has worked hard to control her ability to speak with the recently departed. When Caleb's father's body is stolen (only the latest in a ghastly trend) from his grave, Tabby and Caleb are thrown together yet again. Their attraction to one another grows. However Caleb's fiancee Rose is murdered shortly after they quarreled and suspicion lands on Caleb. Tabby uses her abilities to try to unravel the truth about what happened to Rose. Caleb, falsely accused of her murder, must face up to his choices and in doing so may have a chance at a different life. Set against a backdrop of medical experimentation dark and foul by a Harvard group who might just be responsible for stealing corpses. Can Tabby find the answers to that mystery, as well?

This is a diverting gothic style novel that is a nice read for the Halloween/Samhain season. It is similar in tone to Fox's other gothic novels. I liked Tabitha's kindness and loyalty and I really wanted to like Caleb. While the novel evokes some aspects of the antebellum period in the US, I'm not sure that I got a good sense of London and Edinburgh in that period or how a young man with Caleb's lack of references could ensconce himself so quickly in a practice in the latter as to be offered a partnership. Still, though, a pleasant enough read.

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