Book Review – Inheriting Her Ghosts by S.H. Cooper

I buddy read this one with a few pals on the LOHF team, and I can already tell it’s going to be a favorite amongst fans of both the horror genre in general, and more specifically, gothic horror. I haven’t heard a bad word about it, and didn’t have a single thing to say that wasn’t glowing while we chatted about it!

Something I’ve come to love and expect in S.H. Cooper’s books is a badass woman character that isn’t afraid to do what needs to be done – however terrified she actually may be – and I love that so much in my fiction, holy smokes! Inheriting Her Ghosts’ Eudora Fellowes is exactly that type of lady, and I loved her – what a fierce protagonist!

Cooper absolutely nailed the atmosphere and aesthetic of gothic horror in this; I could almost feel the salty atmosphere outside of High Hearth, could almost see the flickering of light from the candelabra as Eudora walked through the halls. There was so much tension in some of the spookier scenes that I found myself unable to put the book down, finishing it in less than an hour because I didn’t want to stop flipping the pages to find out what was going on.

I think a lot of books written in specific time periods forget how little respect/power women actually had in an effort to make the character more relatable in modern times, and I really enjoyed how well it was handled here, and how that lack of power (from the perspective of men, at least) was referenced so often here – from the way the townsfolk viewed Eudora to the way she held herself and spoke to the men that visited her. I enjoyed the times she stood tall and fierce and said what she wanted, regardless of the looks it might earn her – such a cool lady!

I also really, really loved her dogs, omg! Dogs are such pure, wonderful creatures, and having them be such focal points in the story was a treat. So comforting, aww.

My only regret is that I read this on a sunny day – it’d have been PERFECT for a rainy afternoon indoors! But it was still great, definitely recommended.