The Estate by Sarah Jost
Book Review:
The premise of stepping into paintings was an instant grab. Add to that, that the main character, Camille, is an art historian who can experience what the artist was feeling when they were creating the painting—and color me intrigued. The gothic setting of a French castle frames this slow building mystery which follows Camille’s investigation of, Night Swimming, a piece of art which she’s almost certain wasn’t created by her favorite artist.
When she arrives in France to explore the artist’s past and Maxime, with whom she has a history, becomes the central focus, the story both picks up and slows down and the twists have a more languid pace which makes the journey to the solution less clear and less exciting. Despite the tension which was excellent at times, I found the pages turning a little more slowly than I'd hope. I wished for more of Camille’s talent and a little faster ramp to solving the mystery.
That said, The Estate does a great job of exploring themes of privilege and power while leaning into the Gothic tropes of dark secrets and oozing suspense with a dose of speculative. For spooky Gothic October reads, add it to your list.
Thank you to Sourcebooks Landmark and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
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