BOOK REVIEW BENEATH THE WATER BY SARAH PAINTER

Munro House is the new start Stella needs. But it will also draw her back to a dark past…

Devastated by a broken engagement, Stella Jackson leaves her old life behind for a new start in rural Scotland. But when she arrives in the remote coastal village of Arisaig, nothing is what she expected.

At the edge of Arisaig sits Munro House; grand, imposing and said to be cursed by a string of tragic deaths. No less intriguing is its eccentric and handsome young owner, Jamie Munro, who hires Stella as his assistant while he pursues a seemingly impossible aim. Working through the great house’s archives, Stella soon finds herself drawn in by a cache of increasingly erratic letters from a young Victorian woman about her husband, Dr James Lockhart, a man whose single-minded ambition has strange parallels with Jamie’s.

Just as Stella begins developing feelings for Jamie, she discovers that the connection between the Lockharts and the Munros could have sinister repercussions for them both. She’s finally found the life she wants to live—but is it all an illusion?

Firstly thank you to Emma at lake union publishing for my review copy .

This is the first book I’ve read of Sarah’s.

Set in rural cold windy Scotland you can literally feel the breeze off the trees . Sarah has beautifully written with such depth and description .

I could really relate to Stella who is having to reevaluate life after a painful break up . She’s also got a health condition which affects her daily living.

So staying in Scotland is a fresh start all round with the bonus of connecting with long time friends

However as time passes and Stella settles things soon become apparent that not all is as it seems.

Stella learns things about herself but also about others .

A story full of history,secrets,mystery and possibilities of a fresh start.