The Taxidermist's Daughter by Kate Mosse

The Taxidermist’s Daughter is a gothic thriller, set in 1912.  The story is told over a short time frame – just four days.  It is a story inspired by place, the village of Fishbourne in West Sussex with its marshes and wild weather and the reader gets a real sense of foreboding from the descriptions.   The heroine of the story is Connie Gifford, a young woman who, ten years before, had a serious accident resulting in amnesia.  Occasionally she glimpses moments from her past and these episodes always leave her bewildered and exhausted.  Her father was a famous taxidermist, but having turned to drink after Connie’s accident, and forced to sell his beloved museum, he no longer has the skills or the inclination to carry on.  Connie has inherited his gift and, although women aren’t meant to be taxidermists, practices the art successfully.  As the story unravels it becomes clear what happened on the night of Connie’s accident and what the consequences are.  I’ve been lucky to hear Kate Mosse talk about this novel at the Guildford Book Festival last year and at the Parisot Literary Festival last weekend, when she said she set out to write something completely different and had great fun writing it.  It is a bit gruesome in places, but an easy read.