The Girl In The Photograph by Kate Riordan

This is the story of two women, Alice Eveleigh in 1933 and Elizabeth Stanton in 1898.  The setting is Fiercombe Manor located in an isolated valley in Gloucestershire.  The chapters alternate between Alice, written in the first person and Elizabeth, written in the third person.  Unmarried Alice is pregnant and has been sent from her home in London to Fiercombe Manor to be cared for by Mrs Jelphs, the care taker of the manor.   Edith Jelphs is an old childhood friend of Alice’s mothers and Alice’s mother hopes that by sending Alice away no one will know of the pregnancy.  Alice, unused to life in the countryside, soon finds her imagination running riot in the eerie atmosphere of the house and the overbearing presence of Mrs Jelphs.  Alice becomes fascinated with stories of the Manor’s ancestors and, in particular, Elizabeth Stanton.  In 1898 Elizabeth Stanton was also pregnant and Mrs Jelphs had been her maid.  The mystery of what has happened to Elizabeth soon becomes an obsession and, as the unborn baby grows, Alice worries that her life is mirroring Elizabeth’s.   An easy read, I would have liked to know more about Alice’s mother’s past and her connection with Edith Jelphs.