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The Atropine Tree
Bram Stoker Award-winning author Sarah Read returns with a stunning new vision of gothic terror.
Aldane Manor is an ancient home of low-beamed ceilings, crumbling walls, poison gardens, and deadly secrets.
When Alrick Aldane returns to his family’s house, he expects to simply inherit his father’s land and title.
Instead, he discovers that he is also heir to the property’s disturbing history--one full of witchcraft--and a ghostly mystery that could condemn him to a fate worse than death.
Aldane Manor is an ancient home of low-beamed ceilings, crumbling walls, poison gardens, and deadly secrets.
When Alrick Aldane returns to his family’s house, he expects to simply inherit his father’s land and title.
Instead, he discovers that he is also heir to the property’s disturbing history--one full of witchcraft--and a ghostly mystery that could condemn him to a fate worse than death.
317 pages, Kindle Edition
Published July 16, 2024
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133 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
January 4, 2025
"The wood was stained in splotches of unnatural colors, the surrounding plaster absorbing the hues—purples, reds, yellows fading out from the doorway as if it were a portal to another world."
House Aldane is a manor with a dark history. When Lord Aldane passes, the family is now all gathered in the manor. Alrick is under the impression that he will now be Lord of the manor, but his older stepbrother, Aemon, has other plans. He has gone to great lengths to ensure he will be Lord, and he uses his position of power in an unkind manner.
Tredan is Alrick and Aemon's uncle who is also the alchemist of House Aldane. He works hard to save many ill orphan children, and he is now teaching Alrick the craft.
Alrick is a gentle soul and only wants what is rightfully his. He also wishes to help as many people as he can while keeping the family together and peaceful.
"No healing could occur with Aemon in power—he was a hot infection keeping the wound open. Alrick would be the medicine. If necessary, the scalpel."
Nelda is Aemon and Alrick's sister. She is fascinated with nightshade and belladonna, and the trees such as laurel and oleander. Her mother's garden is filled with poisonous plants which she indulges in to open the door to the other side.
As Tredan and Alrick work together to prove he is the rightful Lord, many hidden secrets become known.
"There was duty to consider. And not all of the voices in the Aldane halls were happy. Frightened maids. Cries of anger. And the dead. So many voices out of their bottles."
The Atropine Tree is a wonderfully written dark gothic horror novel. Fascinating characters and an engaging plot. Questionable practices, shattered lives as well as a decaying manor. Trapped souls, some hateful, and some that are favorable. Sickly scenes of death. Deeply buried secrets to unveil. A dark manor full of deceit, tension, danger, and adventure.
I really enjoyed reading this one, just fabulous!
**Thank you Bad Hand Books for the complimentary copy!
House Aldane is a manor with a dark history. When Lord Aldane passes, the family is now all gathered in the manor. Alrick is under the impression that he will now be Lord of the manor, but his older stepbrother, Aemon, has other plans. He has gone to great lengths to ensure he will be Lord, and he uses his position of power in an unkind manner.
Tredan is Alrick and Aemon's uncle who is also the alchemist of House Aldane. He works hard to save many ill orphan children, and he is now teaching Alrick the craft.
Alrick is a gentle soul and only wants what is rightfully his. He also wishes to help as many people as he can while keeping the family together and peaceful.
"No healing could occur with Aemon in power—he was a hot infection keeping the wound open. Alrick would be the medicine. If necessary, the scalpel."
Nelda is Aemon and Alrick's sister. She is fascinated with nightshade and belladonna, and the trees such as laurel and oleander. Her mother's garden is filled with poisonous plants which she indulges in to open the door to the other side.
As Tredan and Alrick work together to prove he is the rightful Lord, many hidden secrets become known.
"There was duty to consider. And not all of the voices in the Aldane halls were happy. Frightened maids. Cries of anger. And the dead. So many voices out of their bottles."
The Atropine Tree is a wonderfully written dark gothic horror novel. Fascinating characters and an engaging plot. Questionable practices, shattered lives as well as a decaying manor. Trapped souls, some hateful, and some that are favorable. Sickly scenes of death. Deeply buried secrets to unveil. A dark manor full of deceit, tension, danger, and adventure.
I really enjoyed reading this one, just fabulous!
**Thank you Bad Hand Books for the complimentary copy!
September 5, 2024
Horrible Histories meets Shirley Jackson
A luxurious gothic horror with stunning prose and a propulsive plot, really enjoyed this one!
A luxurious gothic horror with stunning prose and a propulsive plot, really enjoyed this one!
December 23, 2024
This gothic slow burn pulls out all the stops.
Ghosts, family turmoil, phytomedicine, revenge. And to top it all off, a house with crumbling walls.
If a heart wrenching and grim tale is what you seek, you will find it within these pages.
Ghosts, family turmoil, phytomedicine, revenge. And to top it all off, a house with crumbling walls.
If a heart wrenching and grim tale is what you seek, you will find it within these pages.
August 17, 2024
A delightful historical Gothic that takes the classic tropes � a youthful heir, a wicked half-brother and a crumbling, possibly haunted manor � and skillfully subverts and refreshes them.
The original Gothics were set in the hinterlands during a nebulous, medieval past. The Atropine Tree takes place near London in an early phase of industrialization. Facilities such as courts, hospitals and workhouses exist, but the gulf between rich and poor is vast and rigidly policed. Medicine is poised between superstition and science, and human guinea pigs may be acquired with disturbing ease. Young Alrick Aldane emerges from his boarding school, innocent to the ways of the world. He expects to inherit his father's lands and title, and dreams of ending the family feud and improving the lot of his tenants. But a missing Will leaves him floundering, forced to accept an apprenticeship with his alarming Uncle. His best hope may lie in the Spiritualism practiced by his half-sister Nelda, but not all the ghosts are on his side.
Read is an elegant writer, with a taste for shadows, echoes, frissons and fragrance. Unexpected turns of phrase � "The tea tasted of industry", "It was as if he could hear only the esses" � shape each scene, be it breakfast or an emergency amputation. She does not shy away from the ghastly and grotesque, revels rather in perfectly selected detail. Her research, although extensive, enlivens the book rather than weighing it. The struggle between Alrick and Aemon is firmly embedded in law (a missing Will is one thing, but what about the witnesses?), but it takes some highly unusual turns.
Because what truly sets this book apart is the importance to the plot of herbs such as belladonna and nightshade, and trees such as laurel and oleander � the "atropine tree". Some heal, others harm, and one of Aemon's first acts is to break down the wall enclosing his late mother's garden, which proves a dark treasury of toxins and hallucinogens. In this milieu, aid smuggled to a prisoner comes not in the form of gold or a gun, but dried leaves. A lady's bouquet can take out a room. Soon, no one in the manor can reliably tell the difference between the real and unreal, the living and the dead.
There are spectacular seances, and a grand party where the guests succumb gradually to what was placed in the food. But the momentum of the story lies in Alrick's fall from grace. His ideals are constantly challenged, and there is always the question of just what he is willing to do to regain what he considers his rights. This is all the more effective for his being a genuinely likeable person. Nelda is a wonderfully chilling creation � one moment a frivolous young gentlewoman, the next a mouthpiece for the beyond, her allegiances likewise divided. And then there is Cassandra, a rescued damsel (for whom Alrick develops a painfully adolescent crush) with ideas about her future that are very much her own. In fact, I'd say that all the characters possess this ambiguity and all are to varying extents victims of the system into which they were born, burdened by expectations, their own wants and needs constantly overridden by ghosts. In the end, all anyone may really achieve is a changing of the guard.
The original Gothics were set in the hinterlands during a nebulous, medieval past. The Atropine Tree takes place near London in an early phase of industrialization. Facilities such as courts, hospitals and workhouses exist, but the gulf between rich and poor is vast and rigidly policed. Medicine is poised between superstition and science, and human guinea pigs may be acquired with disturbing ease. Young Alrick Aldane emerges from his boarding school, innocent to the ways of the world. He expects to inherit his father's lands and title, and dreams of ending the family feud and improving the lot of his tenants. But a missing Will leaves him floundering, forced to accept an apprenticeship with his alarming Uncle. His best hope may lie in the Spiritualism practiced by his half-sister Nelda, but not all the ghosts are on his side.
Read is an elegant writer, with a taste for shadows, echoes, frissons and fragrance. Unexpected turns of phrase � "The tea tasted of industry", "It was as if he could hear only the esses" � shape each scene, be it breakfast or an emergency amputation. She does not shy away from the ghastly and grotesque, revels rather in perfectly selected detail. Her research, although extensive, enlivens the book rather than weighing it. The struggle between Alrick and Aemon is firmly embedded in law (a missing Will is one thing, but what about the witnesses?), but it takes some highly unusual turns.
Because what truly sets this book apart is the importance to the plot of herbs such as belladonna and nightshade, and trees such as laurel and oleander � the "atropine tree". Some heal, others harm, and one of Aemon's first acts is to break down the wall enclosing his late mother's garden, which proves a dark treasury of toxins and hallucinogens. In this milieu, aid smuggled to a prisoner comes not in the form of gold or a gun, but dried leaves. A lady's bouquet can take out a room. Soon, no one in the manor can reliably tell the difference between the real and unreal, the living and the dead.
There are spectacular seances, and a grand party where the guests succumb gradually to what was placed in the food. But the momentum of the story lies in Alrick's fall from grace. His ideals are constantly challenged, and there is always the question of just what he is willing to do to regain what he considers his rights. This is all the more effective for his being a genuinely likeable person. Nelda is a wonderfully chilling creation � one moment a frivolous young gentlewoman, the next a mouthpiece for the beyond, her allegiances likewise divided. And then there is Cassandra, a rescued damsel (for whom Alrick develops a painfully adolescent crush) with ideas about her future that are very much her own. In fact, I'd say that all the characters possess this ambiguity and all are to varying extents victims of the system into which they were born, burdened by expectations, their own wants and needs constantly overridden by ghosts. In the end, all anyone may really achieve is a changing of the guard.
January 13, 2025
The Atropine Tree by Sarah Read
#sixthbookof2025 #arc #theatropinetree
CW: death, magic and spirits, patriarchy, mistreatment of orphans, workhouses
From the publisher: Aldane Manor is an ancient home of low-beamed ceilings, crumbling walls, poison gardens, and deadly secrets. When Alrick Aldane returns to his family’s house, he expects to simply inherit his father’s land and title. Instead, he discovers that he is also heir to the property’s disturbing history—one full of witchcraft—and a ghostly mystery that could condemn him to a fate worse than death.
My thoughts: I enjoyed the first half of this book, setting up the fight between brothers for their ancestral home, but there was no real explanation for why the younger son expected to inherit the estate other then being told he would. But at that time, the eldest son would have always inherited—I wanted more story on why that wasn’t to be. And the magic versus medicine aspect of the book was interesting but again, no explanation for how or why the magic worked. After finishing, I realized that I didn’t really know much about the magic, or how the spirits were summoned, and everything just seemed sort of shallowly glossed over. I felt like this one wasn’t very satisfying. The premise was great, the storyline was technically resolved, and I can’t quite put my finger on why, but I was left wanting more detail.
Thank you to @badhandbooks for the advance copy. (Available now)
#sixthbookof2025 #arc #theatropinetree
CW: death, magic and spirits, patriarchy, mistreatment of orphans, workhouses
From the publisher: Aldane Manor is an ancient home of low-beamed ceilings, crumbling walls, poison gardens, and deadly secrets. When Alrick Aldane returns to his family’s house, he expects to simply inherit his father’s land and title. Instead, he discovers that he is also heir to the property’s disturbing history—one full of witchcraft—and a ghostly mystery that could condemn him to a fate worse than death.
My thoughts: I enjoyed the first half of this book, setting up the fight between brothers for their ancestral home, but there was no real explanation for why the younger son expected to inherit the estate other then being told he would. But at that time, the eldest son would have always inherited—I wanted more story on why that wasn’t to be. And the magic versus medicine aspect of the book was interesting but again, no explanation for how or why the magic worked. After finishing, I realized that I didn’t really know much about the magic, or how the spirits were summoned, and everything just seemed sort of shallowly glossed over. I felt like this one wasn’t very satisfying. The premise was great, the storyline was technically resolved, and I can’t quite put my finger on why, but I was left wanting more detail.
Thank you to @badhandbooks for the advance copy. (Available now)
October 21, 2024
Sarah Read’s prose is a so poetic and beautiful, and extremely easy to get swept up in. The world she crafts and the amount of research that clearly went into this book is incredible. Loved the character of Nelda so much, and the final chapter is kind of perfect. Melancholy and unnerving. I really enjoyed this!
August 2, 2024
This book was absolutely fabulous. Great story. Great characters. Great end. The kind of book to stay up way past one's bedtime to read in the dark. I highly recommend it.
December 30, 2024
This is a very unusual, brilliant novel, fraught with danger, and adventure to spare. I've never read anything quite like it and wish it had been twice as long.
December 31, 2024
The publisher provided me with a digital arc of this title. This review is provided free of charge, all views and opinions are my own.
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Gothic Horror (well any horror really) when placed in a historical setting can become tricky. I say this speaking as a fan of the Horror genre, but also someone with a degree in history who has read many a dry academic work, rich with information and insight, but lacking in anything else. Period Gothic Horror, has a precarious balance to strike. You have the need to present a story grounded in the facts, language and culture of the given time..but you also have a scary story to tell. (I'm going out on a limb, and assuming that's why Sarah Read, and others writes gothic horror stories..having never written one myself). So that's the challenge imbue a horror story with life, fill it with the those details that are "of the time", and do so without reducing the everything to an over stuffed costume drama with flat characters with all the charm of Holland Rusk Crackers.
The Atropine Tree is exactly what a Victorian Gothic Horror tale strives be. Author Sarah Read, put tremendous work in to the background research for this book. All her efforts deliver the reader into a story grounded in the realities of Victorian England. A place of crumbling estates, secrets buried like tree roots, and Medical practices that are questionable at best. One can feel the chill of the darkened halls of the manor, the inky blackness lit only by sparse candle light. The city scenes are permeated with the..fragrance of found only in urban centers of centuries past. Into this fertile space Sarah Read has woven a tale that guides you by whisper and icy touch down passage ways pregnant with tragedy and mystery. The end result is tale that calls to Mind Bleak House by Dickens, Mignola's Tales of Sir Edward Grey: Witch Finder, and the work of M.R. James. Here in the midst of Winter, take a chance, follow the whisper calling to you down the fog shrouded moors and pay a visit to the Aldane Estate.
-
Gothic Horror (well any horror really) when placed in a historical setting can become tricky. I say this speaking as a fan of the Horror genre, but also someone with a degree in history who has read many a dry academic work, rich with information and insight, but lacking in anything else. Period Gothic Horror, has a precarious balance to strike. You have the need to present a story grounded in the facts, language and culture of the given time..but you also have a scary story to tell. (I'm going out on a limb, and assuming that's why Sarah Read, and others writes gothic horror stories..having never written one myself). So that's the challenge imbue a horror story with life, fill it with the those details that are "of the time", and do so without reducing the everything to an over stuffed costume drama with flat characters with all the charm of Holland Rusk Crackers.
The Atropine Tree is exactly what a Victorian Gothic Horror tale strives be. Author Sarah Read, put tremendous work in to the background research for this book. All her efforts deliver the reader into a story grounded in the realities of Victorian England. A place of crumbling estates, secrets buried like tree roots, and Medical practices that are questionable at best. One can feel the chill of the darkened halls of the manor, the inky blackness lit only by sparse candle light. The city scenes are permeated with the..fragrance of found only in urban centers of centuries past. Into this fertile space Sarah Read has woven a tale that guides you by whisper and icy touch down passage ways pregnant with tragedy and mystery. The end result is tale that calls to Mind Bleak House by Dickens, Mignola's Tales of Sir Edward Grey: Witch Finder, and the work of M.R. James. Here in the midst of Winter, take a chance, follow the whisper calling to you down the fog shrouded moors and pay a visit to the Aldane Estate.
December 13, 2024
This read was an emotional roller coaster! Each character's range and arc was highlighted from the jump.
I loved the protagonist, and the deep horror and fascination I had for Nelda, kept every page layered w terror.
I loved the protagonist, and the deep horror and fascination I had for Nelda, kept every page layered w terror.
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