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Discussion Guide

Ashton Hall

By Lauren Belfer

Ashton Hall Book Club Questions PDF

Click here for a printable PDF of the Ashton Hall discussion questions

"Infused with the brooding, gothic atmosphere of Jane Eyre or Rebecca . . . a novel that must be savored, one page at a time.”—Melanie Benjamin, author of The Children’s Blizzard

 

“Exquisite . . . The way the author has weaved several storylines together is brilliant.”—Mystery and Suspense

“This book has Daphne-Du-Maurier-meets-Kate Morton-vibes and I was THERE FOR ALL OF IT. The setting, the skeleton, the mystery, the lovable characters ... What an addictive read!”—Julie Clark, New York Times bestselling author of The Lies I Tell and The Last Flight

“Belfer’s writing is gorgeous.”—The Jewish Book Council

“Lauren Belfer’s Ashton Hall is masterful, riveting, and atmospheric historical fiction. It made me want to don a velvet cloak, brew a cup of tea, and settle in to watch Hannah and her ingenious son unravel the fascinating, dark, centuries-old secrets of a manor home.”—Alka Joshi, New York Times bestselling author of The Henna Artist

“In Ashton Hall, Lauren Belfer has treated us to a novel infused with the brooding gothic atmosphere of Jane Eyre or Rebecca. And like those classics, this is at its heart a story about a woman’s journey of self-discovery. How does a wife and mother reclaim her dreams when her world is turned upside down? In her quest to learn the identity of a skeleton entombed in the heart of a British manor house, Hannah Larson tries to piece together the puzzle that has become her own life. This is a novel that must be savored, one page at a time.”—Melanie Benjamin, New York Times bestselling author of The Children’s Blizzard

“Belfer’s latest is a brilliant, immersive story about one woman searching for answers after a terrible discovery from centuries earlier. The captivating threads of the plot—an English manor house with secret rooms and a dark past, a mother struggling with her atypical son—are rounded out by a lively cast of locals who had me laughing out loud.”—Fiona Davis, New York Times bestselling author of The Magnolia Palace

“Belfer explores timeless ideas of family, sacrifice, and female resistance. . . . The labyrinthian portrait she paints of [Ashton Hall] successfully conveys mystery and adventure. . . . For lovers of libraries and Tudor history.”—Library Journal

“A touching story about the themes that resonate through centuries.”—Kirkus Reviews
 
“Belfer offers a nuanced exploration of the ways women’s lives are constricted. Anglophiles and Tudor history buffs will enjoy this immersive tale.”—Publishers Weekly

“[Belfer’s] exquisitely illuminated story offers the vicarious indulgence of a stay at an English country house combined with an Elizabethan-era mystery and a meditation on women’s age-old struggles between independence and motherhood. . . . Belfer shows how history is a tangibly close presence.”—Booklist

Katie