Olivia Prior has grown up in Merilance School for girls, and all she has of her past is her mother’s journal—which seems to unravel into madness. Then, a letter invites Olivia to come home—to Gallant. Yet when Olivia arrives, no one is expecting her. But Olivia is not about to leave the first place that feels like home, it doesn’t matter if her cousin Matthew is hostile or if she sees half-formed ghouls haunting the hallways.
Olivia knows that Gallant is hiding secrets, and she is determined to uncover them. When she crosses a ruined wall at just the right moment, Olivia finds herself in a place that is Gallant—but not. The manor is crumbling, the ghouls are solid, and a mysterious figure rules over all. Now Olivia sees what has unraveled generations of her family, and where her father may have come from.
Olivia has always wanted to belong somewhere, but will she take her place as a Prior, protecting our world against the Master of the House? Or will she take her place beside him?
Regular readers to this blog will know that I’m a big fan of VE Schwab’s books. The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue was simply magnificent. So it was with no small amount of excitement that I jumped at the chance to read Schwab’s latest, Gallant.
Schwab’s writing is like a warm, comfortable blanket that you throw around yourself on a cold winter’s day. It’s all too easy to lose yourself in the magical worlds she creates. And here we have a fantastic, fantastical world. A young girl without a voice, living at the cold, cruel Merilance School for Girls, receives a letter inviting her to the home she didn’t know she had. And on arriving at the manor house Gallant, she discovers that it has a mysterious mirrored world just over the garden wall.
She delves into both Gallants, and to her family secrets with the help of her mother’s journal. But what happened to her father? And who lives at the other Gallant?
I loved the writing. I loved the world and the characters that Schwab invites us to spend time in. The story itself is splendid, though I had a sneaking feeling that like the barrier between the two Gallants, it was maybe stretched a tiny bit thin in places, and not quite enough for a full length book. I feel it would have worked just as well if not better as a short story or novella length.
That said, I didn’t begrudge a moment spent in the world Schwab has created. Recommended.
Gallant by VE Schwab is published by Titan Books in the UK and is out now. Huge thanks to Titan Books for the advance copy for review.
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