Always surreal to see my own book in a video 😅 I so need to read The Puzzle Wood and Fyneshade. Also highly recommend The Old Nurse’s Story by Elizabeth Gaskell - not a governess but a nurse/nursemaid, but an excellent Victorian gothic story with similar vibes.
Yeah it's 126 years old but new people are born everyday who have not read Jane Eyre. I like that you have minimal editing, now music, reliable uploads, and I can tell that you came to this video with something intentional to say.
I was in my thirties when I read Jane Eyre, and it had been so thoroughly spoiled for me that I almost feel like I didn't actually read it. So thank you, Willow, for preserving the mystery for new and future generations of readers.
Honorable mention to The Whistling by R Netley. Great Gothic Governess book too. Never tire of the Gothic Governess! Currently reading Netleys other Gothic book The Black Feathers.
So happy to see The Secrets of Hartwood Hall and Fyneshade make this list and receive your seal of approval 😊 They are both on my list of books to read in the not too distant future 📚
another great analysis! I read "jane eyre" and "the turn of the screw" in college and loved every nanny stories i read since - without realizing they follow the same formula: all three books sound great, thanks for the heads up! ⚘
I came to the character of the governess by way of the original Dark Shadows TV series. Victoria Winters' first day in Collinsport, and her arrival at Collinwood, are etched into my memory. I have long fantasized about a proper resurrection of the series that gives those early stories their due. I recently read an Andre Norton story that, while sans an actual governess character, captured the language and social dynamics of my beloved show. That story was Snow Shadow. And to bring things back to the point of this video, the next Andre Norton book on my TBR actually is centered around a governess, The White Jade Fox.
Thank you for these recommendations. It’s been years since I’d read JE, so, re-read might be in order. Just recently bought the Hartwood Hall book, and now need them all :) THE COVERS ARE 🔥!
Great accent, big smiles! When you were describing Turn of the Screw, James' distancing himself from the governess behind so many layers felt emblematic of how closeted he was. All that repression makes for great gothic/horror, as it inevitably erupts. James' short story Beast in the Jungle is excellent as is, but under the surface the man-woman story I can't help but wonder if the regret that leaps out after it's too late was standing in for his life in the closet. Ooh, I have 3 more episodes of Bly Manor to watch! So far Flanagan seems to have turned the screw a few more times than James. Re. A governess character, the fact that she is "close to the children" sounded to me like a psyche that is close to primal childhood issues. When you talked about the house in Fyneshade with words like veins, organs, skin, bones, a living thing -- I was thinking earlier today of houses in dreams representing the body, as well as a person's life.
New subscriber here! I'm so glad i found you 🙏 I love your vibrant personality and passion for literature! I'm looking forward to seeing more of your videos ❤🤗
Jane Eyre used to be my favorite, but watching your channel has made me love gothic horror more than gothic romance. You’ve exposed me to so many new genres, and I love it! ❤
Thank you for doing a video on governesses and gothic fiction. I have seen a few Jane Eyre adaptations and The Secrets of Hartwood Hall is on my TBR list.
Uuuuuhhhh gothic horror and haunted houses and the hostile staff and weird children I LOVE IT 👻🤍 Fyneshade is on my TBR for November, the right season to read it 😆 And Hartwood Hall is sitting in the shelf, hope I can get to it soon after. I read Jane Eyre recently and it was almost a five star read for me. I really enjoyed The Whistling by Rebecca Netley about the nanny Elspeth moving into an eerie house on a scottish island 😱
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë (1847) (Gates of Imagination Narration: th-cam.com/video/4aQ_18olSmU/w-d-xo.htmlsi=7G9oP9NQm9iMNPCg) The Tenant of Wildfell Hall by Ann Brontë (1848) (I FINALLY Read The Tenant of Wildfell Hall by Ann Brontë) (Audiobooks Unlimited/ LibraVox Narration: th-cam.com/video/HIOxvks8wFA/w-d-xo.htmlsi=p9k89S4R0aNYO-ly) The Turn of the Screw by Henry James (1898) (Gates of Imagination Narration: th-cam.com/video/ZqFQJUzsXeg/w-d-xo.htmlsi=pTu8cmqmfHbpRFtz) The Puzzle Wood by Rosie Andrews (2024) The Leviathan by Rosie Andrews (2022) The Secrets of Hartwood Hall by Katie Lumsden (2023) Fyneshade by Kate Griffin (2023)
As someone with a deep love of Gothic fiction, thank you for this video! I really need to give The Turn of the Screw another read. I read it in college, and I just couldn’t follow the story. Also thank you for your videos! Your reviews and recommendations are fantastic!
@@christine7956 Wouldn't have been able to read the style of writing and understand the story of The Turn of the Screw without watching The Innocents first 😂
If you're at all opera-tolerant, "The Turn Of The Screw" is fantastic. Britten's masterpiece. It matches the novel for darkness. See also the 1961 film "The Innocents", which is disturbing and creepy.
@@samjaneparker Agreed, which is so good in a new enough author such as Netley. The Black Feathers is particularly atmospheric. Netley gives the surroundings, the buildings etc a life of their own, they are like characters themselves.
The Puzzle Wood is on my TBR now. It sucks that The Turn of the Screw made me so stressed and frustrated, so even if it's a well-written novella I still never wanna read it again. 😅
Hi Willow! Greetings from Canada! I was interested in your comments on Rosie Andrews' books. Of course, they weren't available over here, so I had to order them from the UK. I loved them both. Both books felt menacing, but in different ways. Also, the castles function as a kind of character, too. Daylight hours reading only, for sure. BTW, I appreciate your fantasy recs, too, and have added a few to my TBR list. Thanks for all you do.
Oh, you won't believe it but I was just thinking about this while cleaning my book shelves and putting The Whistling, Hidden Pictures, The Turn of the Key and etc back in them. The governess dealing with shit is a genre on its own now, and personally, I enjoy it. P. S. Look who just reached 44k subscribersssss 😏 and I apologise for the most poorly-worded comment ever, it's insanely hot in Andalusia atm, my brain is shmush.
First off--- great voice acting! Love what you did with that character (was it Perry? I forget) when you were reading aloud. Secondly, I don't necessarily want to take credit, especially if I am wrong, but I think I might have introduced you to Katie's TH-cam channel. I remember you had a story on instagram once about some new books, and there was a picture of "The Secrets of Hartwood Hall", and I commented that I would be interested to see your take on that, since she was a fellow booktuber that I enjoyed, and you commented back I believe that you didn't know she had a channel, too. In any case, glad you two are friends! And lastly, I kept expecting you to say, "But you know what's a great book even without a Governess? 'Managing and Other Stories,' my collection of stories that's out now!" I would have laughed. Speaking of which, my copy came in the mail, and I plan to start it as soon as I finish my current book, "Butcher" by Joyce Carol Oates (just finished "Horror Movie" by Paul Tremblay). Thanks for another great video!
Reading Suggestion!: If you’re not opposed to reading plays (though I recommend watching a production of it if it comes through your neck of the woods), I encourage you to get your hands on the play, The Moors by Jen Silverman. It’s like an homage to the gothic novel and it has a governess in it and it’s whimsical and dark and brilliant. (I am definitely biased though because I had the joy of playing Huldy in a production a few years ago). I hope you’ll find it just as delightful as I did. :)
Gesundheit! As someone currently writing a gothic story without a governess in it, I’m here for any and all gothic trope dissections. Honestly I’m here for anything delivered with your inimitable combination of dry wit and enthusiasm. The governess functions particularly well because there always have to be children in a story with a governess, and children easily lend themselves to creepiness as characters. Governess characters are a bit “like a mum, but a rational/professional outsider.”
The governess trope is one of my all time favs. I've read and enjoyed both Hartwood Hall and Fyneshade. Looks like it's time to order The Puzzle Wood now haha!
"Especially when compared to the SUPERIOR Wuthering Heights" "It's not as good as Wuthering Heights" Petition to have an entire video of you shading JE and praising Wuthering Heights 😂
I'm so glad you included The Turn Of The Screw - one of my favourite books. Part of what's great about it is how much is left unexplained and unsaid, and every time I've read it, I've come to a different conclusion about what "really" happened.
Always surreal to see my own book in a video 😅 I so need to read The Puzzle Wood and Fyneshade.
Also highly recommend The Old Nurse’s Story by Elizabeth Gaskell - not a governess but a nurse/nursemaid, but an excellent Victorian gothic story with similar vibes.
Yeah it's 126 years old but new people are born everyday who have not read Jane Eyre.
I like that you have minimal editing, now music, reliable uploads, and I can tell that you came to this video with something intentional to say.
Thanks :)
I was in my thirties when I read Jane Eyre, and it had been so thoroughly spoiled for me that I almost feel like I didn't actually read it. So thank you, Willow, for preserving the mystery for new and future generations of readers.
Honorable mention to The Whistling by R Netley. Great Gothic Governess book too.
Never tire of the Gothic Governess!
Currently reading Netleys other Gothic book The Black Feathers.
Willow! I love your channel so much. You just give the absolute best and most unique book recommendations ever.
So happy to see The Secrets of Hartwood Hall and Fyneshade make this list and receive your seal of approval 😊
They are both on my list of books to read in the not too distant future 📚
Great video! Thanks so much. You make learning new things about books so enjoyable and interesting.
Aw thank you so much!
+1
another great analysis!
I read "jane eyre" and "the
turn of the screw" in college
and loved every nanny stories
i read since - without realizing
they follow the same formula:
all three books sound great,
thanks for the heads up! ⚘
I came to the character of the governess by way of the original Dark Shadows TV series. Victoria Winters' first day in Collinsport, and her arrival at Collinwood, are etched into my memory. I have long fantasized about a proper resurrection of the series that gives those early stories their due.
I recently read an Andre Norton story that, while sans an actual governess character, captured the language and social dynamics of my beloved show. That story was Snow Shadow. And to bring things back to the point of this video, the next Andre Norton book on my TBR actually is centered around a governess, The White Jade Fox.
Thank you for these recommendations. It’s been years since I’d read JE, so, re-read might be in order. Just recently bought the Hartwood Hall book, and now need them all :) THE COVERS ARE 🔥!
Great accent, big smiles!
When you were describing Turn of the Screw, James' distancing himself from the governess behind so many layers felt emblematic of how closeted he was. All that repression makes for great gothic/horror, as it inevitably erupts. James' short story Beast in the Jungle is excellent as is, but under the surface the man-woman story I can't help but wonder if the regret that leaps out after it's too late was standing in for his life in the closet.
Ooh, I have 3 more episodes of Bly Manor to watch! So far Flanagan seems to have turned the screw a few more times than James.
Re. A governess character, the fact that she is "close to the children" sounded to me like a psyche that is close to primal childhood issues.
When you talked about the house in Fyneshade with words like veins, organs, skin, bones, a living thing -- I was thinking earlier today of houses in dreams representing the body, as well as a person's life.
New subscriber here! I'm so glad i found you 🙏 I love your vibrant personality and passion for literature! I'm looking forward to seeing more of your videos ❤🤗
One of my favorite character types for gothic. I’ve written about my love for governesses too, and I love The Secrets of Hartwood Hall! ❤
So I take it you recommend The Secrets of Hartwood Hall....
Want to read 📚 🤓
Jane Eyre used to be my favorite, but watching your channel has made me love gothic horror more than gothic romance. You’ve exposed me to so many new genres, and I love it! ❤
Thank you for doing a video on governesses and gothic fiction.
I have seen a few Jane Eyre adaptations and The Secrets of Hartwood Hall is on my TBR list.
Uuuuuhhhh gothic horror and haunted houses and the hostile staff and weird children I LOVE IT 👻🤍 Fyneshade is on my TBR for November, the right season to read it 😆 And Hartwood Hall is sitting in the shelf, hope I can get to it soon after. I read Jane Eyre recently and it was almost a five star read for me. I really enjoyed The Whistling by Rebecca Netley about the nanny Elspeth moving into an eerie house on a scottish island 😱
So glad I watched The Innocents starring the late great Deborah Kerr before reading The Turn of the Screw. Helped me understand TTOTS so much better 😂
Hey that’s Kate’s (Books and Things’) book!
Yes :)
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë (1847) (Gates of Imagination Narration: th-cam.com/video/4aQ_18olSmU/w-d-xo.htmlsi=7G9oP9NQm9iMNPCg)
The Tenant of Wildfell Hall by Ann Brontë (1848) (I FINALLY Read The Tenant of Wildfell Hall by Ann Brontë) (Audiobooks Unlimited/ LibraVox Narration: th-cam.com/video/HIOxvks8wFA/w-d-xo.htmlsi=p9k89S4R0aNYO-ly)
The Turn of the Screw by Henry James (1898) (Gates of Imagination Narration: th-cam.com/video/ZqFQJUzsXeg/w-d-xo.htmlsi=pTu8cmqmfHbpRFtz)
The Puzzle Wood by Rosie Andrews (2024)
The Leviathan by Rosie Andrews (2022)
The Secrets of Hartwood Hall by Katie Lumsden (2023)
Fyneshade by Kate Griffin (2023)
YES. My favourite genre- governess/maid goes to ooky spooky house with lots of secrets :))
As someone with a deep love of Gothic fiction, thank you for this video! I really need to give The Turn of the Screw another read. I read it in college, and I just couldn’t follow the story. Also thank you for your videos! Your reviews and recommendations are fantastic!
*furiously adds The Leviathan and The Puzzle Wood to my TBR*
The Innocents is the best version of The Turn Of The Screw.
Okay.
The film with Deborah Kerr? Oh love it! 👻
@@Shane-Flanagan Yes!
@@christine7956 Wouldn't have been able to read the style of writing and understand the story of The Turn of the Screw without watching The Innocents first 😂
@@Shane-FlanaganAnd you don't get to hear O Willow Waly in the book!
Such an eloquent review of these books Willow.😊
Aw thanks :)
It sounds like I should read The Turn of the Screw, it was also an opera by Benjamin Britten.
If you're at all opera-tolerant, "The Turn Of The Screw" is fantastic. Britten's masterpiece. It matches the novel for darkness. See also the 1961 film "The Innocents", which is disturbing and creepy.
I would buy ANY audiobook that you narrated. 🎉
Wow, thank you!
I really enjoyed The Whistling by Rebecca Netley in the gothic governess trope!
Oh yeah! I forgot about that book! It was tons of fun :)
Loved The Whistling! 📚 👻
Have you read The Black Feathers also by Netley?
@@Shane-Flanagan Also enjoyed The Black Feathers!! Her books are really atmospheric ☺️
@@samjaneparker Agreed, which is so good in a new enough author such as Netley.
The Black Feathers is particularly atmospheric.
Netley gives the surroundings, the buildings etc a life of their own, they are like characters themselves.
@@Shane-Flanagan Agreed! I felt much the same reading her books as I did when I read Susan Hill’s Woman in Black. So dark!
The Puzzle Wood is on my TBR now. It sucks that The Turn of the Screw made me so stressed and frustrated, so even if it's a well-written novella I still never wanna read it again. 😅
Oh I love the reading. I love your voice ❤❤❤
Hi Willow! Greetings from Canada! I was interested in your comments on Rosie Andrews' books. Of course, they weren't available over here, so I had to order them from the UK. I loved them both. Both books felt menacing, but in different ways. Also, the castles function as a kind of character, too. Daylight hours reading only, for sure. BTW, I appreciate your fantasy recs, too, and have added a few to my TBR list. Thanks for all you do.
Oh, you won't believe it but I was just thinking about this while cleaning my book shelves and putting The Whistling, Hidden Pictures, The Turn of the Key and etc back in them. The governess dealing with shit is a genre on its own now, and personally, I enjoy it.
P. S. Look who just reached 44k subscribersssss 😏 and I apologise for the most poorly-worded comment ever, it's insanely hot in Andalusia atm, my brain is shmush.
First off--- great voice acting! Love what you did with that character (was it Perry? I forget) when you were reading aloud. Secondly, I don't necessarily want to take credit, especially if I am wrong, but I think I might have introduced you to Katie's TH-cam channel. I remember you had a story on instagram once about some new books, and there was a picture of "The Secrets of Hartwood Hall", and I commented that I would be interested to see your take on that, since she was a fellow booktuber that I enjoyed, and you commented back I believe that you didn't know she had a channel, too. In any case, glad you two are friends! And lastly, I kept expecting you to say, "But you know what's a great book even without a Governess? 'Managing and Other Stories,' my collection of stories that's out now!" I would have laughed. Speaking of which, my copy came in the mail, and I plan to start it as soon as I finish my current book, "Butcher" by Joyce Carol Oates (just finished "Horror Movie" by Paul Tremblay). Thanks for another great video!
Yes!! I think you’re right!! Thank you! Katie’s wonderful 💜 And thanks for buying my book!
I had the pleasure od translating The Leviathan into Spanish.! I loved it and you are completely right, it doens't get the attention it deserves!
Oh that’s so cool!!
Reading Suggestion!: If you’re not opposed to reading plays (though I recommend watching a production of it if it comes through your neck of the woods), I encourage you to get your hands on the play, The Moors by Jen Silverman.
It’s like an homage to the gothic novel and it has a governess in it and it’s whimsical and dark and brilliant. (I am definitely biased though because I had the joy of playing Huldy in a production a few years ago).
I hope you’ll find it just as delightful as I did. :)
Let's agree to disagree about the Bronte sisters Jane Eyre will always be my favorite over Wuthering heights
Sorry not sorry
Mine too!
Aww, it’s ok to be wrong 😂
Gesundheit! As someone currently writing a gothic story without a governess in it, I’m here for any and all gothic trope dissections. Honestly I’m here for anything delivered with your inimitable combination of dry wit and enthusiasm. The governess functions particularly well because there always have to be children in a story with a governess, and children easily lend themselves to creepiness as characters. Governess characters are a bit “like a mum, but a rational/professional outsider.”
Thanks for the recommendations. They sound awesome, my favorites, governesses, old mansions, haunted fairy woods .,
The governess trope is one of my all time favs. I've read and enjoyed both Hartwood Hall and Fyneshade. Looks like it's time to order The Puzzle Wood now haha!
What did you think of the governess in Fyneshade being rather villainous?
I love Katie's book, it really did such a great service to the gothic governess
Couldn’t agree more! 💜
The Rose Andrews book where there is a mine reminded me of the Netflix french show Antracite that I watched and it was mind blowing.
"Especially when compared to the SUPERIOR Wuthering Heights"
"It's not as good as Wuthering Heights"
Petition to have an entire video of you shading JE and praising Wuthering Heights 😂
Agnes Grey and The Turn of The Screw.
They’re books, yeah!
I'm so glad you included The Turn Of The Screw - one of my favourite books. Part of what's great about it is how much is left unexplained and unsaid, and every time I've read it, I've come to a different conclusion about what "really" happened.
I know it's a bit late, but Gesundheit.
It's a very good video
Thank you
I missed my calling 😂
💜
🐈⬛
I am really sorry but I am getting tired of the governess character in gothic books. 😢
That’s okay :)
Omg so happy to see you talk about the secret of hartwood Hall ! 🌸 and thank you because I will always say yes to gothic recommendations 🫶