The Spirit Collection of Thorne Hall

Elegy Thorne must live out her days in the crumbling mansion of her ancestors, who summoned a collection of ghosts only her bloodline can keep at bay. As much as she hates it, she’s never questioned her duty, until their preservationist’s charming son Atticus enters her life and shows her the possibilities of the modern world. If Elegy wants a different future, she’ll have to find a way to banish the spirit collection, defying her father, her ancestors, and the dead she struggles to control. Thomas’s (Asperfell, under the name Jamie Thomas) gothic fantasy captures core elements of the genre: a decaying building, a trapped heroine, and the past intruding on the present in more ways than just grisly phantoms. Elegy’s fiancé Hugo is also constrained by familial expectations, agreeing to a loveless marriage to avoid being disowned for his partner, a man. The old-fashioned narrative voice reflects how Elegy is haunted by history, but a thoroughly modern love interest and a supportive circle of friends shift the narrative so she can put the past to rest.