The Key by Kathryn Hughes

Sarah is fascinated by the abandoned Ambergate County Lunatic Asylum and wants to uncover more about the patients that were there. On one of her explorations of the asylum she comes across a bunch of suitcases, they all open except one.

Until… her eyes fall upon the key. When Sarah opens the suitcase, she uncovers clues that might help her find whom the suitcase belonged to, and maybe she’ll be able to tell this person’s story in the book she’s working on…

Now Hughes transports the reader back to the 1950s and we meet Ellen. Ellen is our guide to finding out all about the patients and discovering who the suitcase belongs to.

I could talk to you more about the plot but to be honest, I don’t want to give too much away, Hughes has an amazing talent in creating a story that connects in ways you just hadn’t thought of!

What I do want to talk about is the incredible detail Hughes has packed into this story, you actually feel that you’re experiencing first hand what it would be like to be a nurse or a patient in an asylum. The emotions are so powerful and intense, the patients’ back stories are so heart breaking and, the shocking treatment of the patients comes across so raw and real. Hughes had 100% transported me; not only back over 60 years, but right into the corridors of an asylum surrounded by patients and nurses.

I’m still in shock by how immersed I felt in this story… utterly incredible!

If you want a story that will move you and be a very memorable book on your bookshelf, I’d recommend grabbing The Key.

The Key was the first book I had read by Hughes, but I was so pleased when Becky over at Headline sent it to me as this was just what I was after. The perfect balance of historical, family saga and a pinch of romance – it was a match made in heaven!

I was that impressed by Hughes’ attention to detail that I went straight over to amazon and added The Secret and The Letter to my amazon wish list… good job my birthday is just around the corner!

The Key is out now in paperback and eBook by Headline!

*I received a free copy of this book in return for an honest review*

Until next time, Chloé x