The Fault Mirror
Everyone sees the house they want to see…
Paris, 1900: Amidst the decadence of the Belle Époque, American heiress Lydia Temple falls in love with ethereal aristocrat Séraphine de Valleiry and builds her a whimsical castle in the Swiss mountains. The Chateau des Miroirs becomes a bastion of spiritualism until it is taken over by sinister forces during the First World War. And then it disappears. Or did it ever really exist?
Oxford, 2035: Elderly professor Cyrus Field is rapidly losing his sight and his will to live, when student Haydn Young presents him with a collection of letters previously lost to history. These letters may contain the answer to the philosophical problem that has been his life’s work. But does he really want to know the truth? With war closing in, Cyrus and Haydn must decide whether to risk everything in the quest for knowledge.
The mystery of the Chateau des Miroirs reverberates through the generations, connecting two souls that are destined to find each other.
- Pages
- 258
- First published
- November 8, 2025
- Edition
- ISBN
- 9781967911035
Shelved by 1 Litcadian
Reviews
Finished August 7, 2025
2.25 ⭐ rounded down. This is one of those books that feels rich in potential but ultimately falls flat! There are moments of brilliance here, particularly in the philosophical undertones and subtle apocalyptic worldbuilding. Lydia and Seraphine's love story was genuinely touching. The way Lydia writes about Seraphine is romantic goals; however, the epistolary format held this back so much. Her letters would have been more impactful as diary entries. Cyrus and Haydn's philosophical discussions are where the novel truly shines. Their dynamic, both together and with others, is engaging and thought-provoking. I also worried initially that their narrative might veer into an uncomfortable age-gap student/teacher romance, but thankfully, it didn't go there. Still, I wish that had been made more explicitly clear early on. The real heartbreak of this was the final 10% imo. The ending felt completely disjointed and unsatisfying. I came this close to rage DNF'ing at 98%. Worth noting: this is tagged as "Historical Fiction | LGBTQIAP+ | Sci Fi & Fantasy" on NetGalley, but there is nothing Sci-Fi/Fantasy about this until the very end. It's more of a speculative fiction/historical fiction with a sapphic romance. Overall, this has a lot going on for it, but the execution doesn't quite deliver imo. Maybe this is a case of "it's not you, it's me"? Maybe it just started off on the wrong foot, and then everything else just built upon that? Idk the answers here, but I won't be recommending this. Thank you to Netgalley, the author, and Quill & Crow for providing an ARC for my honest review.