“The Undoing of Violet Claybourne” by Emily Critchley

Title: The Undoing of Violet Claybourne
Author: Emily Critchley
Publisher: Sourcebooks
Year: 2025    
Genre(s): historical fiction
Part of a Series: No

Why I read it: Once Upon a Book Club Pick

Summary: When Gillian Larking goes to spend Christmas with Violet Claybourne, her friend and roommate at boarding school, she sees it as her chance to experience a proper family and the high society life the Claybournes enjoy. But instead of a glittery lifestyle, she finds a crumbling manor house and a darkness that soon threatens to consume her as well. What is she willing to sacrifice in order to prove herself to Violet’s sisters when tragedy strikes?

Rating: 

Review: I keep debating whether or not to add “psychological” in the genre section but I’m not sure what word would go after it. It wasn’t really a thriller. There was no mystery to really solve, just a lot of trauma that never really got resolved.

And one woman who keeps getting sucked into it.

Critchley did create a very compelling story and while there isn’t a mystery to solve, you the reader do want to know what happens to these characters. And I guess in a way, you want to know that justice occurs. That the right people get punished.

I’ll let you determine if you think that happens in the end.

Gillian is a good narrator and I connected with her. I think other readers would as well. We can all identify with her desire to belong somewhere, to have a family since her own wasn’t so great or loving. However, it takes her too long to realize that Claybournes may not be the family she wants – or more importantly, needs. And that desire to belong comes back to haunt her over the years.

Well, that desire and the guilt.

Critchley also does a very good job showing different types of psychological conditions through the three sisters. It was easy to realize that Violet suffered from what we now call Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder but it took time to realize that Emmeline and Laura also have their issues. I’m not sure I would yet call it generational trauma but it does show how unresolved traumas can have lasting affects on everyone.

Bottom line: A compelling read about relationships and trauma.

Sex: Some mentions but nothing graphic.

Moonlight Musing

What would you do to fit in?