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Le Chateau Paperback – June 1, 2017

by Sarah Ridout (Author)
3.3 3.3 out of 5 stars 35 ratings
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When Charlotte regains consciousness after an accident, she finds herself living a stranger’s life. The previous five years are a blank, and her husband, Henri, and daughter, Ada, are strangers. Arriving at their family chateau in southern France, she hopes to regain her memories. Instead she feels isolated and unsettled. Strange events hint at underlying darkness and menace. Charlotte doesn’t know who to trust. Did she really have an affair with their charming Irish neighbour, as her enigmatic mother-in-law suggests? And what of Henri? He seems loving and kind, a good parent, but Charlotte is wary. Then there is Ada, a little girl who just wants her mother back. With the help of her friend and fellow Australian Susannah, Charlotte starts to piece together events, but her newfound confidence is shaken with news that puts a deadline on her quest.
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  1. Print length
    336 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Allen & Unwin
  4. Publication date
    June 1, 2017
  5. Dimensions
    5.12 x 1.22 x 7.8 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    1760406988
  7. ISBN-13
    978-1760406981
  8. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Sarah Ridout has a Masters in Creative Writing (First Class Honours), from the select University College Dublin (UCD). Over the past eleven years she has lived in four countries with her husband and two children. Her eight years surrounded by the vineyards and chateaus of southern France produced a family of Francophiles, and the seed of this novel, completed in Dublin, Ireland. Le Chateau draws on her experiences as an expatriate, her knowledge of France, its people and customs.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Allen & Unwin (June 1, 2017)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 336 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1760406988
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1760406981
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 13 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.12 x 1.22 x 7.8 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    3.3 3.3 out of 5 stars 35 ratings

Customer reviews

3.3 out of 5 stars
3.3 out of 5
35 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

PK
3.0 out of 5 stars Easy airplne read
Reviewed in the United States on February 9, 2017
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Easy airplne read. The so called mystery telegraphed itself early on. Mildly diverting, though even with amnesia, it was a bit difficult to feel much empathy for the protagonist for she was seriously clueless (I don't mean forgetful - I mean simperingly silly).
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5.0 out of 5 stars Le Chateau is thoroughly enjoyable
Reviewed in the United States on August 5, 2017
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I just finished Le Chateau! I read it almost in one sitting! I couldn't put it down. I loved it: intelligent and sophisticated writing with a compelling story. I actually stopped reading momentarily towards the end as I could feel anger and fear at what was unfolding and then the relief and celebration at the ending but a bit of concern too for good measure! Congratulations on a great book! I loved the style of writing. I would definitely read another one of Sarah Ridout's.
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The Geeky Bibliophile
4.0 out of 5 stars Very Enjoyable Read
Reviewed in the United States on October 31, 2016
Imagine having a terrible accident that leaves you with amnesia and wipes out memories of the last five years of your life. Your husband is a stranger, you don’t remember giving birth to your daughter, your home is an immense chateau in France that’s more than a little creepy that your family shares with your mysterious mother-in-law. This is Charlotte de Chastenet’s reality. Her husband, Henri, longs for her memory to be restored, but Charlotte suspects he is hiding things from her. Madame, as her mother-in-law is called, insinuates Charlotte had an affair with a neighbor, but rather than being upset about it, she often encourages Charlotte to go see the man. Her daughter, Ada, is sweet and happy to her mother home again, but she is sad and hurt when she notices Charlotte’s lack of memory about her—making Charlotte feel guilt on top of everything else.

The one person Charlotte knows she can trust is her old friend Susanna, whom she remembers clearly. Susanna comes to the chateau often, trying to help Charlotte with her memory as well as trying to solve the twin enigmas of Madame and the man with whom Charlotte may or may not have had an affair. Complicating matters further are the weird—and sometimes frightening—things Charlotte sees around the chateau and vineyards. Odd, ritualistic celebrations and Madame’s increasingly curious behavior have Charlotte on edge. She needs her memory back—and fast—because time is running out.

Sarah Ridout’s debut novel was a very enjoyable read. The chateau had just enough creepiness to give me a little shiver of unease whenever Charlotte was walking through it. Except Ada and Susanna, I suspected almost everyone Charlotte interacted with of hiding secrets or having ulterior motives. Discovering the answers to my many questions was never disappointing, and at times the answers were truly shocking.

I also like the way the cover ties into the theme of the story. The woman is blurred, unclear… you can only see the suggestion of her face, but not enough to make out any definite details, and her surroundings are equally obscured. It perfectly illustrates someone trying to remember their forgotten past based only on vague glimpses of moments they lived. The answers are so close, but deeply shrouded in shadows, and just out of reach.

I’ll be watching for news about this author… I’d like to read more of her work in the future.

I received an advance review copy of this book courtesy of Netgalley and Echo Publishing.
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Evelina AvalinahsBooks
2.0 out of 5 stars What Really Happened In The Chateau, You Say? - Well… Not Much, Apparently.
Reviewed in the United States on June 9, 2017
I’m a sucker, when it comes to a big, spooky, perhaps haunted house, lost memory and the promise of a mystery. Which is why I was easily sold when I read this blurb (*taken from Goodreads):

When Charlotte regains consciousness after an accident, she finds herself living a stranger’s life. The previous five years are a blank, and her husband, Henri, and daughter, Ada, are strangers. Arriving at their family chateau in southern France, she hopes to regain her memories. Instead she feels isolated and unsettled. Strange events hint at underlying darkness and menace. Charlotte doesn’t know who to trust.

So, I don’t know about you… But to me, that sounds good. Promising, even.

Except I kind of also wish it delivered..?

Books with a premise like that can kick butt. They can kick butt hard and thoroughly! But they can also fall flat. So flat, it’s not even a pancake, it’s so gone. It’s like… Splat-flat. Not there anymore. And usually, there are reasons they do that. Very often, those reasons are all the same. So we shall discuss these reasons now.

Reason 1. The obvious villain.

Page 3, enter the villain. Who is, obviously, your lovely little lady, the mother-in-law, lady of the house. I wonder what perpetuates the stereotype?… Well, I *really* don’t know. Could it be that in most stories, the rich mom is a maniac? And could it be made it more obvious that she is..? And while we’re at it, why is she always meddling in the dark arts?

Reason 2. The husband.

For some reason, the husband always has to be oblivious to life and its happenings. He will never notice that his mother is a murderous, scheming bitch. He will just leave his poor, helpless wife (mind you, recently released from hospital with head trauma and amnesia of the past five years) in the care of his mother, to be further drugged and abused. #oblivious

Reason 3. The ally.
For some reason, the ally our protagonist usually has is a quirky friend from her old life. Most of the time she is also promiscuous. Dear god, I must contain myself to stop rolling those eyes. Don’t want a sprain.

Reason 4. The neighbour.

Is it so wrong of me to expect the neighbour to be a nice old guy? Why does he always have to be trying to have an affair with the protagonist? Just… nope.

Reason 5. The snob.

If you think we’ve had enough cliche tropes already… Well, I wish we were done. We aren’t. You know how in these stories, there always seems to be the perfect looking, every single bit of straight hair in the right place snob with a boring classic two-piece ladies suit, just trying to take the protagonist’s place? Usually working with the maniacal mother-in-law, too? Her dream daughter-in-law? Yes, that one. So yeah, more eye rolling.

Reason 6. The details.

I just want to ask you. Does it not puzzle you how the sick and frail person, barely able to walk, always gets put in the third floor, with some crazy, dangerous spiral stairs that they need to take if they want to… I don’t know, go to the bathroom? Who would do that??? What world does that even make sense in? And why is this in every single book like this?

While reading this book, I know I constantly kept asking myself, is this a mystery? Romance..? Is this a gothic… something..? What is this book about? It was so sad that the mystery never delivered (when you know exactly what will happen after like 40% of the book). All those hints about the paranormal? Never got anywhere. Just… Meh.

So I know I will be picking and choosing my book blurbs with more care in the future. I thank the publisher for providing me the copy in exchange for my honest review. I’m glad I didn’t have to pay for this book. I would have been sad.
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Top reviews from other countries

Dean M.
5.0 out of 5 stars A Hypnotic Masterpiece
Reviewed in Australia on January 26, 2018
Verified Purchase
I very quickly fell into the dream-like, gothic story scape of Sarah Ridout's "Le Château" and, by its end, I was very reluctant to leave. Told through the first person perspective of the protagonist Charlotte - who recovering from a mysterious accident that has robbed her of her memory - "Le Château" captivated me with its unfolding mystery as Charlotte struggles to rebuild her shattered life. Faced with a husband and daughter she cannot remember, and hints of darker truths she discovers in the idyllic French countryside estate her family shares, I was with Charlotte, experiencing her journey in equal measure as she. Ridouts patient story telling, her vivid visual style and her complex characterisations made this an all consuming reading experience for me - one that continues to echo long after I have finished it.

Le Château is a dream-like masterpiece.
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Liath
4.0 out of 5 stars A clever and intriguing Gothic read, tightly paced with a good helping of tension.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 20, 2016
Verified Purchase
In Le Chateau, Sarah Ridout has updated the Gothic novel and sent it to the French countryside. From the start, Ridout’s prose resists the lure of the overwrought. It is tightly written but with moments of lyricism particularly when describing the beauty of the vineyards and surrounding landscape.
This is the story of Charlotte, who is discharged from hospital following an accident - an accident she cannot recall. But that is the least of her problems. Charlotte has no memory of the home that she returns to - the fabulous Chateau - and no memory of her husband, Henri or her young daughter Ada. It is apparent that she has always been something of an outsider, an Australian who married into the wealthy and ancient family of de Chastenets.

The Chateau is a real presence in the novel, a character in itself, willful and fickle showing an alternating sinister and beautiful façade to the stranded Charlotte. In the background of the Chateau, and of the story, is Madame, Henri’s widowed mother. Charlotte’s enigmatic mother-in-law is worthy of a Du Maurier novel.
At the beginning, I felt that the character of Charlotte was drawn a little thin. She seems to have little volition, little substance. But on reflection, I think that this is how the author has chosen to manifest Charlotte's own feelings of flimsiness: she has no sense of self, no memory, no past. Amnesia can be a tricky fictional trope but Ridout handles it with all the necessary gothic style and it always serves the plot well. Henri and Ada are sympathetically drawn and the character of Susanna, Charlotte’s Australian friend, is perfect for stirring and disturbing the old world of the French Chateau.

This is a clever and intriguing read, tightly paced with a good helping of tension, sexual and otherwise! Like Charlotte herself, I wanted to find out the secrets that haunt the story and was compelled to read on.
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