ShortBookandScribes #BookReview – The Toll House by Carly Reagon

The Toll House by Carly Reagon is published by Sphere and is out now. My thanks to the publishers who sent me the book when it was published.

The past isn’t always dead and buried.

A house with history. That’s how the estate agent described the old toll house on the edge of the town. For Kelda it’s the perfect rural home for her young son Dylan after a difficult few years.

But when Kelda finds a death mask concealed behind one of the walls, everything changes. Inexplicable things happen in the house, Kelda cannot shake the feeling of being watched and Dylan is plagued by nightmares, convinced he can see figures in his room. As Dylan’s behaviour becomes increasingly challenging, Kelda seeks answers in the house’s mysterious past. But she’s running out of time.

Because something has awoken.

And now it won’t rest.

Kelda moves into the Toll House with her son, Dylan. It’s a fresh start for them in an unusual historic property in a fairly remote setting, but it isn’t long before things start to happen in the house that make them both feel very uncomfortable. Kelda finds a death mask hidden behind a wall and strange sights and smells start to occur. Alongside the modern day storyline is that of the last toll keeper in the mid 1800s and the two narratives start to converge until the reasons for the peculiar happenings become clear.

I don’t consider myself to be susceptible to ghost stories and tales of supernatural episodes at all but I have to say that I found this book to be thoroughly creepy and some bits sent a chill down my spine. It felt as realistically possible as any ghost story can be and the historical aspects really added to the chill factor. From the descriptions of the toll house I was able to conjure up an image in my mind of the property with the sign on the wall and the carts and carriages that passed by for which a toll had to be paid. It all felt very eerie.

The Toll House is well-written and I found it to be atmospheric and authentic. There was a nice little twist towards the end too which, whilst not necessary for the momentum of the story, was a clever addition. I really enjoyed this book and will look out for Carly Reagon’s other books, especially at this time of year.

Carly Reagon completed a six month course at Curtis Brown Creative and was shortlisted for the Lucy Cavendish Fiction Prize in 2019. Her writing is inspired by her love of the Welsh countryside where she lives with her husband and three children. She works as a senior lecturer at Cardiff University, is a keen runner and singer, and has an interest in anything historic.