Synopsis:
If walls could talk, what nightmare might they expose?
1879
When Eloise James’s sister, Evania, goes missing after being admitted to an asylum, Eloise is determined to find her sibling but instead discovers evidence of dying patients and missing remains. Wannabe journalist Silas Dobbs has his own suspicions that something more nefarious is at work, and that black market sales may originate at the asylum. Together, they are intent on learning whether Evania is alive, or if her body has also been stolen. But unraveling a web of underground resurrectionists proves daunting, and the dead cannot share their secrets.
Present Day
Tilly Thompson is horrified to find historical human remains entombed in a wall of the Gothic mansion her grandfather just purchased, launching her into an investigation of the original owners’ questionable past. The James family legacy harbors a darkness tightly woven through decades of secrets, but the past refuses to remain ensnared by silence. Will revealing the truth resurrect dangers best kept buried forever?
Jaime Jo Wright masterfully weaves a dual-timeline gothic suspense novel that brings together a haunting historical tale and a shadowy modern-day mystery. For fans of atmospheric thrillers, spooky reads, the Victorian era, creepy mansions, and dark family secrets.
Book Details:
Genre: Gothic Fiction; Christian Mystery & SuspensePublished by: Bethany House Publishers
Publication Date: October 27, 2026
Number of Pages: 336 Pbk
ISBN: 9780764246258 (ISBN10: 0764246259)
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Oh my gosh, this book. Eloise and Evania… I got so attached to these women! This book had me forgetting to breathe. My heart was racing, and I was constantly shaking my head in disbelief at the horrors that went on behind closed doors. I often had to put the book down just to remind myself to breathe and take a minute. I did not expect to get so emotionally attached to these characters, but I absolutely did.
This is the third book I’ve read by Jaime Jo Wright, all of them haunting gothic mysteries, and she is officially one of my favorite authors. So much so that I added a whole stack of her other books to my wish list so I can read them all.
The Story
In 1879, Eloise James’s sister, Evania, goes missing after being admitted to an asylum. Determined to find her, Eloise instead uncovers evidence of dying patients and grave robbers. Alongside Silas Dobbs, a would-be journalist with his own reasons for exposing the grim trade, she sets out to learn whether Evania is still alive, or whether her body has been stolen too. In the present day, Tilly Thompson finds human remains sealed inside the walls of the historic mansion her grandfather just purchased, pulling her into the dark secrets of the James family’s past.
Writing Style
This is something that has been consistent across all three of her books I’ve read, and I absolutely love it. As the story moves between 1879 and present day, Jaime Jo Wright completely changes her writing style for each timeline. In the 1879 chapters, everything is eloquent: not just the dialogue, but the descriptions and the narration itself. It’s poetic and so very Victorian. Then in the present day chapters, the language shifts to something completely modern.
She moves between the two so effortlessly, and it pulls you into each timeline as though you’re really there experiencing it. The past isn’t a flashback or a quick glimpse into what happened. It’s its own full story. It feels like reading two stories side by side, rather than a modern story with a few trips into the past.
Characters
What I love about her books is that both timelines share the same location, usually a building of some kind. In this book, it’s the James mansion, which makes the house, its history, its walls, and the energy left behind a character all its own. It holds tragic history, secrets, and memories. Generations change, and people come and go, but the house has always been there. It has seen it all and lived through every era as one long life, and I find that perspective so fascinating.
Then there’s Eloise James, her sister Evania, and their father. I love reading about strong women in an era when women were meant to be seen and not heard. They were expected to do as they were told, keep their opinions to themselves, and marry well, especially if they came from a wealthy family. Their lives were completely mapped out for them, and any woman bold enough to have her own desires and ideas about her life risked being written out of society. I love reading about women who were brave in that time, who stood up for what they believed in and for themselves, knowing they deserved better.
Eloise and Evania’s story is so heartbreaking. They are completely controlled by the upper-class men in their lives, and they desperately want a way out. Evania goes missing early on, so we don’t get to experience much of her directly, but Eloise talks about her so often that we still come to know her through her sister’s eyes.
And then there’s Tilly Thompson. She’s a little odd, a little nerdy, a homebody who has always been a bit different, and I absolutely loved her. As she tries to unravel the mystery of the body in the walls, we see how it might connect to the sisters’ tragic story. Even though they’re separated by well over a century, they are deeply connected through the house.
Heartbeat
As always with Jaime Jo Wright’s books, the heartbeat for me is respecting what came before us and honoring the stories of those who lived before our time. Their lives create a ripple effect that moves forward into future generations in ways we could never begin to untangle.
The world can feel so big, isolating, and lonely sometimes. But there’s something so comforting in knowing we’re all connected by threads of memory and by the places we share. Other people have lived, loved, and laughed in the houses we live in, the schools we attended, and the places we visit. It makes us all a little more connected and a little more alike. We’re not so different after all. We’re all in this together, walking similar paths on similar streets, and I just love that about her books.
Final Thoughts
I recommend this to anyone who loves strong, empowered women, especially in the 19th century, with a twist of hauntings, creepy mansions, and gothic, spooky mystery.
Don’t forget to enter the author giveaway below!
Thank you to Partners In Crime Tours for letting me read and review this book.
Author Bio:
Jaime Jo Wright is a Publishers Weekly bestselling author of more than eighteen novels and three novellas, including Christy Award-winner and ECPA bestseller The Vanishing at Castle Moreau, Christy Award and Daphne du Maurier Award-winner The House on Foster Hill, Christy Award-winner Night Falls on Predicament Avenue, and Carol Award-winner The Reckoning at Gossamer Pond. She lives in Wisconsin with her family and fabulous felines.
Learn more at
JaimeWrightBooks.com
Amazon Author Profile
Goodreads
BookBub – @JaimeJoWright
Instagram – @jaimejowright
Threads – @jaimejowright
YouTube – @madlitmusings
Spotify – MadLit Musings
Facebook – @JaimeJoWright
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This is a giveaway hosted by Partners in Crime Virtual Book Tours for The Resurrection of Evania James. See the widget for entry terms and conditions. Void where prohibited.
The giveaway is for: a paperback copy of The Resurrection of Evania James by Jaime Jo Wright and a $50 Bookshop.org gift card (US only)
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