I’m quite fond of dialogue-driven stories, so that was an element I struggled a bit with throughout the book. I quite appreciated this aspect, but it also logically led to a clear decrease in dialogues compared to other novels. Olivia’s voice is trapped inside of her body in a similar way like the Prior family is trapped inside the world of Gallant. In the end, it turned out to be a plot device too, but it mainly contributed to the somewhat claustrophobic atmosphere of the setting. At first, I was a bit puzzled about it, as I couldn’t immediately figure out whether it was merely for representation purposes (which would have been valuable as such, as there isn’t enough representation of muteness in fiction) or whether it would serve the plot as well. The book is clearly dark and mysterious, but even though a lot of bad things happen, it didn’t depress me at all. I’m happy to report that was not at all the case. The gloomy orphanage calls to mind scenes from Oliver Twist and I was afraid that this modern interpretation of the abandoned-child theme would be too depressing for me. When I started reading Gallant, the first note I made in my reading journal was about the Dickensian atmosphere of the first chapters.

But when she discovers a mysterious wall in the garden, Olivia is immediately drawn to it and sets in motion a dark chain of events. Not in the least due to her cousin’s attitude, who clearly doesn’t want anything to do with her. Not only did her late mother warn her via her journal never to return to her family estate, the house seems all but welcoming too. When arriving at his manor, Gallant, things seem a bit off as from the get-go. One day, she gets a message from a mysterious uncle, saying he wants her to come and live with him. Gallant tells the story of Olivia, a young girl living in an orphanage.

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