📖 Favourite Read of the Month - The Hidden Library by Sharon Gosling

Simon and Schuster
 27 August 2026

Thanks to the publisher for the invitation to read this book

Sometimes the right story leads you home . . . 

When bestselling author Helen finds herself at the centre of a scandal, she escapes to Rathbrooke Hall on a remote island off the Northumberland coast. Tasked with cataloguing the books of a reclusive collector she’s relieved to be out of the glare of publicity, even if the locals are less than welcoming.

But as she spends more time among the dusty bookshelves and rare first editions, she uncovers clues to a secret collection of books that could save the island – and the community that she’s begun to feel part of. Can she unravel the mystery of the hidden library and can she trust Thiago, a charming librarian with secrets of his own?

📖My Review..

Avoiding a disaster in her personal life novelist Helen Thorne arrives on a remote Northumberland  island where she takes up residence at Rathbrooke Hall which was once the home of Cyril Gissing, an antiquarian expert with an immense library of precious books. As a guest at the hall Helen works on behalf of a group of solicitors who are searching for Cyril’s lost will whilst at the same time expecting Helen to undertake an inventory of the library. Helen finds a warm welcome with Martha who is the hall’s housekeeper and Rufus the elderly gardener but receives a frosty, if downright surly, response from Martha’s teenage daughter, Cora, who seems to have a grudge against anyone who challenges the peace of Rathbrooke Hall. The introduction of book collector Thiago Montera into the story adds another dimension to the bookish plot and the possibility of romance.

Rathbrooke Hall quickly becomes one of the central characters of the story and the library around which most of the plot takes place becomes a fascinating place to visit. Beautifully imagined and well described, I could picture the spaces so vividly and the added mystery of a secret collection of very precious first editions which could have been hidden away for centuries piqued my interest. The remoteness of the island, the mammoth task ahead of Helen as she seeks to find out more about the mysterious Mr Gissing and her interaction with the island’s other inhabitants all makes for fascinating reading especially as the story gets increasingly more suspenseful as it progresses.

I love a book about books and this was so well put together that I was quite entranced by the hidden library and only wished that it existed so that I could see it for myself. I read the story quickly as I found I couldn’t put the book down without needing to know more about the mysterious contents of the hidden room. The ending is quite a revelation, the moody atmosphere and the vicious storm that affects the island added ,a sense of menace. Engaging from start to finish, I am delighted to have The Hidden Library as my Favourite Read of the Month for August.

About the Author

Sharon started her career as an entertainment journalist, writing non-fiction books about film and television. She is also the author of multiple children’s books. Sharon and her husband live in a small village in northern Cumbria.

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