There’s a particular kind of gothic fantasy that relies on atmosphere to the exclusion of everything else, and then there’s the kind where the atmosphere is in service of something — where the dread has a point, where the strangeness is a form of argument. Ava Reid writes the second kind, and A Study in Drowning is her best work.
Effy and the Commission
Effy Sayre is a student at a Welsh-inspired architectural college, fighting for academic survival in an institution that does not particularly want women to succeed. She believes in the Fairy King — the creature from the great Celtic fantasy novel Angharad, written by Emrys Myrddin, whose work shaped the culture of her country. When a scholarship competition is announced to illustrate a posthumous Myrddin manuscript, Effy wins it and travels to Hiraeth Manor, the legendary author’s home, to begin work.
The house is wrong. The family that lives there are not what they present themselves as. The manuscript raises questions about authorship that the family does not want asked. And Effy’s belief in the Fairy King, which her college treats as a delusion, may be the most accurate thing in her life.
A Feminist Gothic Argument
Reid is working in the tradition of literary gothics that use the haunted house as an architecture of patriarchal control — but she does it with specific, contemporary precision. The ways Effy is dismissed, gaslit, and managed by the men around her are recognisable in forms that exist beyond the novel’s fantasy world. The Fairy King mythology threads through this as a specific form of women’s knowledge that the official culture treats as embarrassing.
This could become heavy-handed, and it doesn’t, because Reid trusts the story to carry the argument. The literary murder mystery plot — who really wrote Angharad, and at what cost — is genuinely compelling as a mystery, not just as a vehicle for theme.
Preston and the Counter-Perspective
The other student sent to Hiraeth, Preston, functions as both foil and eventual ally — a sceptic whose rationalism collides with what the house shows him, whose certainties are progressively unsettled. Reid handles his arc without condescension; he is wrong in specific, understandable ways, and watching him update is satisfying.
Why YA Readers Will Love This
Gothic YA has a long and distinguished tradition, and A Study in Drowning adds to it with a protagonist whose particular form of being dismissed — for her beliefs, her gender, her field of study — resonates with readers who have felt the specific dismissal of being told their way of seeing the world doesn’t count.
The literary mystery structure gives the book propulsion that pure atmosphere sometimes lacks, and the ending delivers on the dread that the preceding pages have carefully built. Released on Halloween 2023, it was perfectly timed for the mood it inhabits.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is A Study in Drowning about? Effy Sayre, a student at a Welsh-inspired architectural college, wins a scholarship competition to illustrate a posthumous manuscript by Emrys Myrddin — the legendary author whose great fantasy novel shaped her country’s culture. At Hiraeth Manor, the author’s home, she finds the house wrong, the family not what they present, and questions about the manuscript’s authorship that the family does not want asked.
What feminist argument does A Study in Drowning make? Reid works in ’the tradition of literary gothics that use the haunted house as an architecture of patriarchal control,’ but with ‘specific, contemporary precision.’ The ways Effy is dismissed, gaslit, and managed by the men around her are ‘recognisable in forms that exist beyond the novel’s fantasy world.’ The Fairy King mythology is framed as a specific form of women’s knowledge that official culture treats as embarrassing.
How does Ava Reid avoid making A Study in Drowning heavy-handed? The review credits Reid with trusting ’the story to carry the argument.’ The literary murder mystery plot — who really wrote Angharad, and at what cost — is described as ‘genuinely compelling as a mystery, not just as a vehicle for theme.’ The result is a book where the feminist gothic argument and the plot mechanics reinforce each other rather than the theme overwhelming the story.
Who is Preston and what role does he play in A Study in Drowning? Preston is the other student sent to Hiraeth Manor, functioning as ‘both foil and eventual ally — a sceptic whose rationalism collides with what the house shows him, whose certainties are progressively unsettled.’ Reid handles his arc ‘without condescension; he is wrong in specific, understandable ways, and watching him update is satisfying.’
What gothic tradition does A Study in Drowning belong to? The review places it in a ’long and distinguished tradition’ of gothic YA, while noting this entry adds a protagonist whose ‘particular form of being dismissed — for her beliefs, her gender, her field of study — resonates with readers who have felt the specific dismissal of being told their way of seeing the world doesn’t count.’ The literary mystery structure gives the book ‘propulsion that pure atmosphere sometimes lacks.’
Further Reading from Authoritative Sources
- Ava Reid — Wikipedia’s Ava Reid article provides biographical and bibliographical context for the author, helping readers understand A Study in Drowning within her body of work and her place in contemporary gothic YA fiction.
- gothic fiction tradition — Wikipedia’s gothic fiction article contextualises the literary tradition that A Study in Drowning is working within and departing from, helping readers understand the genre conventions Reid is both employing and subverting.
