Book Review: The House on Biscayne Bay | Chanel Cleeton

I’ve been a fan of New York Times bestselling author, Chanel Cleeton, ever since I was introduced to her writing in Reese’s Book Club pick, Next Year in Havana. I’ve come to expect beautiful, rich historical fiction stories with strong female characters. In her newest atmospheric novel, The House on Biscayne Bay, the lives of two women intertwine as the past and present collide as death stalks a gothic mansion.

About the Book | The House on Biscayne Bay

With the Great War finally behind them, thousands of civilians and business moguls alike flock to South Florida with their sights set on making a fortune. When wealthy industrialist Robert Barnes and his wife, Anna, build Marbrisa, a glamorous estate on Biscayne Bay, they become the toast of the newly burgeoning society. Anna and Robert appear to have it all, but in a town like Miami, appearances can be deceiving, and one scandal can change everything.

Years later following the tragic death of her parents in Havana, Carmen Acosta journeys to Marbrisa, the grand home of her estranged older sister, Carolina, and her husband, Asher Wyatt. On the surface, the gilded estate looks like paradise, but Carmen quickly learns that nothing at Marbrisa is as it seems. The house has a treacherous legacy, and Carmen’s own life is soon in jeopardy . . . unless she can unravel the secrets buried beneath the mansion’s facade and stop history from repeating itself. (Synopsis from Goodreads)

Review | The House on Biscayne Bay

I love Chanel Cleeton’s novels. She has a way with descriptions and building settings that transport the reader back in history. Cleeton’s books are atmospheric and gripping historical fiction that keep readers coming back for each new book. The story in The House in Biscayne Bay is told in two timelines and takes place in historic Miami, a departure from her acclaimed series set in Cuba.

“I cannot for the life of me imagine why anyone would want to live in Florida.”

It’s 1918 and the Great War has just ended. Anna Barnes discovers that her husband Robert purchased land and plans to build a mansion as a birthday gift to her. Anna doesn’t know what to think about south Florida, she has always lived in New York. She doesn’t care about a mansion, and she doesn’t like the heat, the ocean, or the animals in Florida. With the help of architect Michael Harrison, Robert moves forward with his plans to build the largest, grandest house in Miami with a view of Biscayne Bay. They call it Marbrisa.

It’s 1941 and Carmen is an eighteen year-old who lost her parents three weeks earlier in a boating accident during a terrible storm. Her parents willed her brother-in-law Asher Wyatt to manage her inheritance, so Carmen travels to Miami to visit her sister Carolina and her husband Asher. Not long after arriving at Marbrisa, Carmen can feel bad energy surrounding the sprawling estate. People working at Marbrisa speak of a curse in the mansion and a ghost named Anna. The house has a tragic history that hangs over it like a shadow.

I’d describe this book as gothic historical fiction. Like any good gothic, Marbrisa is as unsettling as it is grand. It’s a huge, opulent mansion, but it seems unhappy and eventually, haunted. Rumors, gossip, ghosts, mysterious deaths, and scandal plague Marbrisa, and the reader will feel as though they are standing in the mansion themselves, peeking over their shoulder.

I enjoyed both storylines but I really connected with Anna’s. I actually think moving to Florida would be my greatest nightmare, especially without central air conditioning! Swampy air, deadly animals, and strange critters—not to mention the heat! Of course that is what made it a perfect setting for this story. Carmen and Anna are nothing alike, but the reader gets the strong inference that Carmen’s estranged sister Carolina is experiencing the same thing that Anna did, and that their stories may tragically follow the same path. Carmen is a foil to Carolina and Anna—she isn’t pulled in by whatever is happening at Marbrisa, which may make her the only person who can help.

The story twists along and has some unexpected curve balls. I wanted to understand what was going on at Marbrisa, and I wasn’t disappointed with the reveal! The lush grounds surrounding Marbrisa added to the allure. It felt like the sort of place that drew you in but took your soul (not to be dramatic). This is the story of two women, but at it’s core this is a story of the house, Marbrisa. Can houses have a personality? If so, Marbrisa has one and it has a flare for the dramatic and the macabre. It also seems to only truly reveal itself to women…there’s a lot to unpack in that statement!

A gripping gothic mystery set in the first half of the twentieth century—The House on Biscayne Bay is Cleeton’s best work yet.

Thank you to Berkley Publishing for my copy. Opinions are my own.

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About the Author | Chanel Cleeton

Chanel Cleeton is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of Reese Witherspoon Book Club pick Next Year in Havana, When We Left Cuba, The Last Train to Key West, and The Most Beautiful Girl in Cuba.

Originally from Florida, Chanel grew up on stories of her family’s exodus from Cuba following the events of the Cuban Revolution. Her passion for politics and history continued during her years spent studying in England where she earned a bachelor’s degree in International Relations from Richmond, The American International University in London and a master’s degree in Global Politics from the London School of Economics & Political Science. Chanel also received her Juris Doctor from the University of South Carolina School of Law.