The Residency

Ever since I saw that stunning cover, I’ve been looking forward to C.D. Major’s debut novel, The Residency. Ginny is a single mother to six-year-old Isla, and every day brings ever more challenges. Broke, needing a change from London, and wanting to restart her art career, Ginny accepts a paid art residency on a remote island in Scotland. This could help her and Isla get back on their feet, and Ginny will have a chance to learn from a successful artist. But as soon as she and Isla arrive at the isolated mansion, Ginny is uneasy. The islanders seem nice enough, but evasive and false. And why do the paintings in the house seem to move? They may be in a danger unlike any they could have imagined.

What I Liked:

• The scary side of art. I love horror that dives into creative pursuits, and I’ve been seeing more art-related spooky books lately. In The Residency, there’s something uncanny about the owner Phillip’s paintings. He creates miniature worlds, but why is there so much secrecy around them?
• Dual timeline. While most of this book comes from Ginny’s point of view in the present, there are flashbacks to Phillip’s childhood in the 1950s onward. The past portions actually captured my attention more, and they start to paint a clearer picture (pun intended) of the mysteries and tragedies plaguing the island.
• Gothic atmosphere: The remote island and large, mostly empty house; the strange islanders with all their secrets; the past mired in death and family drama… this book delivers on the Gothic vibes and growing sense of unease. The story itself also won me once the eerie and dark truth finally was revealed.

What Didn’t Work for Me:

• There’s too much hardship in Ginny’s life. It felt like the author threw every bad circumstance she could think of Ginny, all to make her situation more sympathetic or to make her choices seem more logical. Her parents both being dead, her abusive ex getting out of prison, her daughter Isla’s medical issues, her stunted art career, her poverty, the traumatizing break-in, Isla’s issues with bullies… it was kind of overkill. I think half of those would have been sufficient. Instead, it was distractingly over-the-top.
• The ending felt rushed. Considering how complicated it all gets, I was hoping for a more thrilling and drawn-out ending. Ginny needs to really earn her win. Alas, it was fairly quick and painless, and so anti-climatic.

Audiobook:

Sarah Cullum does a great job of narrating The Residency. She captures Ginny’s voice well, especially in terms of the character’s distrust and overthinking about everything. She also does well with Phillip’s voice, complete with odd pauses and coughs interrupting his speech. From handling English and Scottish accents to voicing young Isla, Sarah Cullum makes The Residency an engaging listen.

Final Thoughts

The Residency is a chilling Gothic horror about ego, success, and a juxtaposition between expecting everything versus having nothing. I enjoyed the artistic aspect of this novel and the supernatural way it unfolds. I look forward to more horror from C.D. Major.

Special thanks to Canelo, Bolinda Audio, and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC of this book!

Get the Book

You can buy The Residency here – it’s available as a paperback, ebook, and audiobook.

The Residency by C.D. Major
Audiobook Narrator	Sarah Cullum
Audience	Adult
Genre	Gothic; Horror
Setting	Scotland
Number of Pages	336
Format I Read	Audiobook & Ebook (NetGalley ARCs)
Original Publication Date	August 4, 2026
Publisher	Canelo

Official Summary

The opportunity of a lifetime, or the worst mistake of your life?

Life in London is hard for Ginny as a single mother barely scraping by. Once she was a promising artist with a glittering future ahead. On a whim, she applies for an artist’s residency – all expenses paid – and is astonished to be accepted.

Soon, Ginny is on a boat to a remote Scottish island, her daughter by her side. But was she too hasty, attracted by the promise of security and a chance to make art again? Locals she meets are tightlipped about the man who is Ginny’s benefactor, but she senses underlying fear. Her contract contains odd rules about avoiding the gallery at the vast property where she is living, and there is an undeniable eeriness to the place. If she didn’t know better, she’d swear she could hear whispers, and that the people in the paintings were changing overnight…

By the time Ginny realises what a grave mistake she has made, she is stranded. Accepting the invitation has sealed her fate and the only way to survive is through escape – or sacrifice.

An atmospheric gothic suspense novel to send a chill down your spine and keep you reading late into the night.