“Bewitching . . . atmospheric and entertaining.”—Publishers Weekly
A house as old as Fiercombe Manor holds many secrets within its walls. But which dark chapter of its history is haunting Alice, a twenty-two-year-old woman staying there during the summer of 1933? Pregnant, unmarried, and disgraced, she has been exiled to the rural manor by her furious mother.
Her mother’s old friend, Mrs. Jelphs, is Fiercombe’s housekeeper—even though the house’s owners no longer live there. Believing Alice’s cover story of a recently deceased husband, Mrs. Jelphs agrees to watch over her in the secluded English countryside until the baby is born and given up for adoption.
Thirty years before Alice’s arrival, Lady Elizabeth Stanton awaits the birth of her second child at Fiercombe Manor. But as her time nears, she is increasingly tormented by memories of what happened with her first baby and terrified that history will repeat itself . . . with devastating consequences.
At first, Fiercombe Manor offers Alice relief from her mother’s disapproving gaze. But she begins to sense that all is not well in the picturesque valley. She is determined to exorcise the ghosts of the idyllic, isolated house, but nothing can prepare Alice for what she uncovers.
Can she escape the tragic fate of the other women who have lived in Fiercombe Manor . . . ?
“Borrowing from gothic literature staples Daphne du Maurier’s Rebecca and Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre, Riordan creates a visceral and lively narrative that seizes the reader’s attention. Readers . . . will applaud and welcome this addition.”—Library Journal (starred review)
