Title: Mistletoe
Author: Alison Littlewood
Genre: Horror, General Adult Fiction
Publisher: Quercus (10 Oct. 2019)
Buy Link: Amazon UK | Apple |Google | Kobo | WHSmith | ebooks.com
Blurb
Leah thought Maitland Farm could give her a new life – but now old ghosts are dragging her into the past.
Following the tragic deaths of her husband and son, Leah is looking for a new life. Determined to bury her grief in hard work and desperate to escape Christmas and the reminders of what she has lost, she rushes through the purchase of a run-down Yorkshire farmhouse, arriving just as the snow shrouds her new home.
It might look like the loveliest Christmas card, but it’s soon clear it’s not just the house that needs renovation: the land is in bad heart, too. As Leah sets to work, she begins to see visions of the farm’s former occupants – and of the dark secrets that lie at the heart of Maitland Farm.
If Leah is to have a future, she must find a way to lay both her own past and theirs to rest – but the visions are becoming disturbingly real . . .
PRAISE FOR ALISON LITTLEWOOD
‘Alison Littlewood has a real talent for building atmosphere, loaded with the promise of things to come – hints of dread with the possibility of hope’ – The Guardian
‘Littlewood is excellent on the horrors of Victorian mental-health treatment and the vulnerability of the women caught in the system…. she creates a chilling atmosphere of skulls, seances, secrets and hysteria’ – The Times, Antonia Senior
‘Alison Littlewood’s enjoyable excursion into the genre’– Sunday Times, Nick Rennison
‘The atmosphere and tension that Littlewood creates, as well as truly fascinating figure in Victoria Harleston, ensures that this is a great seasonal treat’ – SciFiNow ****
Review
WOW! I absolutely loved this book from start to finish, Leah had had a tragic time recently losing both her son in a terrible accident and then her husband. Leah purchases Maitland Farm, in a rush to get away from her past, although it was considered as a purchase when Josh was still alive.
As soon as Leah moves in eerie things start happening, she sees past residents of the farm, but they seem to be edging into her present life too, strange things start happening, Mistletoe popping up around the house for one. What secrets are hidden in Maitland Farm?
This was a spooky read and I was hooked, I honestly couldn’t put it down it was so captivating.
This is the first book I have read by Alison Littlewood but after reading this, it definitely won’t be the last. It was well written and absolutely brilliant!
About the Author
Alison Littlewood is the author of A Cold Season, published by Jo Fletcher Books. The novel was selected for the Richard and Judy Book Club, where it was described as “perfect reading for a dark winter’s night.” Her most recent novel, The Hidden People, has recently been published to critical acclaim.
Alison’s short stories have been picked for Best British Horror 2015, The Best Horror of the Year and The Mammoth Book of Best New Horror anthologies, as well as The Best British Fantasy 2013 and The Mammoth Book of Best British Crime 10. She also won the 2014 Shirley Jackson Award for Short Fiction with her story The Dog’s Home, published in The Spectral Book of Horror Stories.
Alison lives with her partner Fergus in Yorkshire, England, in a house of creaking doors and crooked walls. You can talk to her on twitter @Ali__L, see her on Facebook and visit her at www.alisonlittlewood.co.uk.
*I received this book in exchange for an honest review from NetGalley
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