In the midst of the woods stands a house called Lichen Hall.
This place is shrouded in folklore - old stories of ghosts, of witches, of a child who is not quite a child.
Now the woods are creeping closer, and something has been unleashed.
Pearl Gorham arrives in 1965, one of a string of young women sent to Lichen Hall to give birth. And she soon suspects the proprietors are hiding something.
Then she meets the mysterious mother and young boy who live in the grounds - and together they begin to unpick the secrets of this place.
As the truth comes to the surface and the darkness moves in, Pearl must rethink everything she knew - and risk what she holds most dear.
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It is said the daughter of the richest hall in the Scottish Borders liked to read in the ancient wood nearby where the trees were so old their trunks had whitened and their branches were gnarled and crooked.
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(@HarperCollinsUK, 13 October 2022, e-book, 408 pages, ARC from the publisher via @ NetGalley)
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I'm a fan of the author and expected to enjoy The Ghost Woods. I wasn't disappointed. I liked the way the book moves between two different time periods, gradually revealing the links and secrets between the characters in each one. I enjoyed the unsettling tone and the supernatural overtones that run through the book. I liked the historical references. I also liked the dark turns the plot takes and the revelations at the end. This is a great read.
