"Weaves a spell of darkness that's mysterious and magical, and binds it with a knot of deathless love." -New York Times bestselling author Susanna Kearsley on A Lullaby for Witches
In post-World War I England, a young woman inherits a mysterious library and must untangle its powerful secrets…
With the stroke of a pen, twenty-three-year-old Ivy Radcliffe becomes Lady Hayworth, owner of a sprawling estate on the Yorkshire moors. Ivy has never heard of Blackwood Abbey, or of the ancient bloodline from which she's descended. With nothing to keep her in London since losing her brother in the Great War, she warily makes her way to her new home.
The abbey is foreboding, the servants reserved and suspicious. But there is a treasure waiting behind locked doors: a magnificent library. Despite cryptic warnings from the staff, Ivy feels irresistibly drawn to its dusty shelves, where familiar works mingle with strange, esoteric texts. And she senses something else in the library too, a presence that seems to have a will of its own.
Rumors swirl in the village about the abbey's previous owners, about ghosts and curses, and an enigmatic manuscript at the center of it all. And as events grow more sinister, it will be up to Ivy to uncover the library's mysteries in order to reclaim her own story-before it vanishes forever.
Lush, atmospheric and transporting, The Last Heir to Blackwood Library is a skillful reflection on memory and female agency, and a love letter to books from a writer at the height of her power.
Two women. A history of witchcraft. And a deep-rooted female power that sings across the centuries.
Once there was a young woman from a well-to-do New England family who never quite fit with the drawing rooms and parlors of her kin.
Called instead to the tangled woods and wild cliffs surrounding her family's estate, Margaret Harlowe grew both stranger and more beautiful as she cultivated her uncanny power. Soon, whispers of "witch" dogged her footsteps, and Margaret's power began to wind itself with the tendrils of something darker.
One hundred and fifty years later, Augusta Podos takes a dream job at Harlowe House, the historic home of a wealthy New England family that has been turned into a small museum in Tynemouth, Massachusetts. When Augusta stumbles across an oblique reference to a daughter of the Harlowes who has nearly been expunged from the historical record, the mystery is too intriguing to ignore.
But as she digs deeper, something sinister unfurls from its sleep, a dark power that binds one woman to the other across lines of blood and time. If Augusta can't resist its allure, everything she knows and loves-including her very life-could be lost forever.
The dead won’t bother you if you don’t give them permission.
Boston, 1844.
Tabby has a peculiar gift: she can communicate with the recently departed. It makes her special, but it also makes her dangerous.
As an orphaned child, she fled with her sister, Alice, from their charlatan aunt Bellefonte, who wanted only to exploit Tabby’s gift so she could profit from the recent craze for seances.
Now a young woman and tragically separated from Alice, Tabby works with her adopted father, Eli, the kind caretaker of a large Boston cemetery. When a series of macabre grave robberies begins to plague the city, Tabby is ensnared in a deadly plot by the perpetrators, known only as the “Resurrection Men.”
In the end, Tabby’s gift will either save both her and the cemetery—or bring about her own destruction.
'A perfect blend of gothic mystery, drama and romance.' Cressida McLaughlin
A town gripped by fear. A woman accused of murder. Who can save Pale Harbour from itself?
1846. Desperate to escape the ghosts of his past, Gabriel Stone takes a position as a minister in the remote Pale Harbour, but not all is as it seems in the sleepy town.
As soon as Gabriel steps foot in town, he can't escape the rumours about the mysterious Sophy Carver, a young widow who lives in the eerie Castle Carver: whispers that she killed her husband, mutterings that she might even be a witch.
But as strange, unsettling events escalate into murder, Gabriel finds himself falling under Sophy's spell. As clues start to point to Sophy as the next victim, Gabriel realises he must find answers before anyone else turns up dead.
*************************************************************
Everyone is spellbound by Hester Fox!
'This debut recalls Georgette Heyer, with extra spookiness'
The Times
'Beautifully written... The Witch of Willow Hall will cast a spell over every reader'
Lisa Hall, author of Between You and Me
'Steeped in Gothic eeriness it's spine-tingling and very atmospheric.'
Nicola Cornick, author of The Woman in the Lake
'With its sense of creeping menace... this compelling story had me gripped from the first page... '
Linda Finlay, author of The Flower Seller
'Creepy, tense, heartbreaking and beautifully, achingly romantic.'
Cressida McLaughlin
'I could NOT put this thing down!'
'The ULTIMATE page turner!'
'What a story! It absolutely captivated me'
'Historical fiction with a side of romance and major helping of creepiness, this debut novel hits the mark!'
'The book pulls you in from the beginning with many twists and turns. I didn't want to put it down, and could not wait to see what was going to happen next.'
A town gripped by fear. A woman accused of witchcraft. Who can save Pale Harbor from itself?
Maine, 1846. Gabriel Stone is desperate to escape the ghosts that haunt him in Massachusetts after his wife’s death, so he moves to Maine, taking a position as a minister in the remote village of Pale Harbor.
But not all is as it seems in the sleepy town. Strange, unsettling things have been happening, and the townspeople claim that only one person can be responsible: Sophronia Carver, a reclusive widow who lives with a spinster maid in the eerie Castle Carver. Sophronia must be a witch, and she almost certainly killed her husband.
As the incidents escalate, one thing becomes clear: they are the work of a twisted person inspired by the wildly popular stories of Mr. Edgar Allan Poe. And Gabriel must find answers, or Pale Harbor will suffer a fate worthy of Poe’s darkest tales.
Hester Fox comes to writing from a background in the museum field as a collections maintenance technician. This job has taken her from historic houses to fine art museums, where she has the privilege of cleaning and caring for collections that range from paintings by old masters to ancient artifacts to early-American furniture. She is a keen painter and has a master’s degree in historical archaeology, as well as a background in medieval studies and art history. Hester lives outside Boston with her husband.
Two centuries after the Salem witch trials, there’s still one witch left in Massachusetts. But she doesn’t even know it.
Take this as a warning: if you are not able or willing to control yourself, it will not only be you who suffers the consequences, but those around you, as well.
New Oldbury, 1821
In the wake of a scandal, the Montrose family and their three daughters—Catherine, Lydia and Emeline—flee Boston for their new country home, Willow Hall.
The estate seems sleepy and idyllic. But a subtle menace creeps into the atmosphere, remnants of a dark history that call to Lydia, and to the youngest, Emeline.
All three daughters will be irrevocably changed by what follows, but none more than Lydia, who must draw on a power she never knew she possessed if she wants to protect those she loves. For Willow Hall’s secrets will rise, in the end…
'This debut recalls Georgette Heyer, with extra spookiness'
The Times
'Beautifully written... The Witch of Willow Hall will cast a spell over every reader'
Lisa Hall, author of Between You and Me
The must-have historical read for the autumn, perfect for fans of A Discovery of Witches and Outlander.
Years after the Salem witch trials one witch remains. She just doesn't know it... yet.
Growing up Lydia Montrose knew she was descended from the legendary witches of Salem but was warned to never show the world what she could do and so slowly forgot her legacy. But Willow Hall has awoken something inside her...
1821: Having fled family scandal in Boston Willow Hall seems an idyllic refuge from the world, especially when Lydia meets the previous owner of the house, John Barrett.
But a subtle menace haunts the grounds of Willow Hall, with strange voices and ghostly apparitions in the night, calling to Lydia's secret inheritance and leading to a greater tragedy than she could ever imagine.
Can Lydia confront her inner witch and harness her powers or is it too late to save herself and her family from the deadly fate of Willow Hall?
'Steeped in Gothic eeriness it's spine-tingling and very atmospheric.'
Nicola Cornick, author of The Phantom Tree
'With its sense of creeping menace... this compelling story had me gripped from the first page... '
Linda Finlay, author of The Flower Seller
'Creepy, tense, heartbreaking and beautifully, achingly romantic.'
Cressida McLaughlin
Readers are spellbound by the The Witch of Willow Hall!
'I could NOT put this thing down!'
'The ULTIMATE page turner!'
'What a story! It absolutely captivated me'
'Historical fiction with a side of romance and major helping of creepiness, this debut novel hits the mark!'
'The book pulls you in from the beginning with many twists and turns. I didn't want to put it down, and could not wait to see what was going to happen next.'
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