The Shadow Hour
Format:Paperback
Publisher:Penguin Books Ltd
Published:25th Feb '16
Currently unavailable, and unfortunately no date known when it will be back
Two generations of women, and one house that holds the terrible secrets of their pasts.
Harriet Jenner is just twenty-one when she walks through the gates of Fenix House. Reeling from a personal tragedy, she doesn't expect her new life as a governess to be easy. But she certainly does not foresee the spell Fenix House will cast. Almost fifty years later, Harriet's granddaughter Grace follows in her footsteps.
It was in the shadow hours of deepest night that this tapestry of lies fell to rags . . .
Harriet Jenner is just twenty-one when she walks through the gates of Fenix House. Reeling from a personal tragedy, she doesn't expect her new life as a governess to be easy. But she certainly does not foresee the spell Fenix House will cast.
Almost fifty years later, Harriet's granddaughter Grace follows in her footsteps. For Grace, raised on Harriet's spellbinding stories, Fenix House is a fairy tale; a magical place suspended in time.
But the now-faded grandeur of the mansion soon begins to reveal the holes in Harriet's story and Grace finds herself in a place of secrets and shadows. For Fenix House hides truths about her family, and everything that she once knew is about to change.
The Author
Kate Riordan is a writer and journalist. She started out as an editorial assistant at the Guardian, followed by a stint as deputy editor for the lifestyle section of Time Out. Kate's first novel, The Girl in the Photographpublished in January 2015. Kate is now a freelance writer and lives in the Cotswolds where she is currently working on her third novel.
Praise for The Shadow Hour
'I was immediately drawn in by this beautifully written tale. I loved the sense of intrigue and the air of mystery at Fenix House, and was itching for answers as the two narratives unfolded' Dinah Jefferies author of The Tea Planter's Wife
'A perfect gothic, big-house mystery that kept me turning the pages. Very well written - I really enjoyed it'Katherine Webb
'I'm a sucker for unreliable narrators, crumbling country houses stuffed full of secrets and a story that veers between the present and the past, so it was a delight to curl up with The Shadow Hour over the course of a rainy weekend' Red...
I was immediately drawn in by this beautifully written tale. I loved the sense of intrigue and the air of mystery at Fenix House, and was itching for answers as the two narratives unfolded * Dinah Jefferies, author of The Tea Planter's Wife *
A perfect gothic, big-house mystery that kept me turning the pages. Very well written - I really enjoyed it * Katherine Webb *
It's wonderful - the dark suspense and evocative descriptions are perfect -- Liz Fenwick, author of * Under a Cornish Sky *
The parallel stories of Fenix House governess Harriet Jenner and her granddaughter Grace had me absolutely gripped. Intelligent, poignant, unexpected: highly recommended * Louise Candlish *
Beautifully written and utterly compelling, I loved this * Katie Fforde *
Gorgeously written - I was instantly drawn in to the mysteries of Fenix House and Kate's evocative storytelling held me rapt until the very end. * Lucy Diamond *
The parallel stories of Fenix House governess Harriet Jenner and her granddaughter Grace had me absolutely gripped. Intelligent, poignant, unexpected: highly recommended -- Louise Candlish, author of * The Swimming Pool *
Full of dark intrigue, rich description and haunting secrets, this kept me reading and reading! Beautifully written and compelling until the end. I adored it -- Sasha Wagstaff, author of * Recipe For Love *
Headily atmospheric Victorian gothic detail brings to life the house which holds secrets and memories in its dim rooms, and conjures up a world of hot house flowers and stifled passions. Certain images stay with you - Riordan richly juxtaposes a measured, scientific world of steam trains, comets and clocks with the wild: flooded quarries, ice storms, and the irresistible desire for love and revenge which defies rationality. It's all in the detail - jewelled Indian daggers, sunlight on red gold hair, claustrophobic mazes and ice houses, and mysterious sounds in the night. From the utterly gripping prologue, The Shadow Hour transports you back in time, and shows how a few minutes here or there can catastrophically change a life -- Kate Lord Brown, author of * The Christmas We Met *
Rich and atmospheric, like Rebecca this novel casts an enduring spell * Rachel Hore, Sunday Times bestselling author *
ISBN: 9781405917445
Dimensions: 198mm x 129mm x 31mm
Weight: 362g
528 pages