Paperback, 368 pages
Published Oct. 5, 2021 by Berkley.
This was a goodie. Thriller, witch trials and burnings, time travel, mysterious creatures known as Wildlings that show up to wipe out bloodlines. I felt like the balance of jumping around in the timelines was just right.
Five stars for this well-written and gripping tale about folklore, superstition, and mysteries on a fictional Scottish island. I (and probably also the plot) could have done without some things, but overall I found it to be a very good book. Normally I'm not really a fan of stories alternating between different timelines, but it was well done in this one, keeping them interwoven and interesting. I highly recommend this book to anyone looking for a Spooky Season read.
CW: murder, misogyny, sexual assault, rape, pregnancy, child death, cancer, illness/death, loss/grief, surgery, blood, drugs, vomiting, animal death, bullying, fire.
In 1998, with nowhere else to go and running from a secret, Olivia Stay and her three daughters arrived on a remote Scottish island where she had been commissioned to paint a mural. She is given very little instruction, just a diagram of what she is meant to paint inside the crumbling lighthouse.
The island is rife with a dark history of murder and mayhem but Olivia is out of options and at least able to have a roof over her children's heads which is something they have lacked since her husband's death. At some point, we know not why, the eldest and youngest daughter disappear, and the middle child is abandoned in the woods before Olivia also goes missing. Now all these years later that middle child is a grown and pregnant woman who has never given up hope of finding out what happened to her family, when out …
In 1998, with nowhere else to go and running from a secret, Olivia Stay and her three daughters arrived on a remote Scottish island where she had been commissioned to paint a mural. She is given very little instruction, just a diagram of what she is meant to paint inside the crumbling lighthouse.
The island is rife with a dark history of murder and mayhem but Olivia is out of options and at least able to have a roof over her children's heads which is something they have lacked since her husband's death. At some point, we know not why, the eldest and youngest daughter disappear, and the middle child is abandoned in the woods before Olivia also goes missing. Now all these years later that middle child is a grown and pregnant woman who has never given up hope of finding out what happened to her family, when out of the blue she is told her baby sister has been found. Her joy at this news soon turns to shock and dread when she rushes to be reunited with her sister, and finds not the grown woman she expected, but a 7 year old child who thinks she has only been gone for days instead of decades.
Legend, myth, and folklore bubble over into the modern day in this chilling story of witches and changelings. Multi layered complex characters weave together a terrifying narrative told on three timelines. The ever increasing suspense kept me glued to the pages. Highly recommended to all fans of horror and folklore.
I received an advance copy for review.
