Where ghosts tread, black feathers fall . . .

When Annie marries widower Edward Stonehouse and arrives at Guardbridge, his estate on the Yorkshire moors, she thinks she has finally put darkness behind her.

She is mistaken.

Edward’s sister, Iris, still lives in the family home. A taxidermist and medium, she urges Annie to watch out for black feathers – claiming that they mark the spot where a spirit has visited.

At first, Annie dismisses her warnings. But, before long, she begins to feel haunted.

What exactly happened to Edward’s first wife? Why is Iris so disturbed?

And should Annie really be watching for signs from the dead – or is she the one being watched?

SET ON THE YORKSHIRE MOORS IN THE 1800S, THE BLACK FEATHERS IS A GHOSTLY TALE OF MAGIC AND WICKEDNESS.

My Review

This is all very The Turn Of The Screw meets Rebecca, told in the first person and becoming more sinister with each chapter. Annie Stonehouse is plagued by ghosts, but are they really there? Or is this some terrible figment of her imagination, fed by the secret loss of her first child, who was taken away from her at birth, and Iris’s mediumship and her ‘spirits’.

Annie has just married Edward Stonehouse and after travelling for some months, they finally arrive at his rambling mansion Guardbridge, where she meets his psychic sister Iris and her carer Mrs North, known affectionately as Southie. They have brought with them new baby John and his nurse Agnes. But Iris struggles to love John, because she still mourns the loss of the infant son she refers to only as ‘you’.

Annie is Edward’s second wife, his first wife Evie and their son Jacob having died from scarlet fever some months before they met. But Edward’s relationship with Evie was not a happy one, and while no-one will talk about it, Annie starts to dig away until she uncovers some shocking truths. Did they really die of scarlet fever, or was it something far more sinister?

I cannot begin to express how much I loved this book. Gothic horror is one of my absolute favourite genres and this is one of my favourite examples. I could go on and on. The ‘horror’ is not gory or violent – it just creeps up on you gradually. The writing on the mirror, the spirits, the voices, the shadows in the corridor, the small white fingers gripping the side of the door, they all build up, and then there is the diorama of stuffed birds and animals, with notes left inside saying ‘help me.’

I listened to this on Audible while out walking mostly, and I gasped at times at the revelations and the twists, one of which I kind of guessed, but another that I never would have. Definitely one of my favourite audio books of the quarter year, and may even make it into my top books of the year.

About the Author

Rebecca Netley grew up as part of an eccentric family in a house full of books and music and these things have fed her passions. Family and writing remain at the heart of Rebecca’s life. She lives in the UK with her husband, sons and an over-enthusiastic dog, who gives her writing tips.