WINNER OF THE 2018 MARY HIGGINS CLARK AWARD
This chilling novel from the bestselling, award-winning author of The
Lake of Dead Languages blends the gothic allure of Daphne DuMaurier's
Rebecca and the crazed undertones of Charlotte Perkins Gilman's The
Yellow Wallpaper with the twisty, contemporary edge of A.S.A.
Harrison's The Silent Wife--a harrowing tale of psychological suspense
set in New York's Hudson Valley.
When Jess and Clare Martin move from Williamsburg, Brooklyn, to their
former college town in the Hudson River valley, they are hoping for
rejuvenation--of their marriage, their savings, and Jess's writing
career.
They take a caretaker's job at Riven House, a crumbling estate and the
home of their old college writing professor. While Clare once had dreams
of being a writer, those plans fell by the wayside when Jess made a big,
splashy literary debut in their twenties. It's been years, now, since
his first novel. The advance has long been spent. Clare's hope is that
the pastoral beauty and nostalgia of the Hudson Valley will offer some
inspiration.
But their new life isn't all quaint town libraries and fragrant apple
orchards. There is a haunting pall that hangs over Riven House like a
funeral veil. Something is just not right. Soon, Clare begins to hear
babies crying at night, see strange figures in fog at the edge of their
property. Diving into the history of the area, she realizes that Riven
House has a dark and anguished past. And whatever this thing is--this
menacing force that destroys the inhabitants of the estate--it seems to
be after Clare next...
