a gripping tale of witchcraft and romance, past and present, as her modern-day characters are caught up in a battle that has been raging for hundreds of years. Emma Dickson has a successful City career and a flourishing relationship. So why does the advertisement for sale of Liza's Cottage, a house she remembers from childhood holidays on the rural Essex coast, turn her well-ordered life upside down with longing? Mike Sinclair is the new rector of Manningtree and Mistley, the tightly knit community where Liza's Cottage is situated. He is fascinated by the history of the parish, especially the seventeenth century, when Witchfinder General Matthew Hopkins conducted his terrible work. It is his ghost that haunts the old shop in the high street, they say - or perhaps the spirits of his victims. Emma pins her dreams on her move to Mistley. But, once there, she is haunted by nightmares, dreams of the past, of the cottage's original owner at the time of the witch-hunt. The home she wanted so desperately now seems menacing. Mike is worried by the increasing level of supernatural disturbance in his parish.
This book scared me and I have never read a book that has ever acheived my being scared. Has all the right elements of a well written book. Sits in my collects in my personal library...
This book scared me and I have never read a book that has ever acheived my being scared. Has all the right elements of a well written book. Sits in my collects in my personal library...
Great time travel read!!!!
This is my first Barbara Erskine novel. It is a story about Emma Dickson who is drawn to a cottage in the woods and decides to move there alone. Piers is living in London and because of his job does not want a long commute. The cottage is haunted by Liza, the herbalist. Emma turns to the rector for help but he is in the grip of something inexplicable and dangerous. This was a story of good versus evil and races to a heart-stepping climax. I enjoyed the story very much and will now be looking to read other Erskine books. They are a great escape from mystery books that I normally read. If you enjoy books about ghosts and witches then you will love this book.