Frank H. (perryfran) reviewed on 1/8/2015 + 1214 more book reviews

I really enjoyed this Gothic horror story about a young man living in Australia with his family who happens on to some secrets of his mother's including a photo of a young unknown woman and a story written, as it turns out, by his mother's grandmother, Viola. Along the way, the boy, Gerard, becomes "penfriends" with a young girl, Alice, who lives in England who had been in an accident where she lost her parents and became paralyzed. Gerard writes to Alice for years and looks forward to finally meeting her in England. Then after his mother dies, he receives some correspondence from a woman who had known his mother's sister in England who had disappeared not long after Gerard's mother moved to Australia. Gerard goes to England and ends up searching his mother's old house for answers including whether or not his mother had killed her sister. Woven into the novel are several ghost stories written by Viola that seem to relate to the history of Gerard's family. All of this leaves one with a feeling of dread throughout the novel as Harwood expertly weaves his tale of terror. Overall, I really enjoyed this one and would recommend it even though the ending was a little bit open to interpretation. I also have Harwood's second novel, The Seance and look forward to reading it.

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