- Paperback: 480 pages
- Publisher: Pan Books; New edition edition (5 Sep 2003)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0330486969
- ISBN-13: 978-0330486965
- Product Dimensions: 17.6 x 11 x 3 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 1,096,323 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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More About the Author
Product Description
Review
'Sally Spedding is a font of creepy stories, the kind of tales which wheedle their way back into your mind, hours, maybe days and weeks later... 'WESTERN MAIL
Product Description
In a picturesque Northamptonshire village, a cold evil has thrived unhindered for centuries In February 1830, surly Tomos Richards is ordered to take his 14-year-old mute and crippled sister Sian, along with his cattle drove, from Cardiganshire to London, hoping to find a cure there for her injuries. Her journey is beset by danger and cruelty and, when much of the drove is lost in a bog, Sian takes her chance to run away. Alone save for her pony and her loyal dog, and desperate to return to Wales, she mistakenly arrives at Tripp's Cottage in Nether Wapford, where cholera has just taken hold and she is viewed with deep suspicion...Switching to the present day, Ivan Browning, a 32-year-old pottery teacher with a tragic past, has escaped London to live in the same Tripp's Cottage. As the foot-and-mouth epidemic begins, he experiences ghostly pleas for help...while also becoming the target of two wealthy but, so far, untouchable local gangs. For his investigations into the cottage's haunted history is about to uncover a gruesome mystery which others will kill to keep buried deep.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
A beautifully-written suspense novel, full of atmosphere. Rural England was never so eery, so spooky, so full of foreboding. The author knows how to keep one on the edge of the seat. I was completely hooked. Some will call it a crime novel, others suspense, mystery or fantasy. It really doesn't matter. The genre is immaterial. When's the next one coming out?
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This is a dual time book with lots going on, its part historical drama, part ghost story and part modern day crime mystery and they all merge in together.
In the present day Ivan buys a rural cottage to live the dream of escaping city life and bad memories of a fatal accident in which he was involved, to launch his range of handmade pottery and teach evening classes in the same subject.
Back in 1830 young Sian, injured by trampling cattle and disabled as result sets off from Wales on horseback with her despicable brother who is a drover. He has been commanded to take her to London to seek treatment for her badly maimed leg and injuries which have left her mute,able only to communicate in whispers - whispers which travel across time and begin to haunt Ivan.
Ivan inadvertently gets on the wrong side of some local gangs, whole families who seem to rule the area involved in crime, mayhem and bloody murder. He becomes obsessed with the beautiful Jo but mystery surrounds her and Valerie the terse doctors wife with her tragic past seems to be the only person who sympathises with his increasing plight.
Meanwhile the story of Sians vile treatment at the hands of her brother and other evil characters goes from bad to worse I found I like dthis part of the story best and became really immerssed in the historical part of the book
I found it very complicated as there are so many different storylines going on and lots of characters, especially in the present many of whom by half way through I had no idea who they were or how they connected to the events.
Some of Ivans motives seem rather strange and there is a real undercurrent of evil nastiness that at times I found a little distasteful. Yet the book compelled me to keep reading and it was fast paced, spooky and scary if just a little disjointed.
In the present day Ivan buys a rural cottage to live the dream of escaping city life and bad memories of a fatal accident in which he was involved, to launch his range of handmade pottery and teach evening classes in the same subject.
Back in 1830 young Sian, injured by trampling cattle and disabled as result sets off from Wales on horseback with her despicable brother who is a drover. He has been commanded to take her to London to seek treatment for her badly maimed leg and injuries which have left her mute,able only to communicate in whispers - whispers which travel across time and begin to haunt Ivan.
Ivan inadvertently gets on the wrong side of some local gangs, whole families who seem to rule the area involved in crime, mayhem and bloody murder. He becomes obsessed with the beautiful Jo but mystery surrounds her and Valerie the terse doctors wife with her tragic past seems to be the only person who sympathises with his increasing plight.
Meanwhile the story of Sians vile treatment at the hands of her brother and other evil characters goes from bad to worse I found I like dthis part of the story best and became really immerssed in the historical part of the book
I found it very complicated as there are so many different storylines going on and lots of characters, especially in the present many of whom by half way through I had no idea who they were or how they connected to the events.
Some of Ivans motives seem rather strange and there is a real undercurrent of evil nastiness that at times I found a little distasteful. Yet the book compelled me to keep reading and it was fast paced, spooky and scary if just a little disjointed.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
In 1830 Sian, desperate to excape from her cruel brother, arrives exhausted in a Nothamptonshire village and accepts board and lodgings at Tripps cottage, unaware of the terrifying circumstances yet to come.
Moving to the present day, Ivan excapes his traumatic past and moves to Tripps cottage. However instead of finding peace Ivan is disturbed by ghostly pleas for help, and is drawn to discover more about the cottages past. As Ivan investigates the past he finds himself the victim of local gangs.
The chilling climax reveals the horrifying truth of Sian's fate, and for Ivan whose own life is now in danger.
This is an incredibly gripping tale, a ghost story with a difference which has you hooked from the first page. Excellently written, with characters you believe in and care about, the final page left me wanting to read much more by this author.
Moving to the present day, Ivan excapes his traumatic past and moves to Tripps cottage. However instead of finding peace Ivan is disturbed by ghostly pleas for help, and is drawn to discover more about the cottages past. As Ivan investigates the past he finds himself the victim of local gangs.
The chilling climax reveals the horrifying truth of Sian's fate, and for Ivan whose own life is now in danger.
This is an incredibly gripping tale, a ghost story with a difference which has you hooked from the first page. Excellently written, with characters you believe in and care about, the final page left me wanting to read much more by this author.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
Beautiful, clever and haunting
I read a collection of Sally Spedding's short stories and was instantly, hooked on her writing. I won't do a detailed review here - but Cloven was a real treat to read. Read more
Published 4 months ago by Julie-Ann Corrigan
A gripping journey through the darker side of humanity and beyond
Sally Spedding captures character so perfectly it is impossible not to immerse yourself in the world of her novels. Read more
Published on 10 May 2006 by M. Guinness
deeply moving, completely gripping
Sally's book is my favourite kind, it has one foot firmly planted in the world of fag smoking and car driving and the other in a world of mists and sighs. Read more
Published on 28 Jun 2004 by P. Palin
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