House of Glass

From the acclaimed author of Eve Green (a Richard & Judy pick) and Let Me Tell You About A Man I Knew, a compelling, wonderful historical gothic novel about lies, love and ghosts set against the backdrop of a Britain on the cusp of the First World War. 1914. Clara Waterfield , twenty years old and newly bereaved, is summoned to a large stone house in rural Gloucestershire. Her task: to fill a glasshouse with exotic plants from Kew Gardens, to create a private paradise for the owner of Shadowbrook.But on arrival, she hears dark rumours. Flowers are dying in their vases, curious marks appear on doors - and the maids seem nervous, afraid. Who lived at Shadowbrook, before? And who is living there now?`House of Glass may start as a ghost story but it turns into something much more profound: a lyrical examination of how women carve lives out of a male-dominated society even with a looming war that will change everyone. I was suprised and moved' Tracy Chevalier`It is beautiful and mesmerising; like entering a dream. I was spellbound and couldn't do anything else but keep reading' - Jill Dawson'Menacing characters, dark secrets... A hothouse of a novel... ' - Caroline Sanderson, The Bookseller(thumbnail photo of author and Let me Tell you about a Man I knew) 'A lyrical examination of how women carve lives out of a male-dominated society, even with a war looming that will change everyone. I was surprised and moved' Tracy Chevalier'With echoes of Daphne du Maurier ... a mesmerising ghost story set in a dilapidated country house where things go bump in the night' Good HousekeepingJune 1914 and a young woman - Clara Waterfield - is summoned to a large stone house in Gloucestershire. Her task: to fill a greenhouse with exotic plants from Kew Gardens, to create a private paradise for the owner of Shadowbrook. Yet something is wrong with this quiet, wisteria-covered house. Its gardens are filled with foxgloves, hydrangea and roses; it has lily-ponds, a croquet lawn - and the marvellous new glasshouse awaits Clara. But the house itself feels unloved. Its rooms are shuttered, or empty. The owner is mostly absent; the housekeeper and maids seem afraid. And soon, Clara understands their fear: for something - or someone - is walking through the house at night. In the height of summer, she finds herself drawn deeper into Shadowbrook's dark interior - and into the secrets that violently haunt this house. Nothing - not even the men who claim they wish to help her - is quite what it seems.