Shadow Hour - Softcover

Kate Riordan

Softcover

ISBN 10: 140591744X ISBN 13: 9781405917445

Publisher: Penguin Random House, 2016

Synopsis

Nineteen twenty-two. Grace has been sent to the stately and crumbling Fenix House to follow in her grandmother's footsteps as a governess. But when she meets the house's inhabitants, people who she had only previously heard of in stories, the cracks in her grandmother's tale begin to show. Secrets appear to live in the house's very walls and everybody is resolutely protecting their own.

Why has she been sent here? Why did her grandmother leave after just one summer? And as the past collides with the present, can Grace unravel these secrets and discover who her grandmother, and who she, really is?

About this title

About the Author

Kate Riordan is a writer and journalist. She is an avid reader of Daphne du Maurier and Agatha Christie, both of whom inspired her first two novels, The Girl in the Photograph and The Shadow Hour. She lives in the Cotswolds, where she writes full-time. The Stranger is her latest book.

Review

I was immediately drawn in by this beautifully written tale. I loved the sense of intrigue and the air of mystery at Fenix House, and was itching for answers as the two narratives unfolded * Dinah Jefferies, author of The Tea Planter's Wife * A perfect gothic, big-house mystery that kept me turning the pages. Very well written - I really enjoyed it * Katherine Webb * It's wonderful - the dark suspense and evocative descriptions are perfect -- Liz Fenwick, author of * Under a Cornish Sky * The parallel stories of Fenix House governess Harriet Jenner and her granddaughter Grace had me absolutely gripped. Intelligent, poignant, unexpected: highly recommended * Louise Candlish * Beautifully written and utterly compelling, I loved this * Katie Fforde * Gorgeously written - I was instantly drawn in to the mysteries of Fenix House and Kate's evocative storytelling held me rapt until the very end. * Lucy Diamond * The parallel stories of Fenix House governess Harriet Jenner and her granddaughter Grace had me absolutely gripped. Intelligent, poignant, unexpected: highly recommended -- Louise Candlish, author of * The Swimming Pool * Full of dark intrigue, rich description and haunting secrets, this kept me reading and reading! Beautifully written and compelling until the end. I adored it -- Sasha Wagstaff, author of * Recipe For Love * Headily atmospheric Victorian gothic detail brings to life the house which holds secrets and memories in its dim rooms, and conjures up a world of hot house flowers and stifled passions. Certain images stay with you - Riordan richly juxtaposes a measured, scientific world of steam trains, comets and clocks with the wild: flooded quarries, ice storms, and the irresistible desire for love and revenge which defies rationality. It's all in the detail - jewelled Indian daggers, sunlight on red gold hair, claustrophobic mazes and ice houses, and mysterious sounds in the night. From the utterly gripping prologue, The Shadow Hour transports you back in time, and shows how a few minutes here or there can catastrophically change a life -- Kate Lord Brown, author of * The Christmas We Met * Rich and atmospheric, like Rebecca this novel casts an enduring spell * Rachel Hore, Sunday Times bestselling author * Crumbling country houses stuffed full of secrets and a story that veers between the present and the past, so it was a delight to curl up with The Shadow Hour over the course of a rainy weekend * Red Online * We loved last year's The Girl in the Photograph and this latest atmospheric sage is just as thrilling * Essentials * The delight for the reader is many, not least spotting the cross-over between the two stories, and the changes in those characters that feature in both. The language is lyrical and yet accessible, the plot intricate but satisfying. There is romance, period detail, and dark secrets. This book has TV adaptation written all over it! A great book-club read with loads to discuss * The Cheltonian * I would recommend it to anyone who wants an intriguing mystery that will keep them reading all night! * YA Under My Skin * A wonderful novel. I loved the atmospheric setting and the way the mystery is built up, switching back and forth through time * The Owl on the Bookshelf * I loved The Girl in the Photograph but I adore The Shadow Hour more, it has the perfect balance of tragedy and intrigue and all the story lines are woven together expertly. You don't want to miss this * Belle About Town * A detailed, textured mystery * Books Life and Everything * There is no doubt that Kate Riordan is a marvellous storyteller with a fantastically plotted book * Cleopatra Loves Books * Another beautifully told story form Kate Riordan ***** -- David Reviews * Goodreads * You are drawn in and held there, as the story unfolds, a beautiful literary touch within a novel that is quite the page turner * Liz Loves Books * An absorbing and atmospheric read. I enjoyed his one so much that I have already started reading her previous novel * Little Miss Vix Reads * The author has such a wonderful way with words...beautifully written and very atmospheric * The Welsh Librarian * An atmospheric and tense tale of two families bound by the secrets held within Fenix House, a stately home where the past seems to collide with the present * Candis * The language is lyrical and yet accessible, the plot intricate but satisfying. There is romance, period detail, and dark secrets. This book has TV adaptation written all over it! A great book-club read with loads to discuss * The Cheltonian * What a beautiful and evocative writer she is! I adored the richness of her descriptions, the faint sense of menace just below the surface, and the huge skill with which she wove in clues, questions and little fragments of information. It was a thoroughly absorbing -- Iona Grey The language is lyrical and yet accessible, the plot intricate but satisfying. There is romance, period detail, and dark secrets. This book has TV adaptation written all over it! A great book-club read with loads to discuss * The Cheltonian * What a beautiful and evocative writer she is! I adored the richness of her descriptions, the faint sense of menace just below the surface, and the huge skill with which she wove in clues, questions and little fragments of information. It was a thoroughly absorbing -- Iona Grey

Edition details

• Publisher: Penguin Random House
• Publication date: 2016
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 140591744X
• ISBN 13: 9781405917445
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 528