The Widow of Ratchets

Here is a gothic tale in the finest tradition of Thomas Tryon, Victoria Holt, and Phyllis Whitney-an auspicious debut for Owen Brookes.The Widow of Ratchets tells the slightly supernatural and highly ominous story of American Lyndsay Kramer Dolben, and attractive newlywed who arrives in England to rejoin her husband only to be immediately informed of his recent death. Overcome with grief, the young widow travels to Ratchets, the remote village where Michael's family has lived for centuries. But even before the funeral arrangements are completed, Lyndsay begins to suspect that the traditions of the town and its inhabitants, especially their unorthodox reverence for the Land, are frightening peculiar. The unraveling of these ancient and bloody fertility rituals and incestuous primitive taboos keeps her intellectually and emotionally occupied for the remainder of this awesome and gripping story. Through Lyndsay's eyes and actions we come to understand the formidable powers of the earth. Owen Brookes has written a masterful tour de force, an occult novel at once seductive and authentic, in character and plot.Owen Brooks, who lives and teaches in London, is the autor of several works of nonfiction. The Widow of Ratchets is his first novel.