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The Shadow Hour
Kate Riordan
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Description for The Shadow Hour
Paperback. Two generations of women, and one house that holds the terrible secrets of their pasts 1922. Grace has been sent to the stately and crumbling Fenix House to follow in her grandmother's footsteps as a governess. Secrets appear to live in the house's very walls and everybody is resolutely protecting their own. Why has she been sent here? Num Pages: 528 pages. BIC Classification: FA. Category: (G) General (US: Trade). Dimension: 198 x 129. .
It was in the shadow hours of deepest night that this tapestry of lies fell to rags . . . Harriet Jenner is just twenty-one when she walks through the gates of Fenix House. Reeling from a personal tragedy, she doesn't expect her new life as a governess to be easy. But she certainly does not foresee the spell Fenix House will cast. Almost fifty years later, Harriet's granddaughter Grace follows in her footsteps. For Grace, raised on Harriet's spellbinding stories, Fenix House is a fairy tale; a magical place suspended in time. ... Read more But the now-faded grandeur of the mansion soon begins to reveal the holes in Harriet's story and Grace finds herself in a place of secrets and shadows. For Fenix House hides truths about her family, and everything that she once knew is about to change. The Author Kate Riordan is a writer and journalist. She started out as an editorial assistant at the Guardian, followed by a stint as deputy editor for the lifestyle section of Time Out. Kate's first novel, The Girl in the Photographpublished in January 2015. Kate is now a freelance writer and lives in the Cotswolds where she is currently working on her third novel. Praise for The Shadow Hour '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 'I'm a sucker for unreliable narrators, 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 'It's wonderful - the dark suspense and evocative descriptions are perfect' Liz Fenwick, author of Under a Cornish Sky 'We loved last years The Girl in the Photograph and this latest atmospheric saga is just as thrilling' Essentials '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 Sudden Departure of the Frasers '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 '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' Ella Harper, author of The Years of Loving You '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 '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 read' 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 '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 storylines are woven together expertly. You don't want to miss this' Belle About Town Show Less
Product Details
Publisher
Penguin Books Ltd United Kingdom
Place of Publication
London, United Kingdom
Shipping Time
Usually ships in 4 to 8 working days
About Kate Riordan
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.
Reviews for The Shadow Hour
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. ... Read moreThere 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
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 author has such a wonderful way with words...beautifully written and very atmospheric
The Welsh Librarian
An absorbing and atmospheric read. I enjoyed his one so much that I have already started reading her previous novel
Little Miss Vix Reads
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
Another beautifully told story form Kate Riordan
David Reviews
Goodreads
There is no doubt that Kate Riordan is a marvellous storyteller with a fantastically plotted book
Cleopatra Loves Books
A detailed, textured mystery
Books Life and Everything
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 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 would recommend it to anyone who wants an intriguing mystery that will keep them reading all night!
YA Under My Skin
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
We loved last year's The Girl in the Photograph and this latest atmospheric sage is just as thrilling
Essentials
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
Rich and atmospheric, like Rebecca this novel casts an enduring spell
Rachel Hore, Sunday Times bestselling author
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
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
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
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
Beautifully written and utterly compelling, I loved this
Katie Fforde
The parallel stories of Fenix House governess Harriet Jenner and her granddaughter Grace had me absolutely gripped. Intelligent, poignant, unexpected: highly recommended
Louise Candlish
It's wonderful - the dark suspense and evocative descriptions are perfect
Liz Fenwick, author of
Under a Cornish Sky
A perfect gothic, big-house mystery that kept me turning the pages. Very well written - I really enjoyed it
Katherine Webb
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
Show Less
