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The Winter's Child

The Winter's Child

by Cassandra Parkin (Author)

  • Used

    Paperback 2017

    $3.17
Synopsis

'Fresh. Original. Spell-binding.' Jane Corry

'...a wonderful writer with a painterly eye for detail... There are some brilliant twists.' Wendy Holden, Daily Mail

Five years ago, Susannah Harper's son Joel went missing without trace. Bereft of her son and then of her husband John, Susannah tries to accept that she may never know for certain what has happened to her lost loved ones.She has rebuilt her life around a simple selfless mission: to help others who, like her, must learn to live without hope.

But then, on the last night of Hull Fair, a fortune-teller makes an eerie prediction. Susannah is told that this Christmas Eve, Joel will finally come back to her.

As her carefully-constructed life begins to unravel, Susannah is drawn into a world of psychics and charlatans, half-truths and hauntings, friendships and betrayals, forcing her to confront the buried truths of her family's past, where nothing and no one are quite as they seem.

Cassandra Parkin brings us a ghostly winter mystery with a modern gothic flavor. A dark tale of twisted love, marriage, family secrets and hauntings, Parkin keeps us guessing throughout.

What Reviewers and Readers Say:

'A gripping tale of mother love' Sam Hepburn

'Wow. I have always loved Parkin's books - have read every single one - but oh, this is a treat. All her usual talents are present and accounted for; beautiful prose, thoughtful and real characters, gorgeous story. But this one is darker, twistier, and utterly addictive. Watch out world, this one should be huge!' Louise Beech

'Cassandra Parkin's The Winter's Child is a gripping thriller from beginning to end, certain to chill and haunt... a journey filled with skillful twists and turns on every page. A fantastic, eerie story ... The prose is eloquent and skilful. From the first chapter, the characters develop into tangible, fully realized people. The cast exists in a foreboding world, a dark atmosphere that Parkin deftly crafts with each scene ... deeply disturbing, intimate, and effective. In addition, there is an underlying commentary on gender and motherhood that further deepens the novel's scope. The Winter's Child is a stunning, beautifully disturbing mystery.' MYA ALEXICE, Foreword Reviews

$3.17

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Quantity

3 in stock

More Information

Format: Paperback
 Pages: 288
 Publisher: Legend Press
Published: 15 Sep 2017
ISBN 10: 1785079034
ISBN 13: 9781785079030

Media Reviews
Cassandra Parkin's The Winter's Child is a gripping thriller from beginning to end, certain to chill and haunt. The novel traps us in the mind of Susannah Harper, a woman whose son, Joel, went missing five years prior and whose husband left because of related stress. When a psychic suggests that she will see her son again soon, Susannah's world begins to unravel. That unraveling is the foundation for the novel, a journey filled with skillful twists and turns on every page. Still reeling with the trauma of Joel's disappearance, Susannah tries to cope by writing faithfully on her blog and spending time with family. But she certainly isn't living a healthy life before the psychic's premonition, which is the catalyst of the novel, comes into play. After the psychic's vision of Joel coming home, Susannah begins to see things she thought were long gone, and to hear sounds she knows can't be real. Her grip on sanity loosens as the five-year anniversary of Joel's disappearance looms; this fantastic, eerie story barrels towards a bittersweet, perfect end. The prose is eloquent and skillful. Nothing happens to warn me of events that have already begun to unfold, narrates Susannah, like a paper flower dropped into water, like a cocoon hatching a tightly-folded monster. From the first chapter, the characters develop into tangible, fully realized people. The cast exists in a foreboding world, a dark atmosphere that Parkin deftly crafts with each scene. Because the narration is always from Susannah's point of view, her descent into madness is deeply disturbing, intimate, and effective. Chapters effortlessly jump back and forth in time, bringing greater nuance to Susannah and her often tense relationships with others. In addition, there is an underlying commentary on gender and motherhood that further deepens the novel's scope. The Winter's Child is a stunning, beautifully disturbing mystery. -- MYA ALEXICE * Foreword Reviews *
Author Bio
Cassandra Parkin grew up in Hull, and now lives in East Yorkshire. She is the author of three novels, all published by Legend Press - The Summer We All Ran Away (2013), The Beach Hut (2015) and Lily's House (2016) - as well as a short-story collection, New World Fairy Tales (Salt Publishing, 2011), which won the 2011 Scott Prize for Short Stories. Her work has also been published in numerous magazines and anthologies. The Winter's Child is her fourth novel. Visit Cassandra at cassandraparkin.wordpress.com or on Twitter @cassandrajaneuk