An eerie, suspenseful, gothic debut novel. Winner of the Costa First Novel Award
âAn amazing piece of fiction.ââStephen King
When Smith was a boy, he and his family went on an Easter pilgrimage with their local parish to the Loney, a bleak stretch of the English coastline, to visit an ancient shrine in search of healing for Smithâs disabled brother. But the locals were none too pleased to welcome them, and the two brothers soon became entangled in a troubling morass of dangerous rituals.
For years after, Smith carries the burden of what happened that spring. And when he hears that the body of a young child has been found during a storm at the Loney, heâs forced to finally reckon with his darkest secretsâand the terror they carry with them.
âA palpable pall of menace hangs over British author Hurleyâs thrilling first novel, narrated by a London boy, âTontoâ Smith, whose affectionate nickname was bestowed by a parish priest who likened himself to the Lone Ranger. Tonto and his family undertake an Easter pilgrimage to the Moorings, a house overlooking a treacherous swath of tide-swept Cumbrian coast known as the Loney. Smithâs devoutly Catholic mother hopes that taking the waters at the nearby shrine will cure his older brother, Hanny, of his lifelong muteness. But the Cumbrian landscape seems anything but godly: nature frequently manifests in its rawest state and the secretive locals seem beholden to primitive rites and traditions that mock the religious piety of the visitors. Adding to the mystery is Coldbarrow, a spit of land turned twice daily by the tides into an island, where a man, a woman, and a pregnant teenage girl have taken refuge in a gloomy house named Thessaly. Hurley (Cages and Other Stories) tantalizes the reader by keeping explanations for what is happening just out of reach, and depicting a natural world beyond understanding. His sensitive portrayal of Tonto and Hannyâs relationship and his insights into religious belief and faith give this eerie tale depth and gravity.â âPublishers Weekly, starred review
âCompletely terrifying.ââPaula Hawkins
âVibrantly written.â âEntertainment Weekly
âStunningâ âJeff VanderMeer
âThe masterpiece by which Hurley will enter the Guild of the GothicââGuardian
âFans of Shirley Jackson are sure to savor . . . Tight, suspenseful writing makes this masterful novel unsettling in the most compelling way.ââWashington Post
An eerie, suspenseful, gothic debut novel. Winner of the Costa First Novel Award
âAn amazing piece of fiction.ââStephen King
When Smith was a boy, he and his family went on an Easter pilgrimage with their local parish to the Loney, a bleak stretch of the English coastline, to visit an ancient shrine in search of healing for Smithâs disabled brother. But the locals were none too pleased to welcome them, and the two brothers soon became entangled in a troubling morass of dangerous rituals.
For years after, Smith carries the burden of what happened that spring. And when he hears that the body of a young child has been found during a storm at the Loney, heâs forced to finally reckon with his darkest secretsâand the terror they carry with them.
âA palpable pall of menace hangs over British author Hurleyâs thrilling first novel, narrated by a London boy, âTontoâ Smith, whose affectionate nickname was bestowed by a parish priest who likened himself to the Lone Ranger. Tonto and his family undertake an Easter pilgrimage to the Moorings, a house overlooking a treacherous swath of tide-swept Cumbrian coast known as the Loney. Smithâs devoutly Catholic mother hopes that taking the waters at the nearby shrine will cure his older brother, Hanny, of his lifelong muteness. But the Cumbrian landscape seems anything but godly: nature frequently manifests in its rawest state and the secretive locals seem beholden to primitive rites and traditions that mock the religious piety of the visitors. Adding to the mystery is Coldbarrow, a spit of land turned twice daily by the tides into an island, where a man, a woman, and a pregnant teenage girl have taken refuge in a gloomy house named Thessaly. Hurley (Cages and Other Stories) tantalizes the reader by keeping explanations for what is happening just out of reach, and depicting a natural world beyond understanding. His sensitive portrayal of Tonto and Hannyâs relationship and his insights into religious belief and faith give this eerie tale depth and gravity.â âPublishers Weekly, starred review
âCompletely terrifying.ââPaula Hawkins
âVibrantly written.â âEntertainment Weekly
âStunningâ âJeff VanderMeer
âThe masterpiece by which Hurley will enter the Guild of the GothicââGuardian
âFans of Shirley Jackson are sure to savor . . . Tight, suspenseful writing makes this masterful novel unsettling in the most compelling way.ââWashington Post