Can't Wait Wednesday #190 - The Crow Garden

Can't Wait Wednesday is a new weekly meme hosted here to spotlight and talk about the books we're excited about that we have yet to read. Generally, they're books that have yet to be released as well. It's based on Waiting on Wednesday, hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine. 
 
This week's choice is -

The Crow Garden - Alison Littlewood

ISBN - 9781786485250

Publisher - Quercus

Release date - October 5th, 2017

Find - Goodreads | Book Depository

Susan Hill meets Alfred Hitchcock in Alison Littlewood's latest chiller: mad-doctor Nathaniel is obsessed with the beautiful Mrs Harleston - but is she truly delusional? Or is she hiding secrets that should never be uncovered...? 

Haunted by his father's suicide, Nathaniel Kerner walks away from the highly prestigious life of a consultant to become a mad-doctor. He takes up a position at Crakethorne Asylum, but the proprietor is more interested in phrenology and his growing collection of skulls than the patients' minds. Nathaniel's only interesting case is Mrs Victoria Harleston: her husband accuses her of hysteria and delusions - but she accuses him of hiding secrets far more terrible. Nathaniel is increasingly obsessed with Victoria, but when he has her mesmerised, there are unexpected results: Victoria starts hearing voices, the way she used to - her grandmother always claimed they came from beyond the grave - but it also unleashes her own powers of mesmerism and a desperate need to escape. 

Increasingly besotted, Nathaniel finds himself caught up in a world of seances and stage mesmerism in his bid to find Victoria and save her. But constantly hanging over him is this warning: that doctors are apt to catch the diseases with which they are surrounded - whether of the body or the mind.

Alison Littlewood has joined my list of favorite authors thanks to her previous five novels and some fantastic short stories. The Crow Garden sounds as beautifully creepy as usual so can't wait to get started on it, hopefully in time for my October Horror/Halloween shenanigans!

Bookmarked... #25

The return of the (mostly) weekly post letting you all know what I'm reading and have lined up for the week! It's my own version of Sheila at Book Journey's It's Monday What Are You Reading (now hosted by Kathryn at Book Date) and I have her permission to rename it for my own nefarious reasons...

I thought I'd got a lot of reading done this week but looking back on my reading journal tells another story. I still don't know what I did with my spare time over the last week as I don't seem to have achieved much! I did start watching some horror movies in preparation for my R.I.P. & Spooky Sunday posts but apart from that? Nothing much got done...

Read

I absolutely loved In The Woods! I honestly don't know why it's taken me so long to read it. I own a copy of this but it's been so long since I bought it that it's gone AWOL and I had to borrow a copy from the library.

Mixed feelings about Mr. Splitfoot... I loved some of it and hated some of it. That probably explains why it's taken me so long to read it!

Still reading

I'm struggling with this one. I quite enjoyed the first book but this one isn't holding my attention.

I'm savouring this book. I'm such a huge fan of Shirley Jackson so I like to take my time with everything I read or re-read! Let Me Tell You is more than likely going to end up on my top ten books of the year list.

Started

Both of these are for my R.I.P. challenge! Alison Littlewood is fast becoming a favorite author for me. I love Path Of Needles and A Cold Season, I'm really enjoying Unquiet House so far and I just got Hidden People from Netgalley so that may well be next on the reading pile! I picked Fell up on a whim at the library but so far, so good!

What have you been reading recently? Or not?!

Waiting On Wednesday #171 - The Hidden People

Waiting On Wednesday, where we put the spotlight on upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating, is hosted by Jill at Breaking The Spine.

This week's choice is -

The Hidden People - Alison Littlewood

ISBN - 9781848669901

Publisher - Jo Fletcher Books

Release date - October 6 2016

Find - Goodreads | Book Depository

The bestselling author of Richard & Judy Book Club hit The Cold Season returns with a chilling mystery - where superstition and myth bleed into real life with tragic consequences.
 
Pretty Lizzie Higgs is gone, burned to death on her own hearth - but was she really a changeling, as her husband insists? Albie Mirralls met his cousin only once, in 1851, within the grand glass arches of the Crystal Palace, but unable to countenance the rumors that surround her murder, he leaves his young wife in London and travels to Halfoak, a village steeped in superstition.

Albie begins to look into Lizzie's death, but in this place where the old tales hold sway and the 'Hidden People' supposedly roam, answers are slippery and further tragedy is just a step away...

I absolutely adored Alison Littlewood's novels, The Cold Season and Path Of Needles, so was thrilled to read about this one. She writes the books I love - fairy tales, folklore and mystery all seamlessly woven together. Here's hoping The Hidden People is just as good!