Mistletoe

Littlewood writes wonderfully and has a flair for bringing a historical setting to life Bibliosanctum Leah Hamilton is looking for a new life following the tragic deaths of her husband and son. Determined to bury her grief in hard work and desperate to escape Christmas and the pitying looks of her colleagues she rushes through the purchase of a run-down Yorkshire farmhouse arriving just as the snow shrouds her new home. It may look like a Christmas card but its soon clear its not just the house needing renovation; the land is in bad heart too. And Leahs mind starts playing tricks on her: she hears a child playing in the snow but although there are snowballs there are no footprints. Is this the ghost of her son returned to her? She starts having visions of the farms former occupants – the young widow and her son the cousin whos wooing her the maid who shares her secrets and the handsome labourer whos hanged for the murder of a child a murder he didnt commit. Is Leah strong enough to lay the increasingly malevolent ghosts and find a way to move on? Or will her ashes end up scattered over the now-covered fields? Alison Littlewood has a real talent for building atmosphere loaded with the promise of things to come – hints of dread with the possibility of hope Guardian