It’s a story for children, built on classic lines, and it would sit nicely in a line of books with names that are so familiar; books that continue to be read, and loved, even though their own era is long gone. Die Handlung selbst hat mich total gefesselt und ich konnte das Buch wirklich kaum aus der Hand legen. Once told by poet Ted Hughes her writing was ‘dangerous’, it took Emma Carroll twenty years of English teaching and a life-changing cancer diagnosis to feel brave enough to give her dream of being an author a try. Just to give some idea about the characterisation, the main character, Tilly, is a vivacious and strong-willed girl who is easy to relate to.

Aus der Sicht eines Erwachsenen (und erfahrenen Krimilesers) wirken viele Geschehnisse und Wendungen etwas offensichtlich, für Kinder sind sie aber sehr spannend: Ein großes viktorianisches Herrenhaus mitten im Winter, über das viele Gerüchte kursieren, der unaufgeklärte Tod des einzigen Erben zehn Jahre zuvor, sich merkwürdige verhaltende Bewohner und natürlich die Geister - als das schafft eine sehr gruselige Atmosphäre, die selbst mir teilweise Schauer über den Rücken jagte. However, if you enjoy having your spine tingled and the hairs on the back of your neck raised, then this is a book for you. It is told by Matilda (Tilly) Higgins, who, after falling in the forbidden lake at the Hall and being rescued by an angel, or a ghost, or even the watching Will Potter, loses her sister and father as they emigrate to America and then ends up as a maidservant at the Hall. Geistergeschichten für das Alter haben ihren ganz eigenen Charme finde ich, und da diese Geschichte auch noch im 19.Durch die ständigen neuen Entwicklungen ist die Neugier immens gewachsen, was es mit dem Tod von Kit Barrington auf sich hat, der vor 10 Jahren im See auf dem Grundstück von Frost Hollow Hall ertrunken ist.

Set in the 1800's the author transports us to a world rich in detail, with a protagonist that will instantly win your heart and tells a story that will both chill and excite in equal measure. There is something of Conan Doyle’s Baskerville Hall and Joan Aiken’s Willoughby Chase in Carroll’s Frost Hollow Hall.

The main thread of the novel begins in the first chapter, when our young narrator, Tilly Higgins, is introduced. The novel was inspired by a ‘winter’s day from Emma’s childhood’, and the vividness of the setting is built up from the very first page. You guys are such a force for good and I am a passionate supporter of Indie booksellers, so I'm so happy this worked out well (I'd love to know how many books were sold if you have it to hand - it felt like quite a lot!