The nights are drawing in and winter is around the corner, so I am delighted to be taking part in The Winter's Child blog tour. Not only do I have my review, I have a fantastic giveaway courtesy of Legend Press where you can win your very own paperback copy. So do make you sure you scroll to the end of my post to enter!
Five years ago, Susannah Harper's son Joel went missing without trace. Bereft of her son and then of her husband, 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. She tells her 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.
A ghostly winter read with a modern gothic flavour. A tale of twisted love, family secrets and hauntings.
What did I think?
I've always been intrigued by fortune tellers and psychics, although I have never been to see one, so the opening pages of The Winter's Child sucked me right in. From that moment on, I couldn't put the book down as I wanted to know what had happened to Susannah's son and whether Susannah had finally received an accurate prediction from the people she brands as charlatans on her blog.
As much as she thinks they are charlatans, Susannah can't help but be drawn to people with such gifts as she is desperate to find out what happened to her son, Joel, who has been missing for 5 years. On a visit to Hull Fair with her sister and her kids, Susannah sneaks off to a fortune teller who tells her that she'll finally be reunited with Joel on Christmas Eve. Susannah is torn: she thinks these people are tricksters but she so wants to believe and I think this prediction started the unravelling of Susannah.
Susannah starts to hear Joel calling for her, she sees strange things, can smell mud and feels as if she is being drowned. I think I even held my breath when Susannah was underwater, even though I didn't know whether it was actually happening to her or if it was all in her head. It felt real to Susannah and it sure felt real to me! The creepy goings on had the hairs on the back of my neck standing on end and my arms were plagued with the prickle of goosebumps.
The pain that Susannah felt with the loss of her child was palpable and I really felt for her when I thought she was going mad with grief or even inability to grieve as she clutched at the last, almost transparent, threads of hope slipping through her fingers. When we start to learn more about Joel himself, I don't mind telling you, my heart was broken into a million pieces. I'm not giving away any spoilers but I just wanted to bundle Joel up and keep him safe, which is all Susannah ever wanted to do. Susannah definitely has a special bond with Joel and it is clear that she will do anything for her precious boy, even at the risk of destroying her marriage. I really couldn't read fast enough to get the answers that Susannah, and I, craved.
The Winter's Child is a dark, disturbing, creepy book; so beautifully written that it draws the reader into the tangled web that Cassandra Parkin has intricately woven. It is deeply affecting and moving, haunting and haunted; quite simply a stunning piece of fiction.
I chose to read an ARC and this is my honest and unbiased opinion.
My rating:
Buy it from Amazon
GIVEAWAY!
The giveaway opens on 28th October and closes at midnight on Hallowe'en 31st October.
The competition is open to entrants in UK only and the winner will be contacted via email shortly after.
Follow the tour:
Never visited a fortune teller but as a Hull lass was always fascinated by them at Hull Fair
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