Description

A gripping, unsettling debut novel about two sisters and a dangerous game that becomes all too real. Perfect for fans of The Girl in the Walls and The Little Stranger.

The haunting began quietly. The girls heard it first . . .

THEN
1976. Loo and her sister Bee live in a run-down cottage in the middle of nowhere, with their artistic parents and wild siblings. Their mother, Cathy, had hoped to escape to a simpler life; instead the family find themselves isolated and shunned by their neighbours. At the height of the stifling summer, unexplained noises and occurences in the house begin to disturb the family, until they intrude on every waking moment . . .

NOW
Loo, now Lucy, is called back to her childhood home. A group of strangers are looking to discover the truth about the house and the people who lived there.

But is Lucy ready to confront what really happened all those years ago?

‘A chilling debut’ Daily Express

‘Wonderfully creepy’ I newspaper

‘A near-perfect ghost story’ The Guardian

‘Holds a very unsettling power indeed’ Heat magazine

‘Eerie and atmospheric’ Woman

‘Brilliant . . . has all the makings of a spooky classic’ My Weekly

‘A chillingly claustrophobic read in which the secrets of the past seep into the present’ Sunday Express

‘Gripping, compelling and beautifully accomplished’ Jess Kidd, author of Things in Jars

‘Extraordinary. Amanda Mason is the master of suspense’ Deborah O’Connor

Publisher Review

With echoes of The Enfield Haunting, a sustained sense of unease permeates this evocative novel, which holds a very unsettling power indeed * Heat magazine * A chilling debut * Daily Express * Wonderfully creepy debut ... Cleverly plotted and keeping the reader on the edge of the seat until the end of with a supremely satisfying denouement * I newspaper * Set on the Yorkshire moors, one of the blasted motherlands of gothic fiction, The Wayward Girls moves between 1976 and the present day to spool out the story of a haunting . . .The novel is very much in conversation with the stories, both real and fictional, that have come before it . . .What sets The Wayward Girls apart is its finesse. With a touch so light that it appears accidental at first, Mason arranges things in pairs. Two girls look alike; one character is called Loo, and another Lew; there are two sets of researchers, and two haunted houses - one occupied by a young family, the other a care home. Before long, these pairs start to feel like the flickering of two images pasted together on a film reel. Even the prose has a celluloid quality; the point of view switches mid-paragraph so suddenly that it can be hard to follow, as though the film on the projector has slipped. Brilliantly, all of that is a clue. An engrossing response to paranormal films and gothic fiction, The Wayward Girls is a nearly perfect ghost story * Guardian * The Wayward Girls is a wonderful debut. Mason expertly weaves her own brand of gothic to explore the haunting secrets of two sisters. Gripping, compelling and beautifully accomplished. * Jess Kidd, author of Himself and Things In Jars * Extraordinary. Terrifying but also extremely moving. Amanda Mason is the master of suspense * Deborah O'Connor * Chilling, emotional, genuinely creepy with edgy, vibrant prose and unforgettable characters. Shiver down the spine reading * Liz Loves Books * The chilling, atmospheric narrative peels away the obfuscations and murky half-truths that obscure what really happened that summer of 1976, keeping the reader in satisfactory suspense, right to the very end * Mature Times magazine * Think I Capture The Castle meets The Blair Witch Project * RED magazine online * An original plot with a number of terrifying moments ... some fascinating insights into sibling relationships * Daily Mail * Grips you and doesn't let go ... its originality is matched only by its page-turning compulsiveness ... Spooky, atmospheric and chilling, this novel will literally have you on the edge of your seat ... captivating and unique * Julie L Hall * A spine-chilling supernatural novel * Northern Life magazine * A spooky, twisty tale for autumn evenings * Press Association * Stunning . . . a gripping and unsettling thriller that harnesses the allure of a forbidding landscape with a spine-tingling ghost story. But The Wayward Girls proves to be much more than just a run-of-the-mill tale of ghostly goings-on... with its clever contemporary twist, its penetrating exploration of sibling and family relationships, and constantly shifting perspectives, this is a writer already ahead of the game. Brimming with emotional intensity, white-knuckle suspense, disturbing events, and an air of menace so sharp that it cuts through the pages like a knife, Mason's first novel delivers a deliciously dark and creepy atmosphere in Yorkshire-sized bucketloads . . . a powerful and accomplished first novel * Lancashire Evening Post * Mason has created a spooky, twisty tale ideal for dark autumnal evenings * Woman's Way * This book is going to be huge. Amanda Mason's coming of age tale is my favourite debut of the year so far and I'm recommending it to everyone * 17 Degrees magazine * Brilliant . . . has all the makings of a spooky classic * My Weekly * Eerie and atmospheric, Mason's latest read will unnerve as much as draw you in * Woman * A chillingly claustrophobic read * Daily Mirror * A chillingly claustrophobic read in which the secrets of the past seep into the present. Amanda Mason deftly describes the sisters' fractious relationship * Sunday Express * A real page turner * Yorkshire Gazette and Herald * The Wayward Girls is a wonderful debut. Mason expertly weaves her own brand of gothic to explore the haunting secrets of two sisters. Gripping, compelling and beautifully accomplished. * Jess Kidd, author of Himself and Things In Jars *