Growing up in Edwardian south London, Alice Rowlands longs for romance and excitement, for a release from a life that is dreary and lonely. Her father, a vet, is harsh and oppressive; his new girlfriend, brash and lascivious.

Alice seeks refuge in fantasy, in her rapturous longing for Nicholas, a handsome young sailor, and in the blossoming of what she perceives as her occult powers.

Harrowing and haunting, a Gothic tale that is a strange cross between Daphne Du Maurier and Stephen King, but will also intrigue readers of Silvia Moreno-Garcia and Diane Setterfield.

Narrated by Katherine Press