The Shadow Key

Susan Stokes-Chapman was born in 1985 and grew up in the historic Georgian city of Lichfield Staffordshire. She studied for four years at Aberystwyth University graduating with a BA in Education & English Literature and an MA in Creative Writing. Her debut novel <i>Pandora</i> was shortlisted for the Lucy Cavendish Fiction prize 2020 and became an instant <i>Sunday Times</i> number-one bestseller. You can find Susan on Instagram and Twitter under the handle @SStokesChapman. Her website is www.susanstokeschapman.com. <p>Meirionydd 1783. Henry Talbot has been dismissed from his post at a prestigious London hospital. The only job he can find is as a physician in the backwaters of Wales where he can't speak the language belief in myth and magic is rife and the villagers treat him with bewildering suspicion. When Henry discovers his predecessor died under mysterious circumstances he is determined to find answers.<br><br>Linette Tresilian the unconventional mistress of Plas Helyg lives a lonely life. Her father is long dead her mother haunted by demons which keep her locked away in her room and her cousin treats her with cool disdain - she has had no choice but to become fiercely self-reliant.<br><br>Linette has always suspected something is not quite right in the village but it is only through Henry's investigations that the truth about those closest to her will come to light...a truth that will bind hers and Henry's destinies together in ways neither thought possible.<br><br><b>PRAISE FOR SUSAN STOKES-CHAPMAN:</b><br><br><b>'A gripping narrative in which secrets from the past are slowly and ingeniously revealed' <i>Sunday Times</i> *Historical Fiction Book of the Month*</b><br><br><b>'An immersive evocative story full of romance and intrigue'</b> <b><i>Red</i></b><br><br>'<b>Romantic suspenseful and beautifully written... a glorious treat' <i>Daily Mail</i></b></p> A mesmerising maze of a gothic Georgian mystery. Enter an eerie and liminal world steeped in superstition Welsh folklore and pagan cults. Gloriously atmospheric from the first dark page to the last