The Ghost of Gosswater

Agatha Asquith has grown up in the majestic Gosswater Hall with everything her heart desires – but when her parents die suddenly in a terrible accident, Agatha and her family home are left to the mercy of their eldest living male heir, her cruel and devious cousin Clarence.

Clarence banishes Agatha from Gosswater Hall and sends her to live with a man she has never met, whom he claims to be her ‘real father’. Thomas is a poor farmer who lives in a tumbledown cottage, and doesn’t think much of Agatha’s privileged upbringing. Agatha – alone, frightened, and left to the care of a stranger – must adjust to her new life as best she can.

But from the stroke of midnight on New Year’s Eve, strange and unexplainable things start to happen – an eerie light on the lake near Gosswater Hall, the shimmering shape of a woman at Agatha’s window. And it seems she will not rest until the secrets of Gosswater Hall, and Agatha’s past, are revealed.

Inspired by and set in the Lake District, this is a beautiful, haunting ghost story, full of vividly written characters – the odious cousin Clarence is a delight – and brimming with magic and mystery, though it never sets out to scare its readers. Perfect for independent readers seeking a book to really escape into as the nights get darker, or a gentle bedtime read to snuggle up with.