First published 2015
Iris Villarca lives trapped in a decaying mansion on Dartmoor with only her father for company. At fifteen, she represents the final generation of a bloodline marked by early death. The Villarcas have hidden from the world for generations, nursing their mysterious affliction in solitude. Their isolation stems from more than illness. A bone-white woman visits their family in darkness, staring into their eyes before claiming their lives. Iris has sworn to remain hidden, to never venture beyond their estate's boundaries. But youth rebels against such constraints. When Iris breaks her vow and allows herself to love someone, she triggers consequences that reveal the full scope of their family curse. The pale woman who stalks their bloodline becomes more than a harbinger of death. Iris and her father discover that their curse runs deeper than they understood, that love itself may be the key that unlocks their destruction.
Genres: literary-fiction, mystery, horror, gothic
Vibes: atmospheric, dark, emotional, suspenseful
Tropes: enemies-to-lovers, forbidden-love, unreliable-narrator
Setting: Dartmoor
Period: 19th-century
368 pages · ebook · Weidenfeld & Nicolson
Content warnings: death, mental-illness