First published 1985
Lucy lives with her peculiar family in a house where clocks behave strangely and visitors often leave looking older than when they arrived. She begins to suspect her relatives possess an unusual ability to take something precious from the people who visit them. As Lucy watches her family interact with neighbors and strangers, she realizes they are stealing time from these unsuspecting victims, literally shortening their lives to extend their own. The discovery forces Lucy to confront a terrible choice between her loyalty to her family and her growing understanding of right and wrong. She must decide whether to join them in their supernatural thievery or find a way to stop them, knowing that either path will change her forever. The story explores how a young person navigates moral awakening when the people she loves most are doing something fundamentally wrong.
Genres: fiction, fantasy, supernatural, thriller
Vibes: atmospheric, dark, emotional, suspenseful
Tropes: family-loyalty, moral-dilemma, supernatural-powers
128 pages · Paperback · Methuen
Content warnings: death