Rebecca Stott

Rebecca Stott reads from Ghostwalk.

Meet novelist Rebecca Stott, author of Ghostwalk.

In 2002, a Cambridge historian is found dead, floating down the river Cam, a glass prism in her hand, after researching a book about a series of suspicious circumstances surrounding Newton's appointment as a Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge, in 1667. That year, two Fellows had died by falling down staircases, apparently drunk; another died in a field, apparently drunk; and a fourth was expelled, having gone mad-leaving vacancies for new appointments and paving the way for Newton's extraordinary scientific discoveries. When Lydia Brooke, at the request of her ex-lover, the historian's son, steps in to finish the book, strange shows of light begin to play on the walls, and papers disappear only to reappear elsewhere. And when events escalate to murder, and Lydia's rekindled romance appears increasingly implicated in the danger, the present becomes entangled with the seventeenth century, with Isaac Newton at the center of the mystery.
Filled with evocative descriptions of Cambridge, past and present, of seventeenth-century glassmaking, alchemy, the Great Plague, and Newton's scientific innovations, Ghostwalk centers on a real historical mystery that Rebecca Stott has uncovered, involving Newton's alchemy. A riveting literary thriller, Ghostwalk is a rare debut that will change the way most of us think about scientific innovation, our perception of time, and the force of history. (booksincpa)… (more)

Rebecca Stott signs Ghostwalk.

REBECCA STOTT, British professor and historian, signs her stunning debut novel, Ghostwalk, centered on a real historical mystery discovered by Stott—filled with evocative descriptions of Cambridge, past and present, of 17-century glassmaking, alchemy, the Great Plague, and Isaac Newton’s scientific innovations. The New Yorker describes the book as “an ambitious, learned thriller.” Starred reviews by both Publishers Weekly and Booklist. Just released in the U.S. as a paperback. (bookjones)… (more)

Rebecca Stott

A special treat for Friday the 13th!

A Cambridge historian is found dead, floating down the river Cam, a glass prism in her hand, leaving her magnum opus on Sir Isaac Newton's alchemy unfinished. She had been investigating a series of suspicious circumstances surrounding Newton's appointment as a Fellow of Trinity College. When Lydia Brooke, at the request of her ex-lover, the historian's son, steps in to finish the book, strange shows of light begin to play on the walls, and papers disappear only to reappear elsewhere. When events escalate to murder, the present becomes entangled with the seventeenth century - with Isaac Newton at the center of the mystery. (booksense)… (more)