Hiding from the Light
by Barbara Erskine
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Description
Emma Dickson has a successful career and a flourishing relationship in the city. So why does the advertisement for sale of Liza's Cottage, a house she remembers from childhood holidays on the rural Essex coast, turn her well-ordered life upside down with longing? Mike Sinclair is the new rector of Manningtree and Mistley, the tightly knit community where Liza's Cottage is situated. He is fascinated by the history of the parish, especially the seventeenth century, when Witchfinder General show more Matthew Hopkins conducted his terrible work. It is his ghost that haunts the old shop in the high street, they say – or perhaps the spirits of his victims. Emma pins her dreams on her move to Mistley. But, once there, she is haunted by nightmares, dreams of the past, and of the cottage's original owner at the time of the witch-hunt. The home she wanted so desperately now seems menacing. Mike is worried by the increasing level of supernatural disturbance in his parish. What has led to the growing sense of unease and violence that has the town in its grip? He starts to investigate but realises with horror that he himself feels the influence of whatever evil is stalking the town. As the ancient feast of Halloween approaches, the escalating sense of menace threatens to explode into terrifying violence. Only a handful of people glimpse what is really going on. Can they work out how to defeat the evil before it destroys them all? show lessTags
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Member Reviews
I have just finished reading this novel for the third time and I enjoyed it just as much as the first two. This is an interesting look at a town in which the spirits of the past rest uneasily and return to haunt and possess the living in order to complete their agenda and exact revenge for their lives.
Hiding from the Light is extremely well written. The juxtaposition of the past with the present is well done and the characters evoke sympathy from the reader. The plot is believable but creepy and left me with a sense of unease as only supernatural thrillers can. As a pagan, the only problem I had with this book is the portrayal of Wiccans as being either misguided or evil.
Overall, this was a great read, and I would recommend it!
Hiding from the Light is extremely well written. The juxtaposition of the past with the present is well done and the characters evoke sympathy from the reader. The plot is believable but creepy and left me with a sense of unease as only supernatural thrillers can. As a pagan, the only problem I had with this book is the portrayal of Wiccans as being either misguided or evil.
Overall, this was a great read, and I would recommend it!
Potentially an interesting subject and started off quite promising, but couldn't believe the initially sympathetic Wiccan character's transformation into out and out psycho.
Entertaining but extremely long winded read.
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Author Information
35+ Works 5,077 Members
Awards and Honors
Common Knowledge
- People/Characters
- Emma Dickson; Mike Sinclair
- Important places
- Essex, England, UK
- First words
- Lightening was flickering over the low Suffolk hills and thunder rumbled in the distance, louder this time.
- Last words
- (Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)But I can't help believing that the full story has not been told even now . . .
Classifications
Statistics
- Members
- 297
- Popularity
- 107,577
- Reviews
- 3
- Rating
- (3.63)
- Languages
- Czech, English, German
- Media
- Paper, Audiobook, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 21
- ASINs
- 2
