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Castle Barebane

By Joan Aiken
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Brief Description
Joan Aiken writes superbly, with a force, a colour and strength of imagination that one encounters all too rarely today – The Telegraph Strong and independent Valhalla Montgomery, a heroine straight out of a Henry James novel, abandons her New York career as a journalist to... Read More
Format: Paperback / softback
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Joan Aiken takes us from cosmopolitan New York to a bleak Scottish castle in her unforgettable Gothic novel about love, loss and tragedy.

Joan Aiken takes us from cosmopolitan New York to a bleak Scottish castle in her unforgettable Gothic novel about love, loss and tragedy.

Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Description

Joan Aiken writes superbly, with a force, a colour and strength of imagination that one encounters all too rarely today – The Telegraph

Strong and independent Valhalla Montgomery, a heroine straight out of a Henry James novel, abandons her New York career as a journalist to search for her half-brother in Joan Aiken’s gothic novel, Castle Barebane.

Wishing to escape from her pretentious New York fiancé, Valla is happy to have an excuse to travel to England, only to discover that her half-brother and his wife have disappeared from their London home – leaving their young two children all alone.

Finding Victorian London a gloomy and sinister place, haunted by a series of Ripper style murders, Valla takes the children up to Scotland to a bleak family property known as Castle Barebane. In this Gothic ruin, perched on the edge of a cliff, the mystery surrounding her missing brother only gets darker, and more terrifying...

Castle Barebane is an unforgettable tale of love, loss, and human nature, brought to life by Joan Aiken’s vivid storytelling and gripping plot. Perfect for fans of gothic mystery and readers of Virginia Andrews or Nicola Cornick.

Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9781035057580

Publisher: Pan Macmillan

Format: Paperback / softback

Date Published: 24 July 2025

Country: United Kingdom

Imprint: Pan Books

Audience: General / adult

DIMENSIONS

Spine width: 29.0mm

Width: 129.0mm

Height: 196.0mm

Weight: 312g

Pages: 464

Collections

Fiction General Fiction Historical Fiction Historical Romance Joan Aiken Romance

About the Author

Joan Aiken was born in Rye, Sussex in 1924, daughter of the American poet Conrad Aiken, and started writing herself at the age of five. Since the 1960s she wrote full time and published over 100 books. Best known for her children's books such as The Wolves of Willoughby Chase and Midnight is a Place, she also wrote extensively for adults and published many contemporary and historical novels, including sequels to novels by Jane Austen. In 1968 she won the Guardian Children's book prize for Whispering Mountain, followed by an Edgar Allan Poe award for Night Fall in 1972, and was awarded an MBE for her services to children's literature in 1999. Joan Aiken died in 2004.

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