The Unrecovered

Shortlisted for the Bloody Scotland Debut Prize

'Impressive' Sunday Times

'Audacious' Scotsman

'Beautifully written' Michelle Paver

What the years have buried is about to be exposed...

The gloomy fortress of Gallondean lies on the Scottish coast. Local legend has it that if the heirs to the house hear the howling of a spectral hound nearby, their death will quickly follow.

The current owner of the house is Jacob Beresford who, up until the unexpected death of his father, had never set foot within its crumbling walls. Jacob, already haunted by his own demons, has no need of more ghosts, but as the First World War staggers through its last terrible months and he uncovers unsettling details of his new home’s past, the shadows seem to be growing around him.

Then he meets Esther, a young volunteer nurse serving at nearby Roddinglaw, an elegant country house requisitioned for use as a temporary hospital ward. Esther, widowed in the early months of the war, dreams of being a poet as she assists the men around her, some of whom are struggling to come to terms with permanent, life-changing injuries. But it is one of the soldiers who appears to have only a minor injury, whose life comes to intersect with both Esther and Jacob in horrifying and unexpected ways.

Danger stalks the woods and coast around them, but it soon becomes clear that the gravest threats are within….

Both unsettling and evocative, deeply atmospheric and brilliantly engaging The Unrecovered is an unforgettable historical debut inspired by a real-life legend and marks the arrival of an outstanding new talent.

'Stunning' Rebecca Netley

'Eerie' Naomi Kelsey

'Compelling' Martin MacInnes