The Ghosts of Kerfol
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- €4.99
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- €4.99
Publisher Description
In her 1916 ghost story, Kerfol, Edith Wharton tells of Anne de Barrigan, a young woman convicted of murdering her jealous husband. The elderly lord was found on the stairs, apparently savaged by a pack of dogs, though there were no dogs – no live dogs – at Kerfol that day. In these remarkable intertwining stories, Deborah Noyes returns to the manor to tell de Barrigan's story through the sympathetic eyes of her servant girl. Four more tales slip forward in time, following characters haunted by the ghosts of Kerfol – the dead dogs; the sensual, uneasy relationships; and the bitter taste of revenge.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In five wonderfully chilling short stories, Noyes (Red Butterfly; Gothic!) pays homage to Edith Wharton's ghost story "Kerfol," about the wealthy Anne de Barrigan terrorized by a husband who murders her dogs and then is himself murdered by their ghosts. The first entry retells the story from the point of view of the chambermaid Perrette; the following stories march forward chronologically from the original's 17th-century setting but remain at the Kerfol chateau. In suspenseful prose that evolves from Perrette's antique speech ("I kept close by , especially when the moon swelled and paw prints dotted the mud round the moat come morning") to a contemporary perspective, Noyes follows four more unsuspecting and vulnerable victims as they enter Kerfol, now filthy with neglect, where their thoughts are overtaken by the voices and visions of those long dead. Ghost dogs appear from nowhere; the evil, twisted Yves de Cornault inspires terror from the grave; and the still beautiful spirit of Anne haunts the estate. Readers will be eager to know how next this house and its ghosts wreak havoc and even death on those unlucky enough to darken its doorstep. Ages 14 up.
