The Lantern
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- $24.99
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- $24.99
Publisher Description
A brooding, contemporary novel of secrets, lost love, perfume and Provence for fans of Tracy Rees and Jenny Ashcroft
'A modern day Rebecca, complete with an eerie house ... and nail-biting happenings' ESSENTIALS
When Eve falls for the secretive, charming Dom, their whirlwind relationship leads them to purchase Les Genevriers, an abandoned house in a rural hamlet in the south of France.
As the beautiful Provence summer turns to autumn, Eve finds it impossible to ignore the mysteries that haunt both her lover and the run-down old house, in particular the mysterious disappearance of his beautiful first wife, Rachel.
Whilst Eve tries to untangle the secrets surrounding Rachel's last recorded days, Les Genevriers itself seems to come alive. As strange events begin to occur with frightening regularity, Eve's voice becomes intertwined with that of Benedicte Lincel, a girl who lived in the house decades before.
As the tangled skeins of the house's history begin to unravel, the tension grows between Dom and Eve. In a page-turning race, Eve must fight to discover the fates of both Benedicte and Rachel, before Les Genevriers' dark history has a chance to repeat itself.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Dom, an erudite English musician, and an aspiring translator he calls "Eve" meet in a maze, fall in love, and decamp to Les Gen vriers (the Junipers), a hamlet in Provence, at the start of Lawrenson's extravagant new novel. Eve is immediately intrigued by the misnamed French house, constructed in 1887; "there is only one low-spreading juniper, hardly noble enough to warrant such recognition." Les Gen vriers is rich with antiques and hidden rooms, and also seems to be haunted. Eve is distressed when Dom refuses to talk about his ex-wife, who has gone missing, and becomes increasingly determined to investigate the disappearance. As summer slides into fall, a new narrative gracefully emerges with the discovery of audio recordings made by B n dicte Lincel, a resident of Les Gen vriers in the early 20th century. The recordings reveal a woman haunted by past tragedies and further deepen the mystery of the house. Lawrenson expertly manages suspense and intrigue throughout and breathes great, detailed life into her lush French countryside setting, making one wonder why this, her sixth novel, is the first to be published in the U.S.
