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'Impressive' Sunday Times
'Audacious' Scotsman
'Beautifully written' Michelle Paver
'Stunning' Rebecca Netley
'Eerie' Naomi Kelsey
'Compelling' Martin MacInnes
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 is it 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.
Published | 13 Feb 2025 |
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Format | Hardback |
Edition | 1st |
Extent | 304 |
ISBN | 9781526670533 |
Imprint | Raven Books |
Dimensions | 234 x 153 mm |
Publisher | Bloomsbury Publishing |
The gothic richness that imbues Strachan's writing is haunting as it is beautiful, and reminiscent of the wonderfully dark tales that inspired me to become a writer. The Unrecovered is a rare gem of gothic literature, and the meticulous melding of historical fiction into the narrative makes its horror all the more captivating
A. M. Shine
Immersive, beautifully written, and with an intriguing setting, The Unrecovered builds towards an hallucinatory climax
Michelle Paver
Creeping unease gives way to abject horror in this dark tale of dreadful inheritance and inexorable fate. Strachan is a formidable talent, weaving virtuoso sentences and deft allusions through this compelling historical nightmare
Martin MacInnnes, author of Booker Prize longlisted In Ascension
A formidable and deftly crafted nightmare, from a time of universal war, stretching backwards and forwards over the generations and across the map. The latest haunting in a classic Scottish tradition derived from Stevenson and Hogg
Iain Sinclair
In this beautifully written and compulsive debut, Strachan weaves the horrors of WW1 with the shadow of a dreadful legacy. Dark, intelligent and profoundly moving, I devoured this stunning debut in two sittings. I will be thinking about this story and its characters for some time
Rebecca Netley, author of The Whistling
Mark your calendars for February – The Unrecovered by Richard Strachan is an astonishing debut. A multilayered and gripping exploration of grief, trauma and atonement taking in Robert Browning, the Crusades, Peter Pan, colonialism and spooky hounds: complex, compelling and eerie
Naomi Kelsey, author of The Burnings
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