the girl who never left
(Also published as Gather the bones)
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Two women. Two love stories. A past that refuses to stay buried.
A haunting historical mystery about grief, love and the secrets hidden in an old diary. England, 1923. A house full of memories she was never part of. After losing her husband in the Great War, Helen Morrow moves with her young daughter to the family estate where he grew up. The house is filled with memories she was never part of and people she barely knows. There she meets the mother-in-law she has never met and her husband’s reclusive cousin Paul, a man still living in the shadow of the war. Searching for answers about the man she loved, Helen discovers an old diary belonging to a woman who once lived in the house – a woman whose scandal rocked the family before she disappeared without a trace. As Helen and Paul begin to uncover the truth behind the diary, long-buried secrets start to surface. In the quiet corridors of the old house, Helen cannot shake the feeling that the past is closer than it should be. But until the mystery of the vanished woman is finally solved, Helen may never discover the truth about her husband – or find peace in the place he once called home. This work was previously published as Gather the Bones by Alison Stuart. A sweeping historical fiction saga of hidden truths, slow-burn romance and the ghosts that refuse to let the living go. Perfect for readers of Suzy Henderson. |
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Awarded an Honourable Mention in the 2012 RONE Award and a finalist in the 2012 Australian Romance Readers, the 2013 CRW Award of Excellence,2012 GDRWA Booksellers Best Award and the 2014 EPIC Awards.
VIEW the TRAILER FOR GATHER THE BONES... |
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PUBLISHERS' WEEKLY REVIEW OF GATHER THE BONES May 2015
Likable, relatable characters augment Stuart’s compelling romantic ghost story set in post-WWI England. When war widow Helen Morrow visits the family home of Charlie, her deceased husband, for the first time, she is greeted by his resentful mother. The fact that Helen is Australian is enough to turn Lady Evelyn Morrow and all of her peers against the “colonial interloper,” even to the point of snubbing Helen and Charlie’s young child. Helen’s only ally is Charlie’s cousin Paul, a recluse recovering from his own war injuries and tortured by painful memories. When eerie manifestations begin to haunt the pair, it’s easy for Paul to dismiss them as nothing—or perhaps as symptoms of his battle-related trauma. But as ghosts from both the recent and the distant past encroach, Paul and Helen are drawn toward each other. A little predictability doesn’t detract from Stuart’s beautifully drawn story about the damage wrought by war and xenophobia, and the transcendent power of love. (BookLife)