At the Bottom of the Garden

Bruce (All the Blood We Share) goes gothic in this chilling fantastical horror novel. After preteen sisters Lily and Violet are orphaned, their wealthy parents’ will stipulates they must live with their next nearest relative until elder sister Lily is 18. Unfortunately for them, all their kind, loving aunts and grandmothers have also died, and the only option left is cruel Aunt Clara. Clara is grasping and deceitful, much more interested in her late brother’s millions than his daughters. But Lily and Violet are not ordinary girls: they have inherited magical powers from their mother’s side of the family. Lily can tell from Clara’s aura when she is lying—and Violet can see all the ghosts in Clara’s rural mansion, including the kind old lady in the dining room and the angry man with terrible wounds who paces back and forth in the garden. The more of Clara’s secrets the ghosts reveal, the more Lily and Violet must use their powers to avoid joining the ranks of these restless dead. The story loses focus somewhat in the final third as it strays from the claustrophobic mansion, but the combination of creepy folk-horror notes and tense, gory, and haunting scenes conjures plenty of scares. Readers will want to sleep with the lights on. Agent: Brianne Johnson, HG Literary. (Jan.)