These Fleeting Shadows

June 1, 2022
A teen battles mysterious forces upon returning to her childhood home. Plagued by nightmares, visions, and strange events--and inexplicably detested by everyone she meets--17-year-old Helen Vaughan has been a pariah ever since she and her mother left Harrow, their ancestral home, 10 years ago. When her grandfather's death compels her return, Helen is stunned to learn that she stands to inherit Harrow...if she can survive a year living in a house that seems to have a malevolent mind of its own. As Helen's dreams of being buried intensify and she learns of Harrow's troubling history of mysterious deaths and missing girls, her health crumbles in visceral, horrifying ways. Something doesn't want her to learn Harrow's secrets. Is it the house's dark entity, expressed through misshapen monsters and ghostly figures? Or is it someone from her estranged family, whose members harbor grudges and grief? Aided by her cousins, Desmond and Celia, and an aloof, enigmatic witch named Bryony, Helen makes a devastating discovery that threatens everything she knows. At times, the plot is as convoluted as Harrow's shifting halls; readers will share Helen's increasing disorientation. However, those with a taste for tough questions will find many to ponder in this creepy, poignant tale: What makes a family? Are people born evil? Helen and Bryony's tentative romance lightens the gloom. Most characters are cued as White; Desmond is Black. By turns bewildering, nightmarish, and heart-wrenching. (author's note) (Paranormal suspense. 14-18)

COPYRIGHT(2022) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

July 1, 2022
Grades 9-12 Helen Vaughan has been haunted by dreams of her mother's ancestral home, Harrowstone Hall, ever since they fled 10 years ago, but Helen has no idea why her mother left or why the house is calling to her. Then her grandfather dies, leaving Harrow (the house) to her, provided she lives there for a year and is accepted by the house, which is so much more than it seems. That promise serves as an excellent ticking clock as Helen plumbs the house for its secrets, learning that it's less that she has to live there and more that she must survive there. In this creepy, atmospheric page-turner, readers will find themselves eager to unravel the dark secrets of Harrow, the Vaughan family, and Helen herself. The sometimes-confusing plot works well as it mirrors Helen's sense of disorientation at Harrow. A queer (female/female), somewhat-forbidden romance provides a bit of levity to the heavier themes of family, belonging, and what it means to be a monster. Highly recommended for readers who love supernatural horror with a touch of mystery.

COPYRIGHT(2022) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

July 25, 2022
Helen Vaughan, 17, doesn’t know why people instinctively dislike her, nor why she’s plagued by peculiar dreams of her family’s ancestral home, in Marshall’s (Our Last Echoes) pulse-pounding horror novel. Helen also can’t remember why she and her mother fled Harrowstone Hall (dubbed “Harrow”), their family’s historic estate, when Helen was seven, but she suspects the issues interrelate. Her mother hasn’t spoken with Helen’s grandparents in a decade, so it’s a shock when, upon her grandfather’s death, he leaves both Harrow and his $40 million estate to Helen. To inherit it, however, she must live in Harrow for one year. Determined to learn why the house haunts her dreams, Helen, aided by her cousins and an enigmatic “Harrow Witch,” agrees, but when she starts falling ill, losing time, and seeing monsters that inexplicably disappear, she worries she may not live long enough to find out. While Harrow’s mythos is muddled, complex plotting, nightmarish imagery, and haunting prose, coupled with Helen’s equal parts anxious and driven first-person narrative, buoy Marshall’s mystifying tale. One Vaughan cousin is Black; all other characters cue as white. Ages 14–up. Agent: Lauren Spieller, Triada US.

December 9, 2022

Gr 8 Up-An eerie story of family secrets, murder, curses, and the un-living. Seventeen-year-old Helen Vaughan is different: she has never had a friend, is homeschooled, and was accused of attacking a child when she was young. There's a "darkness" to her that people are repelled by. When her estranged grandfather dies, Helen has to travel back to the Harrowstone Hall estate where she was born, along with her mother and her mother's boyfriend, to attend the funeral. Her family's striking mansion is eerie, and Helen is immediately uncomfortable, but meeting the teenage cousins she hasn't seen in years brings her spirits up. More surprisingly, her grandfather has left all his assets to her-she is now the Mistress of Harrowstone-which enrages the rest of the family. There are chilling things happening all around her, and even the resident "witch" (just the groundskeeper's daughter) can't understand why Helen is suffering debilitating headaches and is communicating with the undead. Is there a curse in the mansion? She needs to find out soon, before she becomes undead herself. This novel is well paced and truly spooky. There is a queer relationship between the two main characters, and they are very relatable. The mystery is slowly revealed, and the mounting tension will keep teens engaged. Readers will root for Helen from page one in this unnerving story. VERDICT Recommended for collections where horror and supernatural books circulate well.-Carol Youssif

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