Showing results by author "Kiran Millwood Hargrave" in All Categories

From Dickens's A Christmas Carol to the ghost stories of M.R. James, the tradition of a haunted tale at Christmas has flourished across the centuries. The twelve stories of The Winter Spirits are all centred around Christmas or Advent, boldly and playfully re-imagining a beloved tradition for a modern audience. Taking you from a haunted Tuscan villa to a remote Scottish island with a dark secret, and drawing inspiration from festive traditions from all around the globe, these vibrant haunted stories are your ultimate companion for frosty nights.

Winter, with its unsettling blend of the cosy and the sinister, has long been a popular time for gathering by the bright flame of a candle, or the warm crackling of a fire, and swapping stories of ghosts and strange happenings. Now eight best-selling, award-winning authors, master storytellers of the sinister and the macabre bring this time-honoured tradition to vivid life in a spellbinding collection of new and original haunted tales.

Sofia and her little brother, Ermin, are sent to the convent orphanage but soon escape, led by an enigmatic new friend and their pet crow, Corvith. Together they cross the city underground, following clues in bones up to the towers of Siena, where - circled by magpies - the children find the terrible truth....

Julia has followed her mum and dad to live on a remote island for the summer - her dad, for work; her mother, on a determined mission to find the elusive Greenland shark. But when her mother's obsession threatens to submerge them all, Julia finds herself on an adventure with dark depths and a lighthouse full of hope.

Ysolda has lived her life in the shadow of the wolf queen's tyrannical rule but, safe in her forest haven, she has never truly felt its threat. Until one day when a mysterious earthquake shakes the land and her older sister Hari vanishes in its wake. Accompanied by her loyal sea hawk, Nara, Ysolda embarks on a desperate rescue mission. But when she is forced to strike a bargain with the wolf queen herself, she soon finds herself embroiled in a quest for a magic more powerful - and more dangerous - than she could ever have imagined.

Mila and her sisters live with their brother, Oskar, in a small forest cabin in the snow. One night, a fur-clad stranger arrives seeking shelter for himself and his men. But by the next morning, they've gone, taking Oskar with them. Fearful for his safety, Mila and her sisters set out to bring Oskar back - even if it means going north, crossing wild and frozen lands to find a way past an eternal winter.

Fox wakes, and begins to walk. She crosses ice and snow, over mountains and across frozen oceans, encountering bears and birds beneath the endless daylight of an Arctic summer, navigating a world that is vast, wild and wondrous. Meanwhile, Leila embarks on a journey of her own—finding her way to the mother who left her. On a breathtaking journey across the sea, Leila rediscovers herself and the mother she thought she'd lost, with help from a determined little fox.

There is something peculiar about the hour after midnight. It is the time when darkness reigns. And strange things roam the earth. In this dazzling collection of new and original haunted tales, thirteen bestselling and much-loved authors bring this hour to vivid, spine-tingling life. So curl up, light a candle, and wait for the clocks to strike . . .

They say the thirst of blood is like a madness - they must sate it. Even with their own kin. On the eve of her divining, the day she'll discover her fate, 17-year-old Lil and her twin sister, Kizzy, are captured and enslaved by the cruel Boyar Valcar, taken far away from their beloved traveller community. Forced to work in the harsh and unwelcoming castle kitchens, Lil is comforted when she meets Mira, a fellow slave who she feels drawn to in a way she doesn't understand.

Ysolda is on the run, travelling with a rebellious princess to the wilds of the Drakken Peak - on the back of a huge sea wolf. With her faithful sea hawk Nara by her side, her quest to find the fabled magic of the Geomancer is just beginning ...

Forbidden to leave her island, Isabella dreams of the faraway lands her cartographer father once mapped. When her best friend disappears, she's determined to be part of the search party. Guided by an ancient map and her knowledge of the stars, Isabella navigates the island's dangerous Forgotten Territories. But beneath the dry rivers and dead forests, a fiery myth is stirring from its sleep.

1617. The sea around the remote Norwegian island of Vardø is thrown into a vicious storm. A young woman, Maren, watches as the men of the island, out fishing, perish in an instant. Eighteen months later, a sinister figure arrives. Absalom Cornet has been summoned to bring the women of the island to heel. With him travels his young wife, Ursa. In her new home, and in Maren, Ursa encounters something she has never seen before: independent women. But where Ursa finds happiness, even love, Absalom sees only a place flooded with a terrible evil, one he must root out at all costs....

Strasbourg, 1518. In the midst of a blisteringly hot summer, a lone woman begins to dance in the city square. She dances for days without pause or rest, and as she is joined by hundreds of others, the authorities declare an emergency. Musicians will be brought in to play the Devil out of these women. Just beyond the city’s limits, Lisbet lives with her mother-in-law and husband, tending the bees that are their livelihood. And then, as the dancing plague gathers momentum, Lisbet’s sister-in-law returns from seven years’ penance in the mountains for a crime no one will name.

Amihan lives on Culion Island where some of the inhabitants, including her mother, have leprosy. Ami loves her home with its blue sea and lush forests, but the arrival of Mr Zamora changes her world forever as Ami is banished from the island. She seeks to return before her mother's death. Can the colony of butterflies lead her home before it's too late?

FEAT DESC 1617, Vardø, au nord du cercle polaire, en Norvège. Maren Magnus-datter, vingt ans, regarde depuis le village la violente tempête qui s'abat sur la mer. Quarante pêcheurs, dont son frère et son père, gisent sur les rochers en contrebas, noyés. Ce sont les hommes de Vardø qui ont été ainsi décimés, et les femmes vont désormais devoir assurer seules leur survie.

Isabella träumt sich mit den Landkarten ihres Vaters in ferne Länder, denn sie darf nicht einmal ihr Dorf auf der abgelegenen Insel Joya verlassen. Außerhalb des Dorfes lauern finstere Mächte, alte Legenden sprechen sogar von einem Dämon. Doch als ihre beste Freundin Lupe in den Vergessenen Gebieten verschwindet, zögert Isabella keine Sekunde. Nur sie kann ihre Freundin retten, denn ihre Familie hütet einen wertvollen Besitz: die einzige vollständige Karte der Insel, die ein magisches Geheimnis birgt.

Julia zieht mit ihren Eltern in einen abgelegenen Leuchtturm auf den Shetland-Inseln. Dort möchte ihre Mutter den Grönlandhai erforschen. Doch mit der Zeit verliert sich Julias Mutter zunehmend in der Forschung – an manchen Tagen ist sie geradezu überdreht, an anderen furchtbar traurig und verschlossen. Julia und ihr Vater kommen kaum mehr an sie heran und die Familie droht zu zerbrechen. Eines Abends wird Julias Mutter, die an einer bipolaren Störung leidet, ins Krankenhaus eingeliefert.

Straßburg, im glühend heißen Sommer 1518: Mitten in der Stadt beginnt eine Frau zu tanzen. Tagelang, ohne Unterbrechung. Hunderte folgen ihrem Beispiel und die Obrigkeit ruft verzweifelt den Notstand aus. Außerhalb der Stadtgrenze spürt die schwangere Lisbet noch nichts von dem Aufruhr. Doch als ihre Schwägerin Nethe aus der Verbannung auf den Hof zurückkehrt, beginnt auch unter Lisbets Füßen der Boden zu beben. Was verbirgt Nethe? Welche Sünde hat sie begangen, für die sie sieben Jahre lang Buße tat?