The Darkling: A Novel
“A good storyteller - and R. B. Chesterton is quite a good storyteller - knows to lower her voice when she's talking about ghosts...[a] spellbinding tale, offering eloquent evidence that Southern storytelling is indeed a very special art form.” (The New York Times Book Review)“In this unsettling piece of American gothic, the arrival of a 16-year-old foster child results in the unraveling of a close-knit family, arousing the suspicions of their young nanny. With its 1974 setting and slow burn narrative,The Darklingis a throwback to a time when the novels of Ira Levin and Thomas Tryon ruled bookshelves, when the most popular horror novels were both literary and scary.” (Bloody-disgusting.com)“As the questions hover and grow more intense, it's virtually impossible not to pursue the answers to the end. In fact, as [Chesterton's] novel gains momentum like a fast-moving train, it's hard to put the book down at all. Not for nothing is she one of our most decorated writers.” (Alabama Writers Forum)“Coden,  Ala., once a thriving resort town, serves as the setting for this sharp  and edgy gothic thriller, set in 1974. Coden residents look to  California transplants Berta and Bob Henderson to bring prosperity back,  since the couple plans to restore the shabby Paradise Inn, once a  magnet for Hollywood legends. Meanwhile, canny 21-year-old Marie  Bosarge, whom the Hendersons have hired to tutor their three adventurous  youngsters and to be a companion to 16-year-old Annie, a foster child  of uncertain origin, slowly realizes she’s dealing with malevolent  forces she can’t understand. Why do unidentified claw marks appear in  Belle Fleur, the family’s historic house? And who’s the sinister wraith  at the edge of the woods? As Marie begins to research the past of the  Paradise Inn and Belle Fleur, she comes across a tragic and horrific  story that resonates into the present.” (Publishers Weekly)