"[A] sweeping Gothic drama of a freethinking, self-reliant woman caught between Victorian constraints, ancient superstitions, and the deep bonds of family... After tragedy befalls her family, Claire Bietris is now married to schoolmaster James Ableton. They live in the perfect country village where James has always enjoyed peace, even as an outsider. But when a body is found brutalized and half-buried in an ancient long barrow, Claire's new life, and James' own hard-won acceptance, is threatened by dark forces real, imagined, and possibly conjured. A mysterious illness plagues Claire and prescient voices haunt her as she must face the shadowed secrets of her past. With an unsettling dose of magical realism imbued with historic atmosphere, Claire's journey is one of peril, heartache and redemption"--Page 4 of cover