Why a Booktrail?
Leah thought Maitland Farm could give her a new life – but now old ghosts are dragging her into the past.
Mistletoe
What you need to know before your trail
Following the tragic deaths of her husband and son, Leah is looking for a new life. Determined to bury her grief in hard work and desperate to escape Christmas and the reminders of what she has lost, she rushes through the purchase of a run-down Yorkshire farmhouse, arriving just as the snow shrouds her new home.
It might look like the loveliest Christmas card, but it’s soon clear it’s not just the house that needs renovation: the land is in bad heart, too. As Leah sets to work, she begins to see visions of the farm’s former occupants – and of the dark secrets that lie at the heart of Maitland Farm.
If Leah is to have a future, she must find a way to lay both her own past and theirs to rest – but the visions are becoming disturbingly real . .
Locations
Reset- England - Yorkshire
- A: The Pennines
- B: Morland
- C: Bolton Abbey - Embsay & Bolton Abbey Steam Railway
Travel Guide
Travel BookTrail style to Yorkshire and Mistletoe
Leah wants to avoid the stress of Christmas spent in Manchester where she lives:
“the gaudy shop windows, the ever-repeating chirp of carols, the cheerfulness of her colleagues that faded when they saw her watching…”
At the start of the novel, we see her head down to Yorkshire, to her new home, Maitland Farm:
“A rare opportunity…historical Yorkshire farmhouse, parts dating back to the seventeenth century….secluded position along a private track, unspoiled view. Solid timber doors and staircase…A stone-built barn, ripe for conversion.”
And her hope for the future:
“She wanted to keep somethigng new, and she would; the farm would rise again, becoming the living, lovely image of a perfect country life.”
, she must face unexplained happenings such as snowballs thrown by invisible figures, disembodied voices, strange visions and upsetting discoveries.
In its first part, Mistletoe presents us with many typical “haunted house” tropes: the “naïve” city dweller who relocates to the country; the overeager estate agent; the pangs of ‘buyer’s guilt’; restless spirits awakened by new residents; neighbours who clearly know more about the house’s past than they are willing to let on.
Booktrail Boarding Pass: Mistletoe
Destination: Yorkshire Author/Guide: Alison Littlewood Departure Time: 2000s
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