The Darkest Night

By: Victoria Hawthorne

Narrated by: Eilidh Beaton, Helen McAlpine, Samara MacLaren

Some secrets last for generations . . .

A bewitching and haunting story of family secrets - and the lengths some will go to protect them.

When Ailsa Reid becomes the subject of a trial by media after an incident at the school where she works, she escapes to the comfort of her grandparents' house in Fife. But she arrives to find her grandmother, Moira - recently diagnosed with dementia - has gone missing, and her grandfather, Rupert, gravely injured.

Desperate to ensure Moira's safe return, Ailsa must rely on the help of her estranged mother, Rowan, who abandoned her at birth. Tensions simmer between the two women as they attempt to piece together the lead-up to Moira's disappearance.

But to move forward and find Moira, both Ailsa and Rowan must look to their ancestors, and to a story about witches burned on the hill above the Reid house centuries ago. Can they break the bonds of history in time to save their family? Or will the Reid curse be their undoing?

©2023 Victoria Hawthorne (P)2023 Quercus Editions Limited

Critic reviews

A deliciously twisty gothic mystery with plenty of heart. (Heather Darwent)

Full of mystery and intrigue, The Darkest Night by Victoria Hawthorne unravels the secrets that bind three generations of Reid women, as they each seek to live a life free from oppression and fear, in a tale that is both fiercely feminist and refreshingly representative (Anita Frank)

A wonderfully twisting tale of family secrets, gothic mystery and intrigue (Rebecca Netley)