3 Review(s)

Since the world fell sick, sisters Payton and Ani Darke have lived in the hospital of King Jude's where their father is a methic. Both girls are set on finding a cure for the fever that has put their mother in an eternal sleep. Sensible Payton looks to scientific experiment, while impulsive Ani is intrigued by remedies from the past - from the forbidden wilderness beyond the hospital's walls. Following the discovery of a boy with gold skin being held prisoner in the hospital cellars, fate splits the sisters apart, and a Darke truth begins to emerge. The first teen novel from Angharad Walker, author of critically-acclaimed The Ash House Angharad's writing evokes the clever, unique world-building and philosophical themes of Pullman's His Dark Materials while remaining startlingly original The story follows two sisters in a London-inspired city full of fantastical illness and sprawling, gothic hospitals where dark secrets linger beneath the surface Praise for THE ASH HOUSE: 'An unexpected - and pleasing - combination of propitious and disquieting.' KIRKUS REVIEWS 'Walker's immersive story slowly reveals its secrets, using tension as a lever to tip the reader deep into the Ash House's mysteries.' PUBLISHERS WEEKLY 'The book has allegorical chill that settles slowly, like damp seeping in . . . leaving readers with a feeling of ambiguous unease that may stir for a long time in the back of their minds like the after-effects of a nightmare.' THE WALL STREET JOURNAL