The Uninvited Guests

Description

The prizewinning and No 1 bestselling author Sadie Jones moves to a gorgeous and bewitching historical setting in a blissful new novel full of spooky surprises - 'promises to fill a large, Downton Abbey-shaped hole in one's cultural life' - Charlotte Sinclair, Vogue A sinister tale of haunting beauty, from The Outcast author Sadie Jones.;;It is the eve of Emerald Torrington's twentieth birthday and the family has assembled at Sterne, the once grand, now crumbling, family seat. The cake is iced, the wine decanted, the house gleams invitingly.;;But before the first dish can be served, a mysterious group of strangers arrives at the door. Victims of a local train accident they are seeking shelter at the house.;;The Torringtons welcome them in but there is something unsettling about the group and, as night falls and a storm rages outside, the family begins to wonder if something more malevolent than stranded travellers is in their home...

Sadie Jones is a novelist and screenwriter. Her first novel, The Outcast ('Devastatingly good', Daily Mail) won the Costa First Novel Award in 2008 and was shortlisted for the Orange Prize. It was also a Richard and Judy Summer Reads number one bestseller and adapted for BBC Television. Her second novel, Small Wars ('Outstanding', The Times; 'One of the best books about the English at war ever', Joel Morris), was published in 2009, and longlisted for the Orange Prize. Her third, in 2012, was The Uninvited Guests ('A shimmering comedy of manners and disturbing commentary on class... a brilliant novel', Ann Patchett) followed by Fallout in 2014 ('Intoxicating and immersive', The Sunday Times).

Dazzlingly well-written. The style is exuberant and extremely funny. This is a midsummer's night dream of a book, mythic and unforgettable * Financial Times * What a delicious literary cocktail Sadie Jones's latest novel is: part suspense, part Edwardian romcom, richly evocative of time and place... It's a spiffing tale and, even though it is at bottom a metaphysical love story, it is far more believable than Downton Abbey -- Sebastian Shakespeare * Tatler * Highly entertaining... An elegant comedy of manners with the usual undercurrents of jealousy, desire and conflicting loyalties... Jones shows that she can turn her talent for storytelling to a more stylised form with a light and playful touch, and without compromising her sharp insights into the human heart -- Stephanie Merritt * Observer * Fans of The Outcast and Small Wars won't be disappointed. Wonderfully spooky and atmospheric -- Viv Groskop * Red * With its Mitfordesque dialogue and pacy plot, this is a deliciously fun read -- Beatrice Hodgkin * Easy Living *