Frost Hollow Hall: 'The Queen of Historical Fiction at her finest.' Guardian

Description

The gates to Frost Hollow Hall loomed before us. They were great tall things, the ironwork all twisted leaves and queer-looking flowers. And they were very definitely shut.Tilly's heart sinks. Will's at the door of their cottage, daring her to come ice-skating up at Frost Hollow Hall. No one goes near the place these days. Rumour has it that the house is haunted . . . Ten years ago the young heir, Kit Barrington, drowned there in the lake. But Tilly never turns down a dare. Then it goes horribly wrong. The ice breaks, Tilly falls through and almost drowns. At the point of death, a beautiful angel appears in the water and saves her. Kit Barrington's ghost. Kit needs Tilly to solve the mystery of his death, so that his spirit can rest in peace. In order to discover all she can, Tilly gets work as a maid at Frost Hollow Hall. But the place makes her flesh crawl. It's all about the dead here, she's told, and in the heart of the house she soon discovers all manner of dark secrets . . .Frost Hollow Hall is a thrilling historical fiction debut. Told in Tilly's unique voice, it is a tale of love and loss, and how forgiveness is the key to recovery.

Emma Carroll is a secondary school English teacher. She has also worked as a news reporter, an avocado picker and the person who punches holes into filofax paper. She recently graduated with distinction from Bath Spa University's MA in Writing For Young People. Frost Hollow Hall is Emma's debut novel. Told in the distinctive voice of Tilly Higgins, it was inspired by a winter's day from Emma's childhood. Currently, Emma is working on her second novel, set in a Victorian circus.Emma lives in the Somerset hills with her husband and two terriers.

This is a charming story which, despite dealing with dark themes of grief, poverty and death, remains light-hearted and hopeful. With wonderful description and great characterisation, Emma Carroll is a real find and Frost Hollow Hall is a perfect ghostly mystery for fans of Eva Ibbotson, Ellen Renner and Marie-Louise Jense We Love This Book A spine-tingling debut novel with a strong period flavour that will delight all those who love a good ghost story LoveReading4Kids An excellent read to curl up with on a winter's evening The Bookbag A beautiful debut, that touches on the classics of childhoods gone by Serendipity Reviews