The Ghost House
About
Occupied France, 1944
In the shadow of the ravaged battlefields of Verdun, where the scars of the First World War never healed, Vianne, struggling to hold onto her crumbling family chateau, takes in her traumatized nephew Blaise after the arrest of her sister by the Nazis.
But when Blaise says he can see eerie figures in the fog and whispers from the forbidden forest beyond the fence, it seems something ancient and sorrowful stirs in the soil where soldiers of the Great War once bled. As strange guests arrive at the old house and secrets surface, Vianne must face the terrifying possibility that the brutal SS aren’t the only horrors she must face...
If you loved The Others you’ll love this!
Readers are LOVING The Ghost House...
‘Andie Newton blends historical suspense with the eerie pull of the supernatural. Perfect for fans of atmospheric ghost stories with rich emotional stakes.’ Terry Lynn Thomas, USA Today bestselling author of The Silent Woman
'Newton’s eerie, emotionally charged tale of occupied France had me racing through pages.' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
'The author absolutely entranced me with this story' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
'This book sat with me and lingered' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
'Absolutely gripping from page one. An excellent edge of your seat read' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
'Outstanding – I devoured it. An eery tale told with Newton's trademarked attention to detail and evocative historical story telling.' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
'It is a riveting, haunting tale that stays with you long after you've turned the last page.' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
'I loved the characters – it felt like I was there with them in their terrifying struggles – and I was glued to the pages. And that ending! I can’t stop thinking about it.' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
‘A book which would appeal equally to fans of the WW2 genre, and anyone who enjoys a good ghost story. ' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
'This is a historical thriller that builds and builds. What is real and what is not? Watch your step! I loved it.' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
'I couldn't stop thinking about the ending … [for] anyone who loves historical fiction with a dark, eerie twist' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
'This is more than a ghost story; it’s a tale of resilience, love, and the shadows we carry. A must-read for fans of historical fiction, and a perfect read for spooky season!' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
'This book is creepy, spooky, and full of people trying to do the right thing, even when it's terrifying.' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
'I was utterly gripped right from the very first page and was hooked all the way through. This was a haunting and atmospheric read that gave me goosebumps' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Praise for this book
I don’t usually relate to the paranormal, but a good book is a good book, and this is one of those ghost stories where the ghosts never actually appear and it is left to the reader to decide if they really existed outside the minds of the book’s tormented characters.
The setting is truly ghostly. The battle of Verdun in 1916 was the most terrible battle of the Western Front in WW1, in comparison with which the Somme was almost a sideshow. The battle was fought over quite a small area, leaving it a wilderness full of unexploded ordnance and the bodies of thousands of dead soldiers. After the war the area was sealed off and remains so today.
The Ghost House is set in 1944, in the last days of the German occupation of France in WW2, in a run-down chateau on the edge of the exclusion zone. A couple of Parisian occultists, sponsored by the Germans, rent part of the chateau as the base for a project to raise the spirits of the dead German soldiers of Verdun, to lend supernatural aid to repel the expected Allied invasion. The Nazis did indeed have a weird fascination with the occult, so the project is just about feasible. Obviously, it fails, disappointing the occultists and their sponsors.
The real focus of interest however is not the ghosts or the ghost-hunters but the household that inhabits the chateau. Vianne, a war widow, is carer for both her elderly mother-in-law and her orphaned nephew. Her daily struggle is scarcely lightened by her resentful cook, whom Vianne cannot afford to pay except in jewellery. The bickering between them and with the local villagers is expertly managed, mainly in dialogue. Read the book for this, even if you don’t like ghosts.