The Stopped Heart, Julie Myerson
The Stopped Heart, Julie Myerson
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The Stopped Heart
A Novel

Author: Julie Myerson

Narrator: Elizabeth Knowelden, Lucinda Clare

Unabridged: 14 hr 56 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: HarperAudio

Published: 03/29/2016


Synopsis

Internationally bestselling author Julie Myerson’s beautifully written, yet deeply chilling, novel of psychological suspense explores the tragedies—past and present—haunting a picturesque country cottage.Mary Coles and her husband, Graham, have just moved to a cottage on the edge of a small village. The house hasn’t been lived in for years, but they are drawn to its original features and surprisingly large garden, which stretches down into a beautiful apple orchard. It’s idyllic, remote, picturesque: exactly what they need to put the horror of the past behind them.

One hundred and fifty years earlier, a huge oak tree was felled in front of the cottage during a raging storm. Beneath it lies a young man with a shock of red hair, presumed dead—surely no one could survive such an accident. But the red-haired man is alive, and after a brief convalescence is taken in by the family living in the cottage and put to work in the fields. The children all love him, but the eldest daughter, Eliza, has her reservations. There’s something about the red-haired man that sits ill with her. A presence. An evil.

Back in the present, weeks after moving to the cottage and still drowning beneath the weight of insurmountable grief, Mary Coles starts to sense there’s something in the house. Children’s whispers, footsteps from above, half-caught glimpses of figures in the garden. A young man with a shock of red hair wandering through the orchard.

Has Mary’s grief turned to madness? Or have the events that took place so long ago finally come back to haunt her…?

Reviews

Goodreads review by Maxine

This book was honestly one of the most powerful I have ever read. In terms of stirring emotion, incredible writing and characters that just took my breath away, I cannot, cannot rave about this book enough. When I put this book down I was in a whirlwind of thoughts and feelings and it was somewhat l......more

Goodreads review by Maxine

This book was honestly one of the most powerful I have ever read. In terms of stirring emotion, incredible writing and characters that just took my breath away, I cannot, cannot rave about this book enough. When I put this book down I was in a whirlwind of thoughts and feelings and it was somewhat l......more

2.5 stars. DNF at roundabouts 20%. First let me say this: this is not a bad book. Its very much a case of "It's not you, it's me." I think that many people will really enjoy this! I hope so! But for me it was not working for several reasons. 1) I had very high expectations. Almost every review is prac......more

Goodreads review by Amanda

It was a book I couldn't stop reading and then it just ended. That's it. It was done. Nothing was explained, no loose ends were tied up. It turned out to be a giant waste of time with no real point to the story. The writing is great. The story lines and build up to what I thought were going to be th......more

Goodreads review by Elaine

This is an exceedingly atmospheric haunting ghost story told over two time lines. In the present, we have Mary and Graham who have escaped to the country to make a fresh start after a family tragedy. Little do they know that their new house was host to its own family tragedy 150 years ago and we wat......more