Christabel

'Deep in the woods, amidst the briars and brambles, was a place many sought but few could find. Where the border between here and there grew thin, and it was possible to reach over and brush the fingers of one's double; to take her hand and cross the silver stream…'

When Australian publisher Bel Wilder travels to a quiet Cotswold village to meet the reclusive author Iris Archer, she hopes to gain the rights to a forgotten classic fairy story. But Iris at her writing desk, with its view of Aroford Manor and the beautiful, wooded estate beyond, has no intention of agreeing. The Blackbird's Tale hides an old secret, and Iris alone knows that deep within the ancient woods, a neglected cottage once bore witness to a terrible act of violence.

Yet unseen threads connect us all in unexpected ways, and as Iris is forced to confront her haunting memories from a lost and distant time, she comes to suspect that Bel Wilder might be the one person able to help her finally understand the truth about Christabel, her precious childhood friend, and what really happened in the woods so late, so very long ago.

Spanning decades and crossing continents, Christabel is a luminous constellation of a novel about unlikely friendships, the enduring magic of the natural world, and the power of the stories we tell to hide – and ultimately reveal – the truth. It is Kate Morton writing at the pinnacle of her storytelling powers.