Susan Stokes-Chapman

We first welcomed Susan Stokes-Chapman to the bookshop in Spring 2022. Back then, we celebrated her marvellous #1 Sunday Times bestselling debut, Pandora. This time round, Susan joins us for publication of her sophomore novel, The Shadow Key: a gorgeous Gothic mystery, bustling with Welsh folklore.

Do join us in raising a glass to Susan: a veritable rising star in the world of Historical Fiction!

The Shadow Key

Meirionydd, 1783. Henry Talbot has been dismissed from his post at a prestigious London hospital. The only job he can find is as a physician in the backwaters of Wales where he can't speak the language, belief in myth and magic is rife, and the villagers treat him with bewildering suspicion. When Henry discovers his predecessor died under mysterious circumstances, he is determined to find answers.

Linette Tresilian, the unconventional mistress of Plas Helyg, lives a lonely life. Her father is long dead, her mother haunted by demons which keep her locked away in her room, and her cousin treats her with cool disdain - she has had no choice but to become fiercely self-reliant.

Linette has always suspected something is not quite right in the village, but it is only through Henry's investigations that the truth about those closest to her will come to light...a truth that will bind hers and Henry's destinies together in ways neither thought possible.

About Susan Stokes-Chapman

Susan Stokes-Chapman was born in 1985 and grew up in the historic Georgian city of Lichfield, Staffordshire. She studied for four years at Aberystwyth University, graduating with a BA in Education & English Literature and an MA in Creative Writing. Her debut novel, Pandora, was shortlisted for the Lucy Cavendish Fiction prize 2020 and the Glass Bell Award and became an instant Sunday Times number-one bestseller.