Book Synopsis:
Audrey Hart is on the Isle of Skye to collect the folk and fairy tales of the people and communities around her. It is 1857 and the Highland Clearances have left devastation and poverty, and a community riven by fear. The crofters are suspicious and hostile to a stranger, claiming they no longer know their fireside stories.
Then Audrey discovers the body of a young girl washed up on the beach and the crofters reveal that it is only a matter of weeks since another girl disappeared. They believe the girls are the victims of the restless dead: spirits who take the form of birds.
Initially, Audrey is sure the girls are being abducted, but as events accumulate she begins to wonder if something else is at work. Something which may be linked to the death of her own mother, many years before.
The Story Keeper is available now in all formats. Purchase your copy using the link below.
My Review:
I’d heard a lot of great things about Anna’s first novel so I was thrilled to be invited to be on the blog tour for her latest book. The Story Keeper is an atmospheric, original book that manages to be both historical and a thriller, merging both genres brilliantly.
The setting of the Isle Of Skye with the vivid descriptions of the remoteness of it and it’s rugged beauty helped add to the unsettling atmosphere in the book. This gradually increases as the story continues and helps add a chilling element to the story when mixed with the folk tales of the island.
I didn’t know much about the historical period so found the information regarding the Highland Clearances very interesting. I though it quite heartbreaking to read about the devastation these caused and how it led to the lost of some of the history of the places.
The main character Audrey is very well portrayed and I warmed to her immediately. Her refusal to tow the line and do as her father says was great to read about. She has a personal link to the Isle which adds another special element to the story as I felt much more invested in the outcome. I enjoyed reading about the folk tales which as mentioned above helps add to the atmosphere as it makes you question what is happening. Is it supernatural or is something else behind it?
The story is well paced with plenty of wonderful descriptions of life on the Isle of Skye and the stories to keep the reader interested. The pace picks up about half way through and becomes very gripping. I read this book in a night as I found it very difficult to put down.
Think is the first book I’ve read from this author and I can’t wait to read more from her in the future. If you like gripping historical fiction with a gothic feel then you’ll love this book.
Huge thanks to Anne Cater for inviting me onto the blog tour and to Tinder Press for my copy of this book.
About The Author:
Anna is a writer who, due to some fault of her parents, is drawn to peculiar and dark historical subjects. Her novels have been described as literary crime fiction or historical crime. Anna’s influences include Sarah Waters, Daphne Du Maurier, Shirley Jackson and Margaret Atwood.
Her debut novel, The Unseeing, is based on the life of a real woman called Sarah Gale who was convicted of aiding a murder in London in 1837. Her second novel, The Story Keeper, follows a folkloristās assistant as she searches out dark fairytales and stolen girls on the Isle of Skye in 1857.
She studied English at Pembroke College, Oxford, before becoming a human rights and criminal justice solicitor. She now tries to combine law with writing and child wrangling, to varying degrees of success.
Anna loves to hear from readers, so do say hello on social media or via her website.
Over The Rainbow Blog 
Thank you so much for this blog tour support Jo x
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