Ghost Wall (Sarah Moss)

This is a perfect October read. It’s a slim novella telling the haunting story of a young girl being forced by her abusive and controlling father to join a local college’s Anthropology program’s course on Iron Age living as they live off the land as the ancients once had. The author’s descriptions of their natural world via foraging excursions are evocative and atmospheric. She also builds suspense and tension expertly and slowly. Her father’s obsession with “Bog People” and the rituals of the time is a genre completely unfamiliar to me until this book, but boy is it a good base for a thriller. I chose this book purely by its cover at the library, and knew nothing of the plot before reading it, and was hooked pretty quickly after an initial slower start. The feeling of dread and unease throughout is great if you’re into that thing!