Become ensorcelled by Thaisa's song

The Bell Tower

By Sarah Rayne

Severn House

Horror, Mystery & Thrillers

Pub Date: February 1, 2016

Review

The Bell Tower is an amazing novel. I was entranced from the very start, and could easily understand why Nell West and Michael Flint became engrossed in the history of Thaisa's song and the tragedies that plagued Thaisa's descendants over the intervening centuries.

Thaisa's song is a lament, a dark dirge whose origins lie forgotten. Whenever the song is played or sung, death and despair follow. The tragic history is revealed through journals discovered by the characters and accounts of the monks of Rede Abbas.

Part of what makes The Bell Tower so fascinating is that the truth is discovered in bits and pieces. Thaisa, Andrew and Theodora live through their accounts. When coupled with the supernatural elements, it makes for an unforgettable tale. Even Maeve Eynon is a sympathetic, despite her madness. Wherein lies the power of Thaisa's song? Is it truly responsible for the deaths that follow in its wake? Read The Bell Tower to discover the truth.

5/5

Although The Bell Tower is classified as horror, it is not a horror novel per se. It is more a novel of gothic suspense, magnificent and haunting. The Bell Tower is available for preorder and will be released February 1, 2016.

I received a copy of The Bell Tower from Severn House and netgalley.com in exchange for an honest review.

--Crittermom

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Description

A 400-year-old crime continues to menace the present in this spine-chilling tale of supernatural suspense.

When Nell West starts extending her Oxford antiques shop, she is not expecting to uncover strange fragments of its past: fragments that include a frightened message scribbled on old plasterwork, dated 1850 and referring to someone called Thaisa.

She also uncovers a mysterious link with a village on the Dorset coast – a village with an ancient bell tower and dark memories of a piece of music known locally as Thaisa’s Song. The sea is gradually encroaching on the derelict tower, but the old Glaum Bell still hangs in the lonely bell chamber and although it was silenced after an act of appalling brutality during the reign of Henry VIII, local people whisper that its chime is still occasionally heard.

As Nell and Michael Flint discover, the tower is mysteriously entangled with the story of Thaisa and a 400-year-old tragedy that has echoed down the centuries.