The Story Keeper by Anna Mazzola

Genre: Historical Mystery
Source: Random Things Tours
Rating: 5/5
Amazon

About The Book

Audrey Hart is on the Isle of Skye to collect the word-of-mouth folk tales of the people and communities around her. It is 1857, the Highland Clearances have left devastation and poverty, and the crofters are suspicious and hostile, claiming they no longer know their stories. Then Audrey discovers the body of a young girl washed up on the beach and the crofters tell her that it is only a matter of weeks since another girl has disappeared. They believe the girls are the victims of the spirits of the unforgiven dead. Initially, Audrey is sure the girls are being abducted, but then she is reminded of her own mother, a Skye woman who disappeared in mysterious circumstances. It seems there is a link to be explored, and Audrey may uncover just what her family have been hiding from her all these years

My Thoughts

I have to say I loved this gothic story, it is not the typical book I am attracted to, but everything from this book got me intrigued; the plot sounded original and you have to admit that the cover is quite interesting too, but nothing prepared me for loving this book so much, is a must read!
The story may seem simple, a young woman is trying to escape from her family and travels to the Isle of Skye, answering for a job offer, searching for oral folk tales. But this is not the only motive Audrey Hart has to move over there, her mother died at the Isle of Skye a long time ago, and she wants to connect with her, to discover why she fall in love with the island…
This is one of those books that while you are reading it you’ll feel transported inside the story, you’ll be surrounded by dark birds and scary characters and even you’ll be afraid of being alone. Some young girls are disappearing and no one is interested in them, only Audrey, this will put her life at risk, but she is a really brave woman and is ready to fight anything and anyone to discover the truth.
This book has made me re-think the oral stories I’ve always knew, because I think almost all of them have a good ending contrarily to the folk tales told in this book in which all have a dark side!
This is a gripping, intriguing and hunting book that has a sentence that I’ll keep with me forever:
“Words Will Never Break Me”
Ready for The Story Keeper?

About The Author

Anna Mazzola is a writer of historical crime fiction. Her debut novel, The Unseeing, won an Edgar Award in the US and was nominated for the Historical Writers Association Debut Crown in the UK. The Times called it ‘sizzling’. The Mirror described it as ‘a brilliant debut.’
Her second novel, a dark fairy tale about a collector of folklore and missing girls on the Isle of Skye, will be published by Headline in July.
Anna studied English at Pembroke College, Oxford, before accidentally becoming a criminal justice solicitor. She lives in Camberwell, London, with two small children, two cats and one husband.