The Girl from Rawblood

For generations the Villarcas have died mysteriously, and young. Now Iris and her father will finally understand why. . .

At the turn of England's century, as the wind whistles in the lonely halls of Rawblood, young Iris Villarca is the last of her family's line. They are haunted, through the generations, by "her," a curse passed down through ancient blood that marks each Villarca for certain heartbreak, and death.

Iris forsakes her promise to her father, to remain alone, safe from the world. She dares to fall in love, and the consequences of her choice are immediate and terrifying. As the world falls apart around her, she must take a final journey back to Rawblood where it all began and where it must all end...

From the sun dappled hills of Italy to the biting chill of Victorian dissection halls, The Girl from Rawblood is a lyrical and haunting historical novel of darkness, love, and the ghosts of the past.

Praise for The Girl from Rawblood:

"A hauntingly brilliant virtuoso performance." - Emma Healey, author of Elizabeth is Missing

"A gothic tale of love and madness, this atmospheric and chilling story drew me in from the first page, and kept me up at night, until I reached the last." - Claire Fuller, author of Our Endless Numbered Days

"A story to satisfy the most gothic of hearts. I was hooked on the very first page and The Girl from Rawblood never let me go. Sentence by sentence, Catriona Ward made herself one of my very favorite writers." - Kelly Link, award-winning author and Pulitzer Prize Finalist for Get in Trouble

"Brilliant ? The Girl From Rawblood is the old-school gothic novel I have been waiting for. While it delivers everything I want from a 'haunted house/family curse' story, it is still stunningly original. I have never read anything like it and that's saying something." - Mike Mignola, creator of the Hellboy comic book series

"The Girl from Rawblood weaves a spell that both terrifies and mesmerizes. As each layer of mystery is peeled away, more haunting truth is revealed. The book leaves the reader breathless in its gothic tale of fear, family, blood, and love." - Simone St. James, award-winning author of The Haunting of Maddy Clare

"'Beautifully written, in equal parts both terrifying and heart-breaking, The Girl from Rawblood is a dazzlingly brilliant Gothic masterpiece." - Sarah Pinborough, author of Behind Her Eyes

"Elegiac in its prose and haunting in its imagery, The Girl from Rawblood is a precisely and beautifully woven tapestry through which threads of darkness wind their inevitable way. Ward has crafted a sweeping saga of madness in all its forms that will chill you to the bones and draw you into its murky depths." - Charlie Lovett, New York Times bestselling author of The Bookman's Tale

"The Girl from Rawblood is a mesmerizing debut novel. It will haunt your dreams." - Miranda Seymour, author of Thrumpton Hall

"'Beautifully written Gothic. It is rare to find such sumptuous prose." - A.K. Benedict, author of The Beauty of Murder and Jonathan Dark, or the Evidence of Ghosts

"A powerful contribution to the British literature of the fantastic. It's an epic family saga incorporating a great Gothic house, built upon a lyrically rendered regional landscape, from which the numinous rises as if it is a natural function of the setting. There's a touch of Ted Hughes here, Emily Bronte and M.R James in this eerie and by turns moving story that spans generations. It filled my head for several evenings, and will linger there too . . . A definite book of the year for me." - Adam Nevill, author of The Ritual

"Gloriously dark and claustrophobic, The Girl From Rawblood is a haunting gothic novel of intelligence and complexity. It has many echoes of the classics but is entirely its own book." - Essie Fox, author of The Somnambulist