Why a Booktrail?
1926: A man mourning his wife, thinks she might be haunting him…
The Haunting of Henry Twist
What you need to know before your trail
London, 1926: Henry Twist’s heavily pregnant wife is killed, though miraculously the baby survives. Henry is left with nothing except his daughter – a single father in a world without single fathers.
But one evening, a strange man steps out of the shadows and addresses Henry by name. The man says that he has lost his memory, but that his name is Jack. Henry is both afraid of and drawn to Jack, and the more time they spend together, the more Henry sees that this man has echoes of his dead wife. His mannerisms, some things he says … And so Henry wonders, has his wife returned to him? Has he conjured Jack himself from thin air? Or is he in the grip of a sophisticated con man? Who really sent him?
Locations
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London in the smog
The first line showcases the state of the city, the crumbling dark city with its shadows and empty promises. The words create the atmosphere:
It is not only because of the smog that Ruby Twist fails to notice the grumbling approach of the bus on this cold, spooky morning. Though the mist is thick and fast-swirling and London squats behind it like a fading dream, Ruby hardly notices”
At Oxford Street:
…”The mist, trapped between closer buildings, spins in darker circles…”
Ruby describes the sounds of the city:
“The clacking of feet on the pavements; the talk, passing or sustained, which gathers like rain clouds before dropping its stolen words onto strangers; the low rattling pulse of the traffic, nosing through London’s Labyrinthine grid”
This is a city which swallows its people, their hopes and dreams, their futures and more. The city where the ghosts of war float through its streets and the ghosts in general hide away in the shadows.
Booktrail Boarding Pass: The Haunting of Henry Twist
Destination: London Author/Guide: Rebecca F. John Departure Time: 1926
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