The Guest Children

Praise for The Guest Children: “Combining the childhood otherworlds of C.S. Lewis, the dark horror of Stephen King, and the psychological gothic of Shirley Jackson, The Guest Children is a novel at once unsettling and deeply moving. Patrick Tarr's debut takes readers to unexpected corners of the heart where both buried grief and our most constant attachments reside. Uncommonly well-written, gripping, deliciously entertaining, this is a book that will not only carry you away, but return you to a forgotten place within yourself.” —Andrew Pyper, #1 international bestselling author of Oracle and The Demonologist “Reminiscent of Markus Zusak's The Book Thief, The Guest Children masterfully blends history and the supernatural, taking readers deep into the minds and hearts of children scarred by war. Haunting, immersive, and unforgettable—I loved it!” —Daniel Kalla, bestselling author of The Deepest Fake “Eerie, atmospheric, and wonderfully original, The Guest Children by Patrick Tarr is a unique exploration of what it means to be haunted—by trauma, by family, and by the ghosts that linger in dark places. Set in a vivid postwar landscape, Tarr’s debut takes us from war-torn London to a remote lodge in northern Canada full of secrets and strangeness, where nothing is as it seems and reality is increasingly uncertain. Readers will devour this captivating, psychological ghost story!” —Jo Kaplan, Shirley Jackson Award-nominated author of It Will Just Be Us “The Guest Children is a wrenching supernatural novel that comes disguised as a subtle ghost story, a terrific debut where a cast of unforgettable characters wage private wars of grief, lost childhoods, and truths too painful to confront. It's also a tightly-paced mystery: a remarkable book.” —Naben Ruthnum, author of Helpmeet “The Guest Children delivers all the pleasures of a war time ghost story—missing children, a mysterious inn, closely-guarded secrets, and a man with a haunted past set to solve it all—but then goes one step further to upend your expectations, leaving you to turn the pages faster and faster, far into the night. It is a lush, visual haunting that will get into your bones—and your dreams.” —Elisabeth de Mariaffi, author of Hysteria and The Retreat “The Guest Children is a moody, gripping, unnerving mystery that evokes the giddy but disorienting thrill of waking up from the nightmare of the Second World War to discover that some ghosts don’t stay in the dark. Patrick Tarr’s crisp, propulsive storytelling had me up way too late, equal parts excited and chilled to know how it all ends.” —Elan Mastai, author of All Our Wrong Todays