The Door in Penrose Forest

Name: The Door in Penrose Forest
Price: 65 AUD
Availability: PreOrder
ISBN: 9798892425957

A Novel

Sean David Robinson

$65

Hardback

Forthcoming
Pre-Order now

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English

Crooked Lane Books
28 July 2026

Science fiction

A man returns to his strange hometown twenty years after his mother climbed a staircase in the wilderness and disappeared in this speculative mystery where We Used to Live Here meets The Midnight Library.

As a boy, Nico once accompanied his mother on a research trip to investigate a stalled migration of monarch butterflies. One night, upon hearing her sneak out of their rented cabin, he followed her to a clearing in the forest where a famed mansion once stood. Paralyzed with fear, he watched his mother climb a staircase and vanish, along with the stairs and the strange glowing door at its peak. No one believed his story, and as he grew older, he too stopped believing it was real.

As an adult, Nico returns to his hometown to care for his ailing father. But something strange is happening to the town. There are unexplained power fluctuations, people are going missing, and, reportedly, phantoms are roaming the woods. When Nico finds his mother's field journal from the week she disappeared, including her account of the vanishing staircase, he begins to pick apart the mystery.

All the tangled strings trail back to the same starting point- the Gilded Age family whose mansion burned down under mysterious circumstances in those very same woods where his mother vanished.

Equally a compelling mystery and a moving story of family and destiny, this speculative novel will spellbind readers of Emily St. John Mandel and Susanna Clarke.

By: Sean David Robinson
Imprint: Crooked Lane Books
Country of Publication: United States
Dimensions: Height: 209mm, Width: 139mm,
Weight: 567g
ISBN: 9798892425957
Pages: 336
Publication Date: 28 July 2026
Audience: General/trade , ELT Advanced
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Forthcoming

Sean David Robinson is a native North Carolinian. His stage play, Starbright, debuted off-Broadway in 2018, winning two regional awards. In 2022, he became a member of the Novel in a Year cohort at StoryStudio Chicago, where he worked for two years on the manuscript that would become his debut. He lives in Asheville with his wife and their fur babies.

Reviews for The Door in Penrose Forest: A Novel

Praise for The Door in Penrose Forest: “Robinson offers delightful, haunting historical sci-fi that melds ancient runic powers with a scientific sensibility . . . [For] fans of cozy science fiction who appreciate a dash of fantasy mixed in and will fit in well beside feel-good fantasy such as The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune.” —Library Journal, starred review “A delightful and compelling modern day fable with touches of Lost and The Prestige that had me breathlessly turning the pages.” —Marc Guggenheim, Emmy Award–winning writer and author of In a Lifetime “The Door In Penrose Forest is the most captivating novel I have read in years. It has everything: stunning beauty, wry humor, a gripping plot, and a premise that will break your brain in the best of ways. Sean David Robinson is a brilliant new voice in fiction. You should read this book immediately.” —Abby Geni, author of The Wildlands and Children of the Wolf