The Lantern

Meeting Dom was the most incredible thing that had ever happened to me. Drawn to a confident and artistic wealthy older man she barely knows, bookish Eve recklessly embarks on a whirlwind affair that soon offers a new life and a new home - Les Genevriers, a pretty yet decaying hamlet nestled amid the fragrant lavender fields of Provence. Each enchanting day at Les Genevriers delivers happy discoveries: hidden chambers, secret vaults, small treasures - a vase, a rusted iron birdcage, a candle lantern. Entranced by the old farmhouse, deeply in love, surrounded by music, books, and the glorious beauty and heady summer scents of the French countryside, Eve has never felt more alive. But with autumn's arrival the days begin to cool - and so too, does Dom. Though Eve knows her lover bears the emotional scars of a previous marriage, he refuses to talk about the past - silence that arouses suspicion and uncertainty. The more reluctant he is to explain, the more Eve becomes obsessed with finding answers - and to unraveling the mystery of his absent, beautiful ex-wife, Rachel. Like its owner, Les Genevriers is also changing. Bright, warm rooms have become cold and uninviting; shadows fall unexpectedly; lights flicker on their own; and Eve senses a presence moving through the garden. Is it a ghost from the past - or a manifestation of her and Dom's current troubles? Do the eerie winds of the mistral chill her to the bone, or is it fear? Can she trust Dom - or could her life truly be in danger? Eve does not know that Les Genevriers has been haunted before. Benedicte Lincel, the house's former owner, knew all too well the bitter taste of heartbreak and tragedy - long-buried family secrets and evil deeds that, once unearthed, will hold shocking and unexpected consequences for Eve. An evocative and sensuous tale of romantic and psychological suspense set against an exquisite landscape, The Lantern is a gripping story of past and present, love and jealousy, secrets and lies, appearances and disappearances that captures our age-old terror of the dark.