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A Novel
by Carmella Lowkis
In the early 1900s, a young gardener at a lush English manor falls in love with her employer whose past is shrouded in deadly secrets—from the author of the "twisty, Gothic thriller" (Entertainment Weekly) Spitting Gold.
In 1925, Vee Morgan arrives at Harfold Manor, a once-grand country estate in Wiltshire, to begin her new post as gardener. She hopes the crumbling manor will offer her a fresh start, far from the darkness of her own past.
But the place is shadowed by grief and memories of long-faded glory, its rooms haunted by the only surviving member of the family, Lady Arabella Lascy. Vee is fascinated by her enigmatic new employer, a woman obsessed with the curse she believes has killed her family one by one and is coming for her next. Arabella's only hope for escape is a local folktale: the fabled dancing hare said to have blessed Hardfold centuries ago.
Drawn ever deeper into the house's secrets and Lady Arabella's spell, Vee soon realizes that the greatest danger may lie not in Harfold's haunting history but in the truths she has tried so hard to bury.
Lush, atmospheric, and charged with desire and dread, A Slow and Secret Poison is a gothic tale of obsession, betrayal, and the perilous bargains we strike with the past.
"An enticing sapphic love story that takes place on a supposedly cursed English manor...Lowkis effortlessly toggles between past and present, and the novel swerves artfully from gothic tropes to knotty and surprising psychological suspense. There's much to admire in this twisty tale." —Publishers Weekly
"The family secrets of both women haunt this twisty gothic. Recommended for readers of Sarah Waters, Adrienne Young, and Catriona Ward who like books with darkness around every corner and inside every character." —Booklist
"I was utterly captivated—a truly compelling, immersive tale. If Agatha Christie and Shirley Jackson had ever teamed up to write a novel, it would have turned out like this: intricately plotted, seductive, and sinister." —Naomi Kelsey, author of The Burnings
"Carmella Lowkis has a true talent for the creeping gothic. Her characters are alluring and settings entrancing. A Slow and Secret Poison conjures the uncertainty and dark potential of the interbellum in Great Britain in a thoroughly engrossing way. For fans of Sarah Waters, A Slow and Secret Poison is a must." —Emma Hinds, author of The Knowing
This information about A Slow and Secret Poison was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Carmella Lowkis grew up in Wiltshire, UK, and has a degree in English literature and creative writing from the University of Warwick, where she was mentored by Sunday Times (London) bestselling author Sarah Moss. After graduating, she worked in libraries before moving into book marketing. Carmella lives in London with her girlfriend. You can follow her on X and Instagram @CarmellaLowkis. Spitting Gold is her first novel.
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