#Spooktober ‘The Ghost Tree’ by Christina Henry

About the book…

When the bodies of two girls are found torn apart in her hometown, Lauren is surprised, but she also expects that the police won’t find the killer.

After all, the year before her father’s body was found with his heart missing, and since then everyone has moved on. Even her best friend, Miranda, has become more interested in boys than in spending time at the old ghost tree, the way they used to when they were kids.

So when Lauren has a vision of a monster dragging the remains of the girls through the woods, she knows she can’t just do nothing. Not like the rest of her town. But as she draws closer to answers, she realises that the foundation of her seemingly normal town might be rotten at the centre. And that if nobody else stands for the missing, she will.

Huge thanks to Lydia Gittins from Titan Books for my gifted review copy of ‘The Ghost Tree’, a stand alone novel by Christina Henry who most well known for her dark, modern takes on traditional fairy tales. This book is out now in ebook and paperback formats.

This 1980’s set horror novel is both nostalgic, and yet reflective on the times that we are living in.

The town of Smiths Hollow is cut off from the outside world and to all intents and purposes, is like many , many other small towns which seems disconnected from a world which has moved on without them-as someone who lives in a small Welsh town, there are many points of recognition here.

The local busy body, the racist woman who hates her Mexican neighbours and holds them responsible for all the bad which has blighted the town, yet cannot remember what the nature of that evil is.

The police chief who seems uniformly unconcerned about the girls who go missing every 12th November, and who disappear from the public consciousness.

And yet…there is a tree and a cabin at the center of the woods which guards something evil, something which has teeth and like to tear…

What I loved about this story is the strong sense of justice, the righting of wrongs and how it can take just one person to overthrow decades of tyranny. You have Lauren, a girl who is coming into adulthood with the weight of her father’s death, her mother’s inexplicable disappointment and her best friend, Miranda’s, expectations of being just like her, on her shoulders.

As she navigates the perilous path from childhood to maturity, Christina Henry uses Lauren as the central focus of the novel, showing that power can sometimes come in the most unlikely places. A teenage girl who is defined by her sexuality, availability and proclivity to do the right thing are all reflected in the annual sacrifice made to the best that lives in the wood.

What Christina Henry has done is create a retro fairy tale using all the darkest elements of folklore, combined with the motifs of ancient myths and given them a feminist twist. It shows how just one person standing up and refusing to accept the status quo is enough to break the chains of repetitive, damaging behaviour. It redefines the cultural lanscape when people accept others for who they are and what they can bring into your town rather than branded as outsiders who need to have pitchforks and burning branches raised against them. It’s a paean to the power of familial love, acceptance of that love and using it against those who would wish you harm.

Here, the sacrifice of one person becomes the catalyst for decades of death until one brave girl stands up to stop it in its tracks. ‘The Ghost Tree’ is a very different, stand alone novel from Christina Henry which retains her trademark storytelling ability and is immensely enjoyable. Gory, suspenseful and very,very readable, this doorstep of a book is perfect #Spooktober reading!

About the author…

Christina Henry is the author of the Chronicles Of Alice duology, ‘Alice’ and ‘Red Queen’, a dark and twisted take on Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, as well as ‘Lost Boy’, an origin story of Captain Hook from Peter Pan,‘The Mermaid’, a reworking of ‘The Little Mermaid’ and ‘The Girl In Red’, a steampunk Red Riding Hood.

She is also the author of the national bestselling Black Wings series (‘Black Wings’, ‘Black Night’, ‘Black Howl’, ‘Black Lament’, ‘Black City’, ‘Black Heart’ and ‘Black Spring’) featuring Agent of Death Madeline Black and her popcorn-loving gargoyle Beezle.

She enjoys running long distances, reading anything she can get her hands on and watching movies with samurai, zombies and/or subtitles in her spare time. She lives in Chicago with her husband and son.

Links-http://www.christinahenry.net/

Twitter @C_Henry_Author @TitanBooks