The Story Keeper – Anna Mazzola

I was a massive fan of Anna Mazzola’s debut novel The Unseeing and now Anna returns with her second novel The Story Keeper (Tinder Press) Can it live up to her first novel? It my view it really does.

Set on The Isle of Sky in 1857 this is a story of missing girls and folklore. This is a time of huge change for the people of Sky at a time of poverty since the Highland Clearances and the locals are not keen on outsiders coming in and are viewed with suspicion.

Arriving on the on Sky from London is the mysterious Audrey Hart who is collecting stories of the people of the community. It is not long before their suspicions of Audrey are heightened when she discovers the body of a girl on the beach. When more bodies are discovered the locals turn to long held myths to account for the girl’s deaths.

Audrey grew up with myths and old folklore stories of Scotland as this was where her mother came from, but her mother died in circumstances that were never fully explained and this is why Audrey now feels more at home on Sky than in the oppressive home of her father and step mother.

Now girls are disappearing and Audrey is certain that they are being abducted. Trying to separate fact from the old stories from the Crofters. They believe that the deaths can be explained as victims of the unforgiven dead. Audrey has other ideas. Could it be that the answer to Audrey’s own questions about her mother’s death be linked?

The Story Keeper is a great multi-layered gothic tale and the characters are superbly drawn with Audrey leading the way, though from a troubled young life she is determined to get more out of life than what her father wishes for her.

The story starts slowly and gathers momentum against the backdrop of the Isle of Sky which in its self plays an integral part of the storyline.

The story is chilling yet beautifully told. This actually is a perfect autumn read as the dark nights draw in. Pour yourself a large glass and settle down With The Story Keeper.

352 Pages.

Thank you to Jenni Leech (Headline) for the review copy of The Story Keeper by Anna Mazzola.

The Story Keeper by Anna Mazzola was published by Tinder Press and was published on 26^th July 2018 and is now available through Waterstones, Amazon and through your local independent bookshop.