The Winter's Child by Cassandra Parkin @cassandrajaneuk @Legend_Press #BlogTour

Five years ago, Susannah Harper's son Joel went missing without trace. Bereft of her son and then of her husband, Susannah tries to accept that she may never know for certain what has happened to her lost loved ones. She has rebuilt her life around a simple selfless mission: to help others who, like her, must learn to live without hope.

But then, on the last night of Hull Fair, a fortune-teller makes an eerie prediction. She tells her that this Christmas Eve, Joel will finally come back to her.

As her carefully-constructed life begins to unravel, Susannah is drawn into a world of psychics and charlatans, half-truths and hauntings, friendships and betrayals, forcing her to confront the buried truths of her family's past, where nothing and no one are quite as they seem.

A ghostly winter read with a modern gothic flavour. A tale of twisted love, family secrets and hauntings.

I am delighted to host today's spot on the Blog Tour for The Winter's Child by Cassandra Parkin, published by Legend Press in paperback on 15 October 2017.  My thanks to the publisher who sent my ARC copy for review and invited me to take part in this blog tour.

I am a fan of both Legend Press and of Cassandra Parkin's writing, so this is double joy for me. As always, Legend have produced an exquisite cover for this one, it totally and wonderfully represents the fabulous story within the pages.

The Winter's Child of the title is Joel Harper who has been missing for five years, the story is told by Susannah; his mother. This is not a traditional 'missing child' story at all, this is a novel that doesn't just concentrate on trying to establish where Joel is. No, The Winter's Child is so much more than that. Cassandra Parkin has written a story that is both haunting and very unusual, she's created characters that consume the reader with their complexities.



Susannah Harper is a character that disturbed me, in many ways. She is grieving the loss of not only her young son, but also her marriage. She's insecure, yet confrontational; she's one of the most interesting and infuriating characters that I've come across for a long time.  Yet, there is something about her that urges the reader to back her, despite her constant forays into the world of psychics and fortune tellers. Susannah writes a blog in which she pours scorn on these people, yet something pulls her back to them, time and again.

Set in the city of Hull, which is brilliantly described, adding depth and atmosphere to what is already an excellent tale, Cassandra Parkin's talent for plot and pace is incredible. I was in Hull, I was in Susannah's head.

With surprises and twists along the way, The Winter's Child is a book that will stay with me for a long time.  This is the author's best book to date, I adored it.

Cassandra Parkin grew up in Hull, and now lives in East Yorkshire. 
Her debut novel The Summer We All Ran Away was published by Legend Press in 2013 and was shortlisted for the Amazon Rising Star Award.
Her short story collection,  New World Fairy Tales (Salt Publishing, 2011) was the winner of the 2011 Scott Prize for Short Stories.
The Beach House was published in 2015 and Lily's House in 2016.
Cassandra's work has been published in numerous magazines and anthologies.

Visit Cassandra at www.cassandraparkin.wordpress.com
Follow her on Twitter @cassandrajaneuk