St Cordula’s Catholic boarding school has survived for centuries on tradition, discipline and silence. Now its future is under threat, and Deputy Head Fiona Fox is preparing to lead the controversial change that could save it from ruin.
But St Cordula’s has always had rules of its own.
Legend has it that the ghost of fifteenth-century nun, Sister Matilda, will keep the school safe. But only as long as the words ‘GOD FORGIVE ME’, scrawled by Matilda on a chapel staircase wall before she fell to her death, remain.
Every year, the words are repainted.
The only time they were allowed to fade, in 2002, a terrifying outbreak of vertigo swept through the pupils. One girl died on the night stairs. And only three people know what really happened.
Now the vertigo is back, and as panic sweeps the school, Fiona must confront a dark secret from her past.
Or face the deadly consequences…
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The Night Stairs by Erin Kelly was published on 9 July 2026 by Harvill. My thanks to the publisher who sent my copy for review.
I have said this many times and I'm now going to say it again; Erin Kelly is one of the very best authors of our time. Her writing is stylish, polished and her plots are always intricately woven. A new Erin Kelly novel is a treat to be savoured.
In the past this author has taken us to a ballet company, to a vintage clothes shop and to an asylum, amongst others in her fiction. What ties those locations is her ability to make them into characters. The Nights Stairs introduces us to St Cordula's Catholic Boarding School; once a convent and now a school, complete with its very one fables and myths which are central to this incredible story.
The author has tackled some sensitive subjects within this novel, and I'm sure that some readers may find those difficult. I didn't, and I am not even going to attempt to dissect them.
Dark, unsettling and completely immersive, this is a novel that I became totally engrossed in, so much so, that I found myself reading when I should have been working!
St Cordula's Catholic boarding school is an unforgettable setting. Steeped in history, tradition and superstition, it is wonderfully vividly created. Every corridor, every chapel and every shadowy corner seems to hold a story of its own, but it is the infamous night stairs that become the actual heart of the novel. The school building has such a strong presence that it almost becomes another character, watching over the events that unfold within its ancient walls, and for me, that is always a winner.
Deputy Head Fiona Fox is preparing to lead the school through a period of significant change and long buried memories are beginning to surface. When a mysterious outbreak known as 'the spins' returns, Fiona is drawn back to a tragedy that has haunted both the school and her own past for decades. The blend of folklore, history and psychological suspense is really fabulous, there is a sense of unease that builds with every chapter.
Erin Kelly writes with such confidence, allowing the tension to develop naturally, and also giving her characters real depth and authenticity. I was completely invested in Fiona's story and fascinated by the traditions that continue to shape life within St Cordula's walls. The atmosphere is exceptional.
This is an intelligent, beautifully crafted thriller that combines the Gothic with an excellent mystery. It is compelling, haunting and wonderfully atmospheric from beginning to end. Most certainly, for me, one of Erin Kelly's best novels and a book that I will be recommending to everyone.
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community. She is the Sunday Times bestselling author of The Poison Tree, The Sick Rose, The Burning Air, The Ties That Bind, He Said / She Said, Stone Mothers (published in paperback as We Know You Know), Watch Her Fall, The Skeleton Key and Broadchurch: The Novel, inspired by the mega-hit TV series. In 2013, The Poison Tree became a major ITV drama and was a Richard & Judy Summer Read in 2011. Its sequel, The House of Mirrors, was published to rapturous reception in 2024.
