Sanctuary - by Valentina Cano Repetto (Paperback)

About the Book

Short Summary: In 1930s Italy, a woman must battle sinister forces threatening her life and sanity when she and her husband move into an abandoned, run-down, and isolated watermill.

Book Synopsis

Grief leaves a stain.

Sibilla Fenoglio wants nothing more than to live with her husband in this run-down, derelict watermill. Uninhabited since the Renaissance after a mysterious disaster befell the previous owners, the mill requires extensive repairs. But there is something frightening about the mill. Repairs are violently undone, half-seen figures begin stalking Sibilla through the grounds, and haunting echoes of the previous owners' lives infiltrate the present. As the disturbances grow more vicious and her husband more secretive, she realizes that she and her child are in danger.

For readers who enjoy The Hacienda by Isabel Cañas, The Stroke of Winter by Wendy Webb, The House in the Orchard by Elizabeth Brooks, and The Winter Guest by W. C. Ryan.

Review Quotes

"[A] solid addition to the gothic horror genre . . ." --Booklist

"Is it a haunted house, the trauma of loss and infidelity, or something much darker? Two women separated by centuries are linked by a villa, suffering under a nameless, ancestral curse . . . Sanctuary combines the sumptuous dread of a gothic horror with the claustrophobic experience of a marriage wracked by suspicions and madness, a mystery that looms over the women right up until the thrilling, shocking end . . ." --Claire McKenna, author of The Deep Water Trilogy

"VERDICT: Fans of Isabel Cañas's The Hacienda and Silvia Moreno-Garcia's Mexican Gothic will breathe in this book's brooding atmosphere, even as its emotional punch of a climax leaves them breathless." --Library Journal

About the Author

Born in Uruguay to Italian and Latino parents and having lived in Miami, FL, for twenty-three years, Valentina has now made her home in a secluded Victorian watermill in Italy, which was the direct inspiration for this novel. Her debut novel, The Rose Master (2014 REUTS Publications, LLC) was called "a strong, satisfying effort" by Publishers Weekly, and her latest novel, Aleister Blake (Journal Stone's Trepidatio Publishing), was published in September 2022. Valentina also runs a blog, Il Vecchio Mulino delle Rocche, where she shares her journey restoring the mill and home.