The Ghosts of Merry Hall - by Heather Davey (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

A chilling ghost story in which a mother and daughter move into a crumbling house haunted by the ghost of a girl who performed in Victorian freak shows, through which wind whistles eerily, floorboards creak ominously and things go bump in the night.

It's Laura Purcell's The Silent Companions meets Alice Hoffman's The Museum of Extraordinary Things.

In 2025, following the break-up of her marriage, cash-strapped single mother Nell moves into the crumbling Merry Hall with her teenage daughter, Fern to housesit for its evasive owner. She's determined to make a new life in the gloomy Victorian mansion but the noises, moving objects and strange smells in her new home make her increasingly unsettled.

In the 1840s, showman Abel Wenham seduces Dolly, a talented albino girl and makes her the star of his performing collection of freaks. But after she becomes pregnant with his child, he discards her and imprisons her at Merry Hall, where her only solace is the company of fellow performers Ada the Bear Lady and the Jack the Posturer. They plan to escape with Dolly and her child and set up in business, but Wenham has other ideas.

When Fern admits she, too, is pregnant, it seems as though history may be about to repeat itself. But is Dolly, just one of the ghosts that haunt Merry Hall, reaching out across the centuries to protect her own child?

About the Author

Heather Davey has an MA in Writing from Bath Spa University and took the Curtis Brown Creative Finish Your Novel course. She has always been fascinated by ghost stories and was a contributor to the BBC2 series Uncanny. Outside of her work as a school librarian, she runs creative writing workshops, and will be a judge for the Yoto Carnegie Medals in 2025 and 2026. Twitter/X: @HethDavey