Mrs England

by Stacey Halls 

*WINNER of the WOMEN'S PRIZE FUTURES AWARD*

A Waterstones Best Book of the Year

Longlisted for the Walter Scott Prize

Longlisted for the Portico Prize

'Highly atmospheric and tense' Richard Osman

From the bestselling author of The Familiars and The Foundling comes Stacey Halls' most compelling and ambitious novel to date.

'Something's not right here. In the house. With the family.'

West Yorkshire, 1904. When newly-graduated nurse Ruby May takes a position looking after the children of Charles and Lilian England, a wealthy couple form a powerful dynasty of mill owners, she hopes it will be the fresh start she needs. But as she adapts to life at the isolated Hardcastle House, it becomes clear there's something not quite right about the beau, mysterious Mrs England.

Ostracised by the other servants and feeling increasingly uneasy, soon a series of strange events will force Ruby to question everything she thought she knew . . .

Simmering with slow-burning menace, Mrs England is a portrait of an Edwardian marriage, weaving an enthralling story of men and women, power and control, courage, truth and the very darkest deception. Set against the atmospheric West Yorkshire landscape, Stacey Halls' third novel proves her one of the most exciting and compelling new storytellers of our times.