FICTION
400 Pages, 5.07874 x 7.795276
Formats: Trade Paper
Trade Paper, $15.99 (US $15.99) (CA $20.99)
Publication Date: October 2024
ISBN 9781785305511
Rights: US & CA
Bonnier Books UK (Oct 2024)
Black & White Publishing
The perfect Christmas romcom, with just a hint of magic. You're never too old to believe . . .
After losing her job, boyfriend and apartment just a few weeks before Christmas, Ellie Lancaster makes some resolutions:
1. Exact revenge on ex.
2. Be unboring.
3. Find a job.
With #1 complete, Ellie manages to tick off #2 and #3 simultaneously by accepting a mysterious archiving job on a tiny Scottish Island that doesn't seem to exist on any map.
In the new year, her equally new bosses - celebrity baker Clementine Jones and her straight-laced twin brother Cole - introduce Ellie to the archives: a vast network of underground caverns, filled with scrolls dating back centuries, each addressed to the same person, in a multitude of languages: Dear Father Christmas . . .
Despite the strangeness of it all, Ellie quickly falls in love with her new life - but things are never simple, and just as she and Cole seem to be overcoming their mutual distrust, Ellie makes a fourth resolution - one that threatens everything she's come to hold dear. As the big day itself draws near, she has one chance to put things right and bring about her own Christmas miracle . . .
'A heart-warming, magical story, bright with festive folklore and kindness, perfect to cosy up with this winter' Sophie Anderson, author of The House with Chicken Legs and The Girl Who Speaks Bear
Ceri Houlbrook is a Folklore and History Lecturer at the University of Hertfordshire, and has published academic books and articles on contemporary folklore and domestic rituals. Winter's Wishfall is her debut novel and combines her academic interests with her love of magical realism and creative writing.
She lives in Manchester with her fellow-adventurer husband and their little pirate, Captain Jojo.