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Barrowbeck

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PRE-ORDER SALTWASH NOW: THE DISTURBING NEW NOVEL FROM ANDREW MICHAEL HURLEY


'Barrowbeck casts a real spell - or is it a curse?' Mail on Sunday

'Thrilling, unsettling, ominous . . . like a knock at the door on a dark evening' Irish Times

'Impeccable and beautifully drawn . . . Hurley has been rightly lauded in British folk-horror circles' Big Issue

For centuries, the inhabitants of Barrowbeck, a remote valley on the Yorkshire-Lancashire border, have lived uneasily with forces beyond their reckoning. They raise their families, work the land, and do their best to welcome those who come seeking respite. But there is a darkness that runs through the village as persistently as the river.

A father fears that his daughter has become possessed by something unholy.
A childless couple must make an agonising decision.
A widower awaits the return of his wife.
A troubled man is haunted by visions of end times.

As one generation gives way to the next and ancient land is carved up in the name of progress, darkness gathers. The people of Barrowbeck have forgotten that they are but guests in the valley. Now there is a price to pay. Two thousand years of history is coming to an end.

'Hurley's achievement is, like American craftsman of the weird H.P. Lovecraft before him, to put humanity in its place' Northern Soul

'Hurley is the master of contemporary British folk horror' Dazed

Critics Review

Barrowbeck casts a real spell - or is it a curse?
Mail on Sunday
Hurley's well-crafted tales have an unsettling, ominous quality, like a knock at the door on a dark evening - a stranger arriving at the hearth, thrilling the listener with stories from another world . . . made even more chilling by the parallels drawn to our own troubling times . . . Hurley's growing body of work consistently immerses readers in a strong sense of place, and Barrowbeck is no exception. The land utself becomes a persistent character, defined by the cold, the darkness, the remote setting and an ever-present sense of doom.
Irish Times
Has all the beguiling oddness of a fairy tale . . . Turning a circle from prophecy to portent, from massacre to deluge, Hurley's achievement is, like American craftsman of the weird H.P. Lovecraft before him, to put humanity in its place. Unlike Lovecraft, however, who set the species against the caprices of beings both unknown and unknowable, Hurley affords Homo Sapiens the grace of agency . . . The prevailing darkness is leavened, too, by the striking beauty of his imagery . . . Hurley demonstrates the undoubted breadth of his craft
Northern Soul
Seamlessly brings together the mundane and the uncanny . . . what we're reminded of is the eternal truth, whether with supernatural dimensions or not: there's nowt so queer as folk
The Critic
Hurley is the master of contemporary British folk horror . . . [as] pleasurable to read as much for its beautiful descriptions of natural landscapes and weather as it is for its horror elements . . . truly disturbing
Dazed
Impeccable . . . Hurley has been rightly lauded in British folk-horror circles . . . Hurley expertly draws universal themes across the tales, giving the small, focused narratives a wider and more profound power. There are elements of pure Wicker Man-style folk horror here, as well as hints of cosmic horror and the supernatural . . . the remoteness and unique feel of the northern valleys is drawn beautifully on the page . . . the sense that the land has a spirit of its own lends this book a heft and meaning. A fascinating book in terms of subject matter, style and execution.
Big Issue
Barrowbeck joins that fascinating canon of fragmented novels that explore a particular landscape through the passage of time . . . There is a deeper sense of darkness . . . a satisfying sense of continuity to the whole, a narrative arc that rewards the reader's involvement and careful attention . . . Hurley's instinctive feel for language, his acute observation of the natural world and sure grasp of the tradition in which he is working make this dank little village a curiously seductive place to get lost in
Guardian
Barrowbeck, like the haunted land of Hurley's previous novels, is a natural spot saturated by storytelling . . . Hurley shows how legends accrue over time from virgin ground . . . as the stories begin to interlock, shadowy themes emerge . . . Hurley conjures up marvels and impossibilities
TLS
Through each of the book's 13 scenes, Hurley proves adept at binding his narrative to place. The town is the only character that appears in all of the stories. To live in Barrowbeck is to live in a perpetual state of wild dread - an emotion that the author will likely provoke among his readers
New Statesman
Absorbing, unsettling and thought-provoking . . . Hurley is a virtuoso of the vivid and allusive image, rejecting simple allegory in favour of richly textured enigma
Morning Star
Author Andrew Michael Hurley
Narrator Gabriella Pond, Matt Jamie
Duration 7 hours and 21 minutes
Release Date
ISBN 9781399817523
Format x-book®
Publisher John Murray Press
Genre Fiction: general and literary, Folklore, myths and legends, Horror and supernatural fiction
Availability AU, GB, IE

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