The Haunting of Wounded Birds
How far would you go to right a wrong?
For years the villagers of Combe Hurst have celebrated Gala Day. A chance to feast, to remember, and to thank the land and the forest for their blessings.
The death of his mother brings Jack (Jackdaw) Dawtrey here, to live with a half-sister he never knew existed.
The life he thought he had is stolen, leaving him adrift and confused in a rural village where there are crows in the trees, willow poppets in the woods, and a sinister structure on the hill. It’s a place where he feels like he doesn’t belong.
But when he discovers an old journal under the floorboards of his room, he has something no one can take away.
As he struggles to unravel the mystery of the enigmatic words on the pages, he’s drawn further into the life of a boy who lived over two hundred years ago. A boy whose family dealt in death. A boy whose name is still whispered as lanterns are lit to repel the darkness.
As Gala Day approaches, and with it the strange customs the village holds close, Jackdaw is caught up in a terrible ritual that has its roots steeped firmly in the past, a ritual that threatens to devour him whole.
The Haunting of Wounded Birds is a poignant coming-of-age folk horror, highlighting superstitious fear, the reprehensible power of the privileged, and the enduring bond of friendship.
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Beverley Lee is a bestselling dark fiction author who lives close to the dreaming spires of Oxford, England. Her work specialises in atmospheric horror, creeping dread, and broken boys - sometimes altogether - but are always filled with heart and the tenuous threads of relationships pushed to the brink. All the Feels all the time. Vampires are her first love and occasionally they stop whispering long enough for her to write other books. When she's not writing you'll find her rambling through the countryside, dreaming about male vampires kissing, and exploring time-worn graveyards.
