The House of Whispers

WINNER OF THE HISTORICAL NOVEL OF THE YEAR AT THE FINGERPRINT AWARDS 2024!

Picked as one of the best historical novels of 2023 by The Times!

'A creepy, chilling story - another Anna Mazzola triumph!' JENNIFER SAINT

'Chilling and compelling, with echoes of Daphne du Maurier's Rebecca' ESSIE FOX

Sometimes the secrets of the past are more dangerous than the present...

Rome, 1938.

As the world teeters on the brink of war, talented pianist Eva Valenti enters the house of widower Dante Cavallera to become his new wife.

On the outside, the forces of Fascism are accelerating, but in her new home, Eva fears that something else is at work, whispering in the walls and leaving mysterious marks on Dante's young daughter.

Soon she starts to wonder whether the house itself is trying to give up the secrets of its mysterious past - secrets that Dante seems so determined to keep hidden.

However, Eva must also conceal the truth of her own identity, for if she is discovered, she will be in greater danger than she could ever have imagined...

***

Praise for The House of Whispers:

'Mazzola builds up tension skilfully in a story that flirts with the supernatural as it moves towards a fiery conclusion' SUNDAY TIMES

'This gothic ghost novel will keep you reading well into the night' GLAMOUR

'Utterly brilliant. It's Rebecca meets Winter in Madrid with a sprinkling of Mazzola magic' LAURA SHEPHERD-ROBINSON

'An atmospheric spine-tingler' HEAT

'Packed with political and emotional intrigue, historically rich and deeply unsettling' SARAH HILARY

'Deliciously creepy' WOMAN'S WEEKLY

'Absolutely brilliant. Gripping, beautifully written and properly chilling' CAROLINE GREEN

'Atmospheric and unsettling' DAILY RECORD

'Beautiful, chilling, and darkly enchanting. Anna Mazzola is a truly gifted storyteller' CHRIS WHITAKER

'A sinister gothic tale' COSMO

'I ripped through The House of Whispers in double quick time' JAMES OSWALD

'A deliciously creepy tale from the masterful Anna Mazzola' WOMAN

'Robert Harris meets M.R. James in an evocative gothic tale' DAVID HEWSON

'A gothic tale of political and psychological terror' GUARDIAN

'The sense of place is impeccable, the sense of danger truly chilling' SINEAD CROWLEY

'A delicately told ghost story set in the bright heat of 1930's Italy. Claustrophobic and compelling' AMANDA MASON

A creepy, chilling story - another Anna Mazzola triumph! JENNIFER SAINT
Chilling and compelling, with echoes of Daphne du Maurier's Rebecca, this is a thrilling mystery with many eerie twists and turns to keep you hooked all through the night ESSIE FOX
Powerful, spine-tingling and beautifully penned, this is gothic historical fiction at its very best and cements Mazzola as one of its most talented exponents ABIR MUKHERJEE
Darkly atmospheric and dripping with menace. Anna Mazzola is a twisted genius TAMMY COHEN
Absolutely brilliant. Gripping, beautifully written and properly chilling CAROLINE GREEN
Beautiful, chilling, and darkly enchanting. Anna Mazzola is a truly gifted storyteller, and in The House of Whispers has created a novel so rich in detail, so clever and twisting CHRIS WHITAKER
Eerie and unsettling, but perhaps Anna Mazzola's superbly realised depiction of a nation gripped by the horrors of fascism is the most terrifying thing of all KATE GRIFFIN
A wonderful tale, if also deeply unsettling and creepy. I ripped through The House of Whispers in double quick time JAMES OSWALD
Robert Harris meets M.R. James in an evocative gothic tale set in a Rome on the edge of catastrophe . . . Mazzola's dazzling imagination is at its very peak DAVID HEWSON
The sense of place is impeccable, the sense of danger truly chilling SINÉAD CROWLEY
The thrilling tale of a woman caught between the pressures of pre-war Italy and the more mysterious manifestations of something amiss in her own household ALISON LITTLEWOOD
A delicately told ghost story set in the bright heat of 1930s Italy. Claustrophobic and compelling AMANDA MASON
Packed with political and emotional intrigue . . . historically rich and deeply unsettling SARAH HILARY
Gothic, immersive and very, very scary . . . Set in 1939 Rome against the rise of fascism, injecting a powerful sense of dread ALLY WILKES
A gripping, thrilling story which had me hooked from the start, as the terrifying reality of fascism in pre-war Italy is increasingly entwined in an anguished marriage MARY CHAMBERLAIN
Tense historical fiction like no other . . . Dark and mysterious with whispers of a buried past hidden in the walls. I cannot recommend The House of Whispers highly enough AJ WEST
Supernatural events in a house mirror the creeping fascism in 1930s Rome . . . An absolute page turner JULIE OWEN MOYLAN
What a rare treat . . . Offers a real insight into a little-explored era - in this case Mussolini's fascist destruction of Italy. Utterly authentic AK TURNER
Anna Mazzola skilfully blends personal trauma and political violence in her novel of innocence destroyed and betrayal - and adds a dash of Gothic for good measure ELIZABETH BUCHAN
Fascinating, tense and very, very creepy MICHAEL MALONE

Anna Mazzola is an award-winning and critically acclaimed novelist. Her debut novel, The Unseeing, won an Edgar Allan Poe Award, and her third novel, The Clockwork Girl, was a Sunday Times historical fiction pick for 2022.

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