The Girl on the Stairs

Jane and Petra have been together for six years and after deciding to have a child, they move to Petra's hometown, Berlin. But things do not quite go according to plan. Jane, at six months pregnant, finds herself increasingly isolated and preoccupied with the monuments and reminders of the Holocaust which echo around the city - imagining the horrors that happened in the spaces around her. She becomes uneasy in the apartment and conceives a dread of the derelict backhouse across the courtyard. She also begins to suspect their neighbour, Alban Mann, of sexually assaulting his daughter, and places a phone call to the police which holds more significance than she can ever have known...

“'Wonderfully atmospheric'”

Louise Welsh's taut new novel at times feels like a potent cross between The Yellow Wallpaper and Rear Window . . . Welsh expertly conveys the escalation of Jane's suspicions to something approaching obsession - Observer

An impressive psychological chiller - Sunday Telegraph

Sharply rendered . . . The reader's anxiety is heightened by a myriad of small tensions . . . Welsh keeps the reader turning to pursue the multiple stories threading through the pages . . . The writing of crime fiction is, after all, a sort of conjuring trick played on the reader, a welcome deception. Welsh has developed flashing fingers with cards, rabbits and hats - Independent

Builds up atmosphere admirably - Sunday Times

Brilliantly atmospheric, the tension builds until you are chilled to the core - Good Housekeeping

A taut narrative that plays with our sense of what's real. Brilliant - Red

A stylish and violent Berlin-set thriller - Guardian

Powerful, impressive and as black as sin - The Spectator

After a history degree from the University of Glasgow, Louise Welsh opened a second hand bookshop, which she ran for several years before becoming a full-time author. She has written four novels and has been the recipient of several awards including The John Creasey Memorial Dagger, the Saltire First Book Award, the Glenfiddich/Scotland on Sunday Spirit of Scotland Writing Award and City of Glasgow Lord Provost's Award for Literature. In 2007 she was named one of the twenty-five authors of the future by Waterstone's. She is currently writer in residence for The University of Glasgow and Glasgow School of Art. Find out more information on her website

Jane and Petra have been together for six years and after deciding to have a child, they move to Petra's hometown, Berlin. But things do not quite go according to plan. Jane, at six months pregnant, finds herself increasingly isolated and preoccupied with the monuments and reminders of the Holocaust which echo around the city - imagining the horrors that happened in the spaces around her. She becomes uneasy in the apartment and conceives a dread of the derelict backhouse across the courtyard. She also begins to suspect their neighbour, Alban Mann, of sexually assaulting his daughter, and places a phone call to the police which holds more significance than she can ever have known...

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