“She felt a shiver go down her spine as if she was seeing her own grave.”
When a couple from London, Ruby and Henry Gully, arrive in a quaint and historic Cheshire village to begin a new life in a new home, a series of unnerving events take place – including the shadow of a young woman appearing momentarily in the loft.
When Ruby later explores the local churchyard, she is shocked to discover the grave of Ruby Anne Fellows (which, coincidentally, is Ruby’s own maiden name) who died at the age of 32 by drowning in the nearby Marston Lake. Ruby’s powerful reaction to the grave, and her acknowledgement of her own lifelong fear of water, make her consider the possibility that she has some kind of uncanny connection to this unfortunate woman.
Ruby soon realises that Ruby Fellows once lived in her new home, Hope Cottage, and her husband bore a striking resemblance to her own husband, Henry.
What could possibly be happening? Could she and her husband be the original Ruby and Henry now living in a different era? Could they be reliving a previous life?
In this, Julia M. Harrison’s first novella, she enjoys telling a tale that originated from the inspiration she felt while staying at her friends’ cottage. Using her inventiveness and story-telling ability, she brings Hope Cottage and its imagined mysterious history to life.
