The main heroine, a student architect named Effy, receives an unexpected invitation to design a house for the family of a recently deceased author whose books she has adored since childhood. She travels to a remote seaside estate where fog hangs over the water and the old house slowly crumbles under wind and rain. Over time, Effy begins to doubt that the writer was who he claimed to be and that his death was merely an accident.

The atmosphere is damp and windswept. You read with a quiet tension, as if standing on the edge of a cliff during a storm. There is no overt horror, yet a constant shiver lingers beneath the surface — as if something in the house whispers when everyone else is asleep.

isolation and silence

poisoned legacy

tender first love

dark academia

literary ghosts

crumbling seaside mansion

fog and salt air