Book description
In October 1866, Father Oliver Grafield is brought from his parish work
for an interview with Archbishop Manning of Westminster. Oliver is a
hard-working, committed priest, and he has one gift - that of the
exorcism of 'divining spirits'. The Archbishop tells Oliver that Lady
Seaton, owner of Candleton Hall in Norfolk, has appealed to the Church
for assistance in allaying the terrifying and haunting experiences
taking place at the Hall. Father Oliver goes to Candleton and within
hours, he and his sister Emma have first-hand experience of the
phenomena: pools of blood form on the floor, a woman dressed in black
walks the Long Gallery, the sound of knocking, cries in the night and
hurried footsteps and, above all, a sense of malevolence which seeps
through the house. Painstakingly, Oliver, a natural scholar, delves into
the family secrets of the Seatons and finds chilling truths which span
four centuries. Paul Doherty was born in Middlesborough. He studied
History at Liverpool and Oxford Universities and obtained a doctorate
for his thesis on Edward II and Queen Isabella. He is now headmaster of
a school in North-East London.
