{"product_id":"solace-house-the-secret-history-meets-the-haunting-of-hill-house-9781805464594","title":"Solace House: 'The Secret History meets The Haunting of Hill House'","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eSomewhere between Donna Tartt's \u003ci\u003eSecret History\u003c\/i\u003e and AS Byatt's \u003ci\u003ePossession\u003c\/i\u003e, a brilliant, towering, puzzle-box of a novel about perfect summers and forbidden knowledge...\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eSummer, 1993, and Alex Lane finds himself at the end of the University summer term, broke and without any concrete plans. So, when he's offered the chance to join a group of students tasked clearing out Solace House, a large Victorian residence left to the University by a reclusive hoarder called Flayne, he jumps at it. The other students are a mixed bunch, but Alex quickly falls into a close friendship with the mercurial, red-headed Ella.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAt first the house seems to be an ordinary, if grandiose, property. But as the team begin sorting through piles of junk, they stumble upon Flayne's journals in which he details his obsession with his missing mother, his discovery of a strange place called Bewise, and - most mysteriously - his belief in another realm lying parallel to ours, along with coded instructions on how it might be reached.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAs the students continue to sort through the detritus, one of Alex's companions becomes increasingly obsessed with the hidden secrets of Solace House, Flayne's missing mother, and the possibility that, if only they can decipher Flayne's increasingly unintelligible writings, they might gain knowledge beyond their wildest dreams. That is, assuming, they are willing to sacrifice everything.\u003ch4\u003eDetails\u003c\/h4\u003e\u003cp\u003eISBN13: 9781805464594\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003eFormat: Paperback \/ softback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003eNumber of Pages: 512\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003eEdition: Export\/Airside\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003ePublication Date: 12 May 2026\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003ePublisher: Atlantic Books\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003ePublication City, Country: London, United Kingdom\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003eDimensions (cm): 23.4(H)x15.6(L)\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003eWeight (gm): \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch4\u003eAuthor Biography\u003c\/h4\u003eWill Maclean is a screenwriter who has worked worked with people as varied as Alexander Armstrong, Miranda Hart, Al Murray and Tracey Ullman. His first novel, \u003ci\u003eThe Apparition Phase\u003c\/i\u003e, was shortlisted for The McKitterick Prize. He lives in London with his wife and young daughter.\u003ch4\u003eReviews\u003c\/h4\u003e\u003cb\u003eAn immensely fun brew of magic, mystery and mushrooms... If this stuff is your jam, you'll love it\u003c\/b\u003e * Guardian *\u003cbr\u003eA heady collision of gothic horror and campus novel... \u003cb\u003eUnsettling, cerebral and deeply addictive.\u003c\/b\u003e * The i Paper *\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eI adored it. \u003ci\u003eThe Secret History\u003c\/i\u003e meets \u003ci\u003eThe Haunting of Hill House\u003c\/i\u003e... A beautifully crafted book - rich, thoughtful, terrifying. I can't wait for people to read it\u003c\/b\u003e * Nicholas Binge, author of Dissolution *\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePrecise, masterful and electric, \u003ci\u003eSolace House\u003c\/i\u003e sets the gold standard for contemporary speculative fiction... A triumphant mystery that will keep you gripped right to the very last page\u003c\/b\u003e * Rebecca Ferrier, author of the Salt Bind *\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eSolace House\u003c\/i\u003e is a sprawling, mind-bending, immersive mansion of a novel... This is a definite must read... and must re-read\u003c\/b\u003e * Cailean Steed, author of Home *\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAn instant classic... It's the most gripping book I've read for months\u003c\/b\u003e * Alison Rumfitt, author of Brainwyms *\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eThere are moments of intense revelation in \u003ci\u003eSolace House\u003c\/i\u003e so vivid that I can still see them. This strange, surprising house is a hallucinatory delight\u003c\/b\u003e * Aliya Whiteley, author of Skyward Inn *\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eIntensely eerie, characters you care about all the way through, twists and turns that take it into thriller territory until it turns into full-on cosmic horror... It kept me guessing until the very end\u003c\/b\u003e * James Alistair Henry, author of Pagans *\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eDelightfully sinister... The best part is that you'll not realize you are lost until it's far too late to escape\u003c\/b\u003e * Hiron Ennes, author of The Works of Vermin *\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eA delight... A wonderful sense of creeping dread, but the characters twinkle and pop off the page\u003c\/b\u003e * Adam S. Leslie, author of Lost in the Garden *\u003cbr\u003eThere is something inhabited about Maclean's books - \u003cb\u003ea total commitment to the horror and the humour\u003c\/b\u003e, the beauty and the beastliness. \u003ci\u003eSolace House\u003c\/i\u003e is \u003cb\u003ea haunted house story as full of hope as it is terror\u003c\/b\u003e. It's as if David Nicholls' \u003ci\u003eSweet Sorrow\u003c\/i\u003e and David Mitchell's \u003ci\u003eSlade House\u003c\/i\u003e had \u003cb\u003ea grotesque offspring\u003c\/b\u003e that's perpetually off its face on magic mushrooms. * Kiran Millwood Hargrave, author of Almost Life *","brand":"Will Maclean","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50837512716505,"sku":"9781805464594","price":34.99,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0502\/9530\/8441\/files\/9781805464594.jpg?v=1793104929","url":"https:\/\/www.arielbooks.com.au\/products\/solace-house-the-secret-history-meets-the-haunting-of-hill-house-9781805464594","provider":"Ariel","version":"1.0","type":"link"}