Within these Walls

Their grandmother's will propels two sisters into a strange bargain when they inherit an isolated country house. But there is more than one kind of inheritance. From an award-winning author comes a contemporary gothic tale of sibling bonds, love and redemption.

Twin sisters Grace and Faith Oswald are returning to the isolated childhood home that – according to the terms of their estranged grandmother's will – is now their inheritance. As long as they can stay there for one year and one day. It's an odd caveat, but the sisters have good reasons for complying. Grace has lost her job, and struggling artist Faith needs to find somewhere she can paint in peace.

But from the moment they arrive, something feels wrong. There are noises in the walls, doors that swing open, and what sounds like footsteps in the night. Just peculiarities of an old house? Or more?

As Faith's art becomes all encompassing, and Grace's dreams more vivid, they discover their grandmother's journals and begin to unearth the terrible family secrets hidden in their pages. What haunts the Lyondale house? And what does it want from Gracie and Faith?

The answers they seek will strain the sisters' bond and unleash a darkness that may be their undoing. Because a house may not be all they have inherited...

Praise

'Kirstyn McDermot's powerful writing fully immerses the reader in an environment of increasing unease and tension, then plunges into scenes so chilling I had to wait till morning to finish. McDermot is an exceptional storyteller, leaving you shivering with a creeping sense of dread.' Jo Dixon, author of The Disappearing Act

'A masterfully atmospheric descent into the haunted borderlands between past and present, this is a richly textured story of how home can become the most haunted place of all.' Kimberley Freeman, author of The Secret Year of Zara Holt

'A skilfully woven tapestry of grief and memory, of what's been – and might yet be – lost. McDermott's latest is a rather brilliant specimen of Australian Gothic, a tale of haunting, tenderness and the possibilities of redemption. Masterful.' A.G. Slatter, author of A Forest, Darkly

'A stark, disturbing, beautiful novel that explores families, retribution, guilt, and consequence. The ending broke me in a good way and the story in between held me tight.' Kaaron Warren, author of The Underhistory

A superbly crafted and compulsive tale that's as intense and meaningful as it is extraordinarily unsettling. Original and haunting, it explores the capriciousness of memories, the fragility of relationships, and how the past refuses to be contained in the safe shadows of time. I couldn't tear myself away from this sensational story. I didn't dare...' Karen Brooks, author of The Whisky Widow

'With tension that rises like fog, What the Bones Know is a chilling and beautiful haunt of a novel by Australia's very finest teller of dark tales.' Lisa Hannett, author of Yet She Lives