Product Description

"The dangerous thing about spider light is that it hides things - things you never knew existed. But once you have seen those things, you can never afterwards forget them ..." The sleepy market town of Amberwood seems to offer peace and anonymity after a shattering and all-too-public tragedy in Antonia Weston's past. But as she struggles to re-build her life, she becomes increasingly fascinated by the macabre history surrounding her: the disused watermill, Twygrist, with its brooding darkness, and the now-vanished Latchkill Asylum where, a hundred years ago, the unfortunate inmates suffered gruesome fates. But Antonia's fascination with the linked histories of Latchkill and Twygrist has alerted someone from her own past. Someone who knows all about Twygrist's darkness. Someone prepared to use that knowledge to the most horrific effect ...

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #55131 in Books
• Published on: 2007-10-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 416 pages

About the Author
The author of four terrifying novels of psychological suspense, Sarah Rayne lives in Staffordshire. Visit www.sarahrayne.co.uk

Customer Reviews

ABSOLUTELY VINTAGE RAYNE!
Spider Light is a great read - a compelling story of a young doctor trying to find escape from her own tragic past by moving to a remote cottage. But once she's there, she becomes affected by lingering images and emotions of people who lived in the cottage a hundred years ago.
The book spans two time-strands which currently seems to be a successful method adopted by Rayne: In the present, our doctor is stalked by an enemy who's out for revenge; and in 1900, a young girl is warned by her unstable mother to beware of the `spider light' which can hide things best left undisturbed. It's only when the girl becomes the target for the lady of the manor's lustful appetites that she starts to find out exactly what the spider light really does hide.
Over-shadowing both time-frames is the old watermill, `Twygrist', which has its own dark history, and which has to be one of Rayne's spookiest settings yet!
This is perhaps a more `domestic' plot than the dramatic Roots of Evil, but for me that made it all the more accessible and acceptable. The characters are brilliantly drawn, and again as varied and believable as Rayne's characters always are. But best of all, there's the trademark darkness and macabre atmosphere throughout.
It's absolutely gripping, unput-downable, but beware - it's not one to read late at night!

Absolutely vintage Rayne!
Spider Light is a great read - a compelling story of a young doctor trying to find escape from her own tragic past by moving to a remote cottage. But once she's there, she becomes affected by lingering images and emotions of people who lived in the cottage a hundred years ago.
The book spans two time-strands which currently seems to be a successful method adopted by Rayne: In the present, our doctor is stalked by an enemy who's out for revenge; and in 1900, a young girl is warned by her unstable mother to beware of the `spider light' which can hide things best left undisturbed. It's only when the girl becomes the target for the lady of the manor's lustful appetites that she starts to find out exactly what the spider light really does hide.
Over-shadowing both time-frames is the old watermill, `Twygrist', which has its own dark history, and which has to be one of Rayne's spookiest settings yet!
This is perhaps a more `domestic' plot than the dramatic Roots of Evil, but for me that made it all the more accessible and acceptable. The characters are brilliantly drawn, and again as varied and believable as Rayne's characters always are. But best of all, there's the trademark darkness and macabre atmosphere throughout.
It's absolutely gripping, unput-downable, but beware - it's not one to read late at night!

Can I have my life back now, Ms. Rayne
I was intending to get so many things done around the house before "Spider Light" arrived but once I had started it I knew my plans had to change. This is certainly of the same high standard of Sarah Rayne's previous novels, all of which I have read more than once. Indeed I think it might even surpass them. As usual, Sarah handles the counterpoint of two periods of time brilliantly and her characters seem to insinuate themselves into every waking (and non-waking) moment. Twygrist Mill now holds a special and terrible place in my dark sub-conscious too and the build of the story plays in my mind still. A brilliant and memorable read. Rayne's fans can buy with confidence. Newcomers can confidently start here but you will have to put off all those little jobs you were prominsing to do.