“The Guest Children is a novel that is both unsettling and deeply moving. . . . It will not only carry you away but return you to a forgotten place within yourself.” —Andrew Pyper, author of Oracle and The Demonologist

Not all hauntings are confined to houses

With the mounting terror of the German Blitz on London in 1940, thousands of British “guest children” are sent abroad to escape the bombing. Among them are Michael and Frances Hawksby, who are shipped off to Canada to stay with relatives. Years later, as WW II finally comes to an end, their surviving family members realize that no one has heard from them since.

Randall Sturgess wanted to do his part in the war but was forced to stay home to look after his troubled and unstable younger brother, Edward. Impoverished, shamed as a coward, and running out of work options as veterans return home, Randall takes a job investigating the disappearance of the Hawksby children. Reluctantly leaving Edward behind, Randall follows the children’s trail to the wilds of northern Ontario, where he finds an isolated and ramshackle resort called Glass Point Lodge. Here he discovers the secretive aunt and uncle who took in the young Hawksbys, along with an odd collection of seemingly permanent guests, none of whom seems willing to tell Randall the truth about the missing children.

Plagued with vivid nightmares about the war, and troubled by dark visions and a persistent feeling that he’s being watched, Randall searches the imposing woods and lake for any trace of Michael and Frances. Convinced that something terrible has happened to them, Randall delves ever deeper into the mysteries of the lodge, its inhabitants, and the long-buried memories of his childhood, not realizing that the darkest secrets he unearths may be his own.

PATRICK TARR is an award-winning film and television writer whose work has been seen around the globe. Originally from Vancouver, he lives in Toronto with his family.

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“Combining the childhood otherworlds of C.S. Lewis, the dark horror of Stephen King, and the psychological gothic of Shirley Jackson, The Guest Children is a novel at once unsettling and deeply moving. Patrick Tarr's debut presents as a haunted house story (of a sort) -- and it is -- but takes the reader to unexpected corners of the heart where both buried grief and our most constant attachments reside. Uncommonly well-written, gripping, deliciously entertaining, this is a book that will not only carry you away, but return you to a forgotten place within yourself.” — Andrew Pyper, author of Oracle and The Demonologist

“The Guest Children is a wrenching supernatural novel and a tightly paced mystery that's disguised as a ghost story. A terrific debut where a cast of unforgettable characters wage private wars of grief, lost childhoods, and truths too painful to confront. A remarkable book.” — Naben Ruthnum, author of Helpmeet