Unhallowed Ground

by Gillian White

Once upon a time, it is said, the devil walked in this valley...
On a snowbound February day, when Georgina first saw Furze Pen—a picturesque thatched cottage in a peaceful valley on Dartmoor—she thought it just the place to recover from the recent nightmare of her job in London. True, the cottage was cold and isolated, and the neighbours weird and strangely threatening. But Georgie needed to work out her life, and Furze Pen seemed as good a place as any—until the terrors started.
There was the lone watcher on the hill—at first she thought it was a scarecrow, so stark and still was it standing—and then the unexplained fire, with the remains of a child’s doll smouldering in the ashes. But there had never been a child at Furze Pen. And as the seasons turned and snow once again blocked off the remote valley, the frightening began in earnest...
In this truly terrifying novel Gillian White has created a world of dark secrets which hide behind the seemingly ordinary lives of her characters. It is a world which is scarier than most people’s worst imaginings.

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Horror, Crime, Thriller, Psychological Thriller

400 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1998

About the author

Gillian White (b. 1945) grew up in Liverpool, England. She has written sixteen novels under her own name, which are known for suspense, Gothic thrills, and satiric views of contemporary society. She also writes historical romance under the name Georgina Fleming. She lives in Devon, England.

Reviews

[Laura Garner · Rating 2 out of 5]

Started out interesting despite stylistic weirdness (inconsistent tense drove me nuts), then devolved into God knows what. It read as if multiple writers contributed not just chapters, but paragraphs. On a single page we go from gore to romance to flatulent dogs. I'm still shaking my head.

[Charlie · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars
If you read the synopsis for this book at Goodreads (it is different at Netgalley), you'll notice it is a lot longer and pretty much reveals a great deal of the story. I decided to clip and snip it. I'm hoping the final released copy will be shaped up into something more eye-catching. I'm not a fan of the long-winded, detailed back cover. I suppose some readers enjoy this, but in my opinion, it gives too much away. Honestly, after reading the cliff notes, why bother to read the book? So, I did a little editing to give you a taste.

Putting that aside, Unhallowed Ground by Gillian White is a tale that creeps along climaxing in horror. The chills are slow-growing and the eeriness builds over the pages. The cast is packed full of weird English people that all seem like probable suspects. However, this is a predictable misdirect and any experienced mystery/horror reader will pick up on it immediately. Likely, you won't figure out the culprit until the end simply because you're never introduced or given the opportunity to put them on the list. The person is unknown not only to the main character, but also the reader. Withholding is a tactic, and it isn't too bad in this case, but the reveal and sudden ending happens so quickly that it might be a bit hard to digest. Considering the tension and attentive detailing throughout the entire book, I was somewhat flustered when the final curtain dropped.

Thematically, there is a lot going on including: abuse, loyalty, love, lifestyle, friendship etc. The psychological character development is outstanding. Setting detail and tension building are excellently crafted. My only gripe is the whodunnit twist and final outcome. To make this story truly great, Unhallowed Ground needed to drop a line and tie in the hook better for a more powerful and thematically relevant ending. Otherwise, why do all the work during the set up if it's just going to turn into a plot driven action at the end?

The cast of oddballs are all provided with background for their traits and behaviors, which are readily revealed throughout the story. Well, all except for two, and they just happen to be the trigger and suspect. Their weirdness and relationship with the surroundings and people involved crave a more defined reasoning for cause and effect if understanding and/or sympathy is to be achieved.

[Gemma]

What the...?!?!
This is indeed a very slow-burn of a book! For the first 200+ pages nothing very much happens and the outlook for me finishing reading it looks bleak. As does the storyline.
Pass the 300 or so page mark and it all kicks off into slasher territory with a hint or romance thrown in for good measure; The pace suddenly goes from 0 to 90mph and it’s just overkill. There’s too many characters who we have no closure for at all. All of this has been said before in previous reviews but the ending is rushed and unsatisfactory. There is also a hint of the surreal as all three/four? subplots converge and you begin to wonder just what type of novel you’ve been reading after all.

[Smint100 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well this was a book of two halves! It started as a study of guilt and grief, and then ended as a tussle between Stephen King and Mills & Boon, some annoying plot holes and a rather abrupt ending.

Spoilers

I actually thought the first part of the book was interesting, the guilt of the Social Worker following a child's death, the need to rely on your own strength, and whether it was grief, guilt or the solitude that could start conjuring visions, coupled with Donna's reliance on her.
And then it took a very strange turn! Although part of the main mystery was resolved, there were some giant plot holes (no electricity but could have a hot shower?), with too many things left unresolved. What happened to David? And Horace and Nancy? And the strangely shoe-horned in Oliver, and Donna's story? Nor did I really understand the situation with her mother or why she suddenly realised who had killed Angela.
I finished the book feeling rather confused and unsettled, if I'm honest.

[Roshan · Rating 1 out of 5]

one of the worst books i'd read till now, totally wasted my time in this so called psychological thriller. initial pages were little bit ok, with some eerie feel in the furze pen, where georgie takes shelter from her busy london life, the setups were building up neatly, but over a time, it was stretching to the max point of breaking and at the very last moment, sudden introduction of characters - oliver, dave characters and those sequences, just couldnt tolerate the way the novel proceeded....it was an overkill, couldnt continue with the story or the character. was wondering whether the author wants the readers to go mad or georgie. would not recommend anyone to take this even for a free read.

[NoirBlogger · Rating 3 out of 5]

Georgie is a social worker who has a small child killed on her watch. Although cleared of any wrong doing she feels tremendous guilt at the outcome. A recently discovered brother whose existence she was previously unaware has left her a cottage in Devon and she goes there to sort out the estate and to lick her wounds. Most of the book is taken up with the back story of Georgie and how she got to the cottage. The last quarter of the book deals with "spooky/frightening" events that happen at the cottage. The final pages contain quite a few "revelations" as if the author had decided that help! she was coming to the end of her 400 page limit and had to get it all out there. The first three quarters of the book were quite slow going. Georgie is not a particularly endearing character. The last quarter is more interesting. I did feel that the two of the main "revelations" were quite obvious- hard to say more without a spoiler.
I did feel that there was clearly a lot of fault on all parties and nobody comes through with shining colours. This book is textbook- Do your job properly and also be open and honest when you need help.
The book is quite dated now (written in 1998) and it would appear that the author some 25+ years ago had some of her work televised. I don't remember any of them. I would read other books as not a bad way to pass the time but not superb

[Plum-crazy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Georgie is in the midst of a crisis at work when she inherits a cottage from a brother she never met, & it's isolated position gives her the chance of a welcome escape from the media attention at home.....but the atmosphere is anything but restful. With cold, unfriendly neighbours, a strange man lurking on the moors & events which become evermore bizarre & dangerous, the sense of menace builds nicely to the point where I was constantly wondering whether characters were who they appeared to be & I think I probably suspected most of the characters at some time of being behind the attacks on Georgie's home!

But despite the gripping build up of tension, the climax, for me anyhow, was a bit of a let down & I felt the final revelation of the mysterious strangers identity to be a bit of a cop out. So having enjoyed the book on the whole the ending left me somewhat unsatisfied....would still rate it as very good read though!.

[Clare O'Beara · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a rather unpleasant tale of a London social worker who moves to a cottage on Dartmoor. She's fleeing bad publicity after a case she handled ended tragically. We get rather too much of the details of this case but it's relevant to the point the author ends up making. This tale becomes suspenseful and gruesome.
The cottage is inherited from a deceased brother who had estranged himself from the family. When that happens, you know something bad is happening. Anyway this Londoner is now alone in the world and decides to renovate and maybe move here.
There were a few offers to buy the cottage, I don't know if that was ever explained. I thought it might have been the Duchy using a solicitor so as not to get a wildly inflated asking price.
Anyway, it ends up being something of a horror story with clearly barmy neighbours, nobody pleasant and sudden violence. And deep snow of course.
Adults only, and do not expect to like anyone. I read a paperback.

[Fae ✨️ · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ugh. I got through it. So basically nothing happened until the last 100 pages or so. It tried very very hard to delve into the main character's trauma and give her depth but it didn't add much at all, she was an extremely selfish and unlikeable character that I struggled to connect with in any way. The horror elements are fairly sparse. The tense was odd and jumped this way and that with a jumbled timeline that really didn't do a lot for the story, it was like a lot of information crammed in with no real depth despite trying very hard to create meaningful chapters. There is gore that's over done and doesn't really add a lot to the story as well. It then jumped from gore to romance and back again to a very rushed ending.

[Marianne Csq · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was a good read, I was intrigued by the storyline and the cottage and the long lost brother. It’s quite a slow book though, though the ending is very precipitated for some reason. It’s a creepy intrigue and they do manage to keep us hooked. I wasn’t expecting that ending, which is good (I find a lot of endings to be predictable), but I don’t really understand why they didn’t sort of have any conclusion to the other storyline (the little girl who was killed by her father), then all of sudden she has a love story with a random guy at her house? It kind of looks like the author was sick of the writing haha

[Seelenstaub · Rating 2 out of 5]

The writing was way too flowery, and the ending was weirdly abrupt. While there was a resolution to the main story arc, the rest was just sort of left hanging. Usually that's very frustrating for me, but in this case I didn't care enough about pretty much any of the characters (except for the dog, Lola). A few, well actually two, scenes were pretty spooky, which I liked, and there was also one really funny bit. But all in all, I'm really glad I didn't pay any money for this book, and I certainly won't read it again.

[Dianne · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book had me gripped for some time although there seemed to be u finished business in it. The book builds up to a climax then coming to an unexpected conclusion but the final left one wondering what had happened to The main characters

[Hannah Gulle-Grogan · Rating 1 out of 5]

The writing is so disjointed and incomplete that I could not finish this book.

[Andrew Armour · Rating 3 out of 5]

With tons of thrillers littering the shelves it hard to know what to pick up. So I was given this book from my mother after she read it years ago, so that took the strain out of searching for some decent material. What first comes to light in this is that parts of the story are very similar to the real life Sharon Shoesmith welfare worker, who was suspended then permanently expelled from her employment after her and her team failed after numerous visits to curb the abuse of a toddler and this resulted in the child's death. The media whipped up a frenzy about how inept her department were, and now she just like the character Georgie shares quite a bit of life experiences from both their professional failures. That where the familiarity parts way and Georgie leaves her home after threatening incidences and media pressure. She inherits a skanky old cottage in a remote part of South West U.K. from her reclusive alcoholic brother. During her new start, the small odd ball assortment of locals don't make settling in easy. A few of her friends visit along with a kind of part time boyfriend, who she seems to be with mainly to get him to help out with chores, before sending him on his way with half a packet of crisps and a hand shandy. Then it's the hard long winter to look forward to, and this is where this book slowly takes grip of it's reader. She sees a shadowy figure staring in at her home from the hills, an eye peering at her from her in a crack in the wood shed roof, and her only companion her pet dog goes missing. This begins to feels a little like perhaps the Shining. I was constantly guessing whilst reading this, that the reason to what was happening was the result of stress suffered from the breakdown of her career. Then the figure she was seeing around hills near her house could be the work of the supernatural. Further reading then made me then think she was being stalked by a hater who had followed her down from London, the very town where she had fled to escape the press intrusion and public backlash, or was it one of the neighbors who didn't like the presence of her coupled with the fact she was an out of towner. Or had the isolation started playing trick on her eyes and memory. Yes it one of those keeps you guessing, and prompting the reader to think a certain way, then later on another. The result is a pleasing mix, and one that I would whole heartily recommend. If your expecting big things from this book then this is maybe not for you, but what we have here is a subtle edgy little smalltime novel. No pretentious winged beasts flying around the countryside, no slash and stalk either, or conspiracy theories. Sounds dull? Not really. Pick up and read, sometimes less, but not too little is sometimes definitely more.

[Leah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Guilt and fear...

Georgie needs to get away from London to escape the publicity around the killing of a child while she was the social worker responsible for little Angie’s case. So when she unexpectedly inherits a cottage in a tiny hamlet on Dartmoor it seems an ideal place to escape to for a few months – until she meets the strange and mostly unfriendly neighbours, that is.

White handles prose with originality and control, and in Georgie she creates a completely believable character, flawed, yes, but with an underlying strength of character that is crumbling under the guilt of the child’s death. For the first half of the book, White cuts between the present and the past, letting us see the events that have brought Georgie to this place and this state of mind. Once Georgie gets to Dartmoor, the tension starts to ratchet up, while the reader is left to wonder whether the scary events are really happening or are all part of Georgie’s guilt-ridden mind. As winter comes and the snow starts to fall, Georgie is trapped in the cottage and alone…

For the most part, I thought this was a first-rate slow-burn psychological thriller that kept me hooked and on edge. Unfortunately I thought the ending let the book down – without any spoilers, I felt the climax didn’t quite live up to the sense of anticipation and tension that the author had so carefully built throughout. However, on the basis of this book, I am certainly looking forward to reading more of White’s work. Recommended.

NB This review is of a proof copy provided by the publisher.

[Leanne Sparks · Rating 3 out of 5]

This story had a great many twists and turns, most dealing with the history and experiences of the main character, Georgie. Her life was a series of mysteries that are not fully known to the reader until the very end of the book. There are plenty of thrills and chills, however, as she moves into her brother’s cottage after his death. The cast of characters she meets are interesting, and I felt I knew every one of them from my own life.

Gillian White is able to paint a vivid picture of Furze Pen Cottage, down to the damp cold winter in the lonely hollow. I could see the gross, moldy shower, and feel the cold wind coming in through every crack. She really brought her characters to life, for the most part. I had an issue with the mother at the end, and felt that she had been described as a “keep up with the Jones’” type, when she had more deep seeded issues that were not discovered by the reader, but revealed at the end without prior insight. The only real issue I have is a feeling that the conclusion is a bit rushed. Although, I really enjoyed how the author concluded Georgie’s story, I felt just a little lost as to how she got there with the information provided throughout the book.

[Carol - Reading Writing and Riesling · Rating 3 out of 5]

My initial reaction to this book was one of despair – I despaired of the unsympathetic protagonist, Georgie. I could not stand the pages of wallowing self pity. I almost put the book down – however as I have read several of Gillian White’s previous books, books I enjoyed reading, I persevered. I was rewarded with a story that from a slow burn ignited a pressure pot of fear, desperation and substance. I did warm to Georgie as she dwelt less on her past and we learned more about her current situation. White is a great observer of people and their idiosyncrasies’. She created a tension so real I could feel it- in my shoulders and my neck, a tension akin to mood set by Alfred Hitchcock’s “Psycho”. This book will not date. It sits as well today as when it was first published in 1999.

[Jen · Rating 2 out of 5]

Unhallowed Ground by Gillian White is an ebook from Net Galley, originally published in 1999; Open Road Integrated Media. ISBN-13: 978-0684855424

This mystery has a few good parts, scenes of intense suspense, and bad parts, revisiting an earlier event in Georgina Jefferson's career, repeatedly, and a complete lack of resolution. It is as if the author couldn't be bothered to give the novel a conclusion or actually connect several threads that had been woven throughout the novel. I wasn't sure if I'd been sent the entire manuscript!

Mystery/Suspense. republ. Feb. 11, 2013. print version 288 pages.

[Bezalel · Rating 2 out of 5]

Wow. I was hoping from so much more from this book. It just never got there. There was nothing unhallowed about any ground in this book. It wasn't scary. It wasn't cohesive. It was irritating. Like when the main character was so frightened that she decided to enjoy a very hot shower...while her power was off in her very cold ultra primitive rural cottage. The narrative was peppered with obvious flaws like this. Characters, plot, ending, all CONTRIVED!!!! Blah. The only reason I gave it an "o.k." rating was that I actually finished it. So it must have had SOMETHING of interest.

[Naomi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read my full review: http://bit.ly/12sOVIn

My opinion: This is a book that I should have enjoyed. The premise of the storyline was great. Problem, you ask? It took too long for the book to take off. I almost felt that the author went overboard with developing the storyline that by the time it came to get to the "blood/guts" of the book, I was lost. I just wanted to get it done and over with. This is evident by the length of time (2 weeks) it took me to read a 300 page book.

I must admit that I still get chills when I read the book description.

[Chris Mclean · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read a copy from netgalley.com.

This was an interesting novel: it started slow and seemed to be going in one direction, then in the middle, went in an unexpected direction.

Georgie is a social worker who may have made a bad decision, and this decision led to the death of a little girl. �Georgie takes refuge in a country cottage left to her by the brother she never met. �It sounds idyllic, except the neighbors are less than neighborly and strange things start happening. �How much of this is in Georgie's head and how much of it is real? �

Things start to get a little tense....

[Mandy]

I loved the way Gillian White used language, it was fresh and original. However, the plot - OMG. Bizarre. All over the place. Contradictory, and I almost got to page 100, and there was barely any dialogue, but reams of backstory. I can see why dialogue is said to move a story forward. I no longer care about the main character, I no longer care who or what the brooding figure on the hill was, or how this story ends. I just want out.

[L.J. Monier · Rating 2 out of 5]

Georgie, a London social worker going through the death of one of her clients, moves to a desolate village in Devon to get away from the pressure. When there, horrible things start happening around her.

Gripping writing and wonderful story. Until the middle when it starts turning weird with the arrival of two men snowplowing the area.

The ending is also a great disappointment turning a great story of real life into an unjustified and Frankenstein horror.

[Jenn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not my favourite Gillian White book. For 3/4 of the book I felt we were just following the ho-hum everyday whiney life of the main character. However the last 1/4 was quickly read as it picked up so much speed. The one thing I love about her books is that there's always some twist or catch that throws you completely offbalance.

[Neil · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was the setting of this book that first grabbed me. The thought of escaping from the noise and busyness of family life to a solitary rural retreat sounds so appealing. A good thriller. I've not read anything by Gillian White before but I will be looking out for her books in future.

[Colleen · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book took too long to get into the story but once it did it was pretty good. Not really my thing, though.

[Pippa · Rating 4 out of 5]

VERY creepy. I wasn't sure if I could go on reading at one point! A well written book and I'm glad I finished it.

[Marnie Z · Rating 3 out of 5]

the ending was a bit disappointing...I could have come up with a better ending...

[Karen · Rating 1 out of 5]

Did not enjoy this book at all sadly. Only finished as I wanted to know 'whodunit'.
Felt the writing was confusing and didn't know half the time if things were actually happening or being imagined.

[Jan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great story. Third that I've read by Gillian White.