The Visitor

by Rebecca Starford

A haunting novel about the ghosts we can't outrun, from the bestselling author of The Imitator.

'Ghosts live in the sunshine too.'

For most of her adult life, Laura has lived in the UK, her ties to her Brisbane upbringing all but severed. When her parents, Bruce and Eliza, perish in mysterious circumstances in the Queensland outback, she and her family must return to settle their affairs and sell the now-dilapidated house of her childhood.

But as the renovations progress, Laura starts to experience strange happenings in the house that cannot be explained away. Is it haunted? Or is the woman next door, who had inveigled her way into Bruce and Eliza's lives, testing her as she copes with the grief and trauma of their deaths?

Fourteen-year-old Tilly, alarmed by her mother's increasingly erratic behaviour, is drawn into the disturbing atmosphere of the house as the distance between them grows. And with both of them seeing things, Laura realises that unless she unearths what drove her parents to flee the house, they will never be free of the past.

The Visitor is a compelling exploration of intergenerational trauma, dispossession and the ghosts we can't outrun, from the bestselling author of The Imitator.

'A masterfully wrought study of expatriate hysteria and disorientation. A riveting tale of Australian Gothic in which the fetid heat of subtropical Brisbane and the harsh Antipodean sunlight can be made to seem as sinister as the dark.'
AMANDA LOHREY, author of The Labyrinth and The Conversion

'A suspenseful, atmospheric and deliciously Gothic tale that is genuinely impossible to put down.'
ELIZA HENRY-JONES, author of Salt and Skin

Genres: Supernatural, Fiction, Mystery, Horror

238 pages, Kindle Edition

Published July 29, 2025

About the author

Rebecca Starford is the author of Bad Behaviour, a memoir about boarding school and bullying. The book was optioned for television by Matchbox Pictures and aired in Australia on STAN, as well as streamed through more than 20 other countries across the world.  Rebecca's first novel, The Imitator, was published in Australia, and in the United States, Canada, the UK and South Africa under the title An Unlikely Spy.  

She is also the co-founder and publishing director of Kill Your Darlings, and has previously worked for Text Publishing and Australian Book Review. Originally from Melbourne, Rebecca currently lives in France.

Reviews

[Steph Siciliano · Rating 2 out of 5]

I’m confused???? What was the point of this book??????

[Natalie · Rating 2 out of 5]

The Visitor is a quick read for those who enjoy a story with supernatural elements. There is no doubt that the author can construct a descriptive narrative, I enjoyed the portrayal of Brisbane and the Australian Outback.
For me, though, I felt no connection with the characters - there seemed to be a lot of repetition and little to no character development. If there is a deeper meaning about past trauma, and dispossession, I feel like I’ve missed something. Maybe I’m just not Starford’s intended audience?
Thank you, Better Reading, for an ARC in exchange for a honest reader’s review.

[EmG ReadsDaily · Rating 3 out of 5]

An atmospheric and multi-layered story of intergenerational trauma and the ghosts we cannot outrun.

'Ghosts live in the sunshine too.'

[Craig and Phil · Rating 3 out of 5]

Big thanks to Allen & Unwin and Better Reading for sending us a copy to read and review.
The Visitor is the latest fiction book from the popular Aussie author.
A dark, mysterious tale with a slight spooky feel.
Laura fled outback Queensland many years ago and has been living in the UK.
Then she gets a call that her parents, Bruce and Eliza, disappeared in tragic circumstances.
Laura and her family make the journey to the country to settle matters and get the house ready for sale.
Slowly renovating strange things begin to happen.
Is it something supernatural or is it bizarre behaviour from the lady next door, Anita who was a regular around the property.
Her daughter, Tilly senses something is not quite right as well.
What is going on……
It starts off strong and builds up some tension and suspense and then falls slightly flat.
There’s some elements that I really enjoyed but I feel like I missed something and found that the ending had more questions than answers.
Had so much potential but there wasn’t enough slay factor and just plodded along.

[Fran Whiteman]

Not so sure about this audio book

[Ailsa S. · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good example of why you don’t need to turn your creative writing PhD into a novel.

This had so much potential with the suspense and haunting aspects building, and then fell flat. What actually happened? Not much.

[Lena Reads Everything · Rating 2 out of 5]

After years away, Laura returns to her childhood home in Queensland to handle her parents’ sudden, unexplained deaths and prepare their dilapidated house for sale. Strange events during the renovations raise her suspicions about the neighbour close to her parents and force her to confront her past. But when her daughter Tilly becomes unsettled by Laura’s behaviour and eerie visions of her own, it becomes clear that something far more supernatural may be at play.

This story had a strong emotional premise and evocative setting, and I’m always drawn to familiar settings, so I picked this up straight away. I really enjoyed the Australian touches - little details like the Woolies brochure on the doorstep made me chuckle because all Aussies know about those brochures! - and those everyday references to Aussie life helped me connect with the story even more.

The focus on dealing with grief and the unfamiliar environment gave the story a strong start too, especially as the family returned to unravel the mystery behind Laura’s parents’ deaths. That part truly broke my heart - the idea of two elderly people facing something they couldn’t manage alone, made more poignant by the introduction of the neighbour and the painful distance between Laura and her parents.

Unfortunately, the story left more questions than answers, and the ending felt abrupt and rushed. The lack of resolution to the central mystery was disappointing and I kept hoping for more or some sort of closure.

While it had the elements of a powerful, haunting story, it ultimately fell short of delivering a satisfying conclusion for me. 2/5

Thanks to Allen & Unwin and the author for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

[Olivia Goodman · Rating 2 out of 5]

Frustrating and unsatisfying.

[MBC · Rating 2 out of 5]

The writing did not feel intuitive - came across like a box ticking exercise from an academic essay. Lo and behold, it is the rigid offspring of a PhD.

References; overt and misplaced (though, I wrote essays on Voss and Picnic at Hanging Rock as part of my English degree so the familiarity was nice). Characters; ill-formed. Plot; absent.

Not a one star simply because I like Kill Your Darlings.

Starford has made her home in Europe just like the Australian writers of yesteryear. This is unfair to say but I will say it anyway, I felt that Starford wrote of landscape with several degrees of separation. The mysticism was all wrong.

[tinkingaboutbooks · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Visitor by Rebecca Starford is an exploration of the past and the ''ghosts we can't outrun.''

The narrative follows Tilly as she grapples with the long-standing estrangement between her mother, Laura, and her grandparents.

Intertwined with Tilly's story is the perspective of Laura, who is struggling to comprehend her parents' loss. As the novel progresses, Laura's grip on reality appears to loosen as the narrative hints at something amiss with unsettling occurrences.

As a Queenslander at heart, I appreciated the vivid picture of Brisbane with references to Queenslander homes, the ever-present threat of flooding and mould, and soaring house prices attributed to ''Melbourne and Sydney buyers.'' I even had a chuckle at the reference to women with lip fillers.

I found myself drawn into the unfolding mysteries within The Visitor and read the book fast. However, the conclusion left me with a few lingering questions.

Thank you to Better Reading for providing me with an advance reader copy in exchange for an honest review. The Visitor, published by Allen and Unwin, will be released in August 2025.

[Jillwilson · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really liked Starford’s memoir ‘Bad Behaviour’ but this novel – not so much.

Laura is an expat Australian living in England when she answers the door to police who tell her that her parents Bruce and Eliza have died in a remote part of Queenland. The circumstances are not suspicious. Laura, her 14-year old daughter Tilly and Laura’s partner Andrew decide to move to Australia temporarily to sort out the estate. So they move to humid Brisbane and start dealing with the dilapidated Queenslander and with issues like the neighbour, Anita, who says that she has a claim on the house.

The emotional context for events is that Laura has been a little estranged from her parents and had no idea that they were making a trip to the outback. Their deaths are a shock and combine with grief, guilt and confusion to create quite a few issues for Laura. Andrew is distracted with plans to renovate the house and make a motza once it is sold. Tilly is trying to fit in at her new school, and to understand why her mother is behaving strangely.

As the house renovations progress, Laura starts to experience strange happenings in the house that cannot be explained away. Is it haunted? Or is it that Anita, the woman next door, who had inveigled her way into Bruce and Eliza’s lives, testing her as she copes with the grief and trauma of their deaths? The visitor of the title alludes to the possible haunting. ‘Ghosts live in the sunshine too.’

As the novel progresses, I really started to wonder about Laura’s mental health – but we are not given enough of Andrew’s perspective to make a judgment about whether there really are crazy things going on in the house, or whether the Laura is crazy. Tilly also experiences some odd things – is this an intergenerational thing, or is it the house?

I wanted to throw the book across the room at the end. In fact I wondered if it was missing some pages. I agree with this reviewer: “While the story had a promising premise of mystery and supernatural themes, it was not fulfilled. There was little opportunity to connect with the characters. At times, the plot felt disjointed. While the descriptions of Brisbane and the outback were appealing, they were sadly not enough to save the story. The ending presented more questions, which did little to improve my impressions.” (https://www.betterreading.com.au/revi...)

[Jackie McMillan · Rating 2 out of 5]

"But she had missed desperately the muggy air, the fullness of it, like she could reach out and scoop up some of that moisture in her hand." The Visitor is a slow build of a novel set in sultry, humid Brisbane, which isn't the usual setting for a novel ostensibly about haunting, but it makes a decent case for establishing a Brisbane Gothic. The creaks and groans of an old Queenslander are built up to seem menacing.

That's about all the positives I can muster because after the book finally develops some tension (almost in the last quarter) it throws it away with a rubbish, rushed and rather trite ending that felt like the author hit her word count. Maybe I was expecting more than thin characters who don't relate well to others experiencing thin manifestations of grief that are neatly resolved by taking a long drive into the desert: "Some mechanism inside her was rotating of its own accord. She wasn't quite sure how to stop it, and that was beginning to frighten her."

Look, the fledgling concept was interesting, but the plot was under-cooked to the point where you might be asking, what actually happened? The writing was atmospheric in places, but the character development was sorely lacking.

With thanks to NetGalley & Allen & Unwin for sending me a copy to read.

[Naomi Von · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received a copy of the book from the publisher. Starford has created a fascinating gothic text, that develops quickly into questions of generational trauma, and whether the home is actually haunted. It unusual to think of Brisbane as a haunted space with its high levels of sun-exposure but Starford creates both a mystery, and a moving depiction of how people deal with grief.
Ex-pat Laura and her family are uprooted from her life in London after a call from Police telling her that her parents died in the Queensland outback. Laura and her teenage daughter are at odds about everything. Her parents' neighbour lets Laura know the house she thinks will be her property has been promised to a community group and Laura's struggle with the legal system while coping with loss is clearly depicted. Laura questions her sanity believing she sees a ghost of the past which is explained supernatural revealing human degeneration and frailty of aging. There are other supernatural occurrences that add creepiness and flavour to the novel. I highly recommend this book for lovers of Australiana, spirited tales, and "Picnic at Hanging Rock". It shows the shimmering heat of Australian summer and the mysterious disappearances in the outback or bushland along with the hell of renovation, difficult neighbours and trying to come out of the fog of grief.

[Tammie · Rating 5 out of 5]

After a streak of bad reads, I’m so glad I found this book. Such a joy and a delight to read! Yes there were also genuinely creepy moments but that’s the fun of it. I was gripped by the first page and knew I was in the hands of a great writer who told an original, intriguing story very well.

This may be a slightly shorter book at 288 pages, but the beauty is in the brevity — every sentence held meaning. If it was told differently, it could have been padded with a lot of filler but that would have taken away from the small details, which were so on point. Just a mention of a once mild-mannered husband’s bloodshot eyes shot fear into my heart. The scene where Tilly watches her mother do something incomprehensible is truly chilling because the house appears to be changing them.

The house and the environment are characters all on their own. I loved the descriptions of the Queensland heat, the sudden tropical storms and how they had an effect on the characters’ states of mind. And the house itself seeming to breathe with menace.

The ambiguity of whether the house was haunted by supernatural forces or human intervention enthralled me. Each ghostly event seemed to have a reasonable explanation but by the end the reader is left wondering: “Or did it…?”

5 captivating stars from me!

[Karen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Laura Townsend left Brisbane for England in her mid-20’s. Years later, she returns to her childhood home with her husband Andrew and fourteen-year-old daughter Tilly, after her parent’s death in outback Australia.

Authorities proclaim the deaths of Eliza and Bruce to be nothing more than a tragic accident. Laura, however, is not convinced. The need to find out the truth and understand her own mental state begins to fray Laura’s relationships.

Several unexplained events see Laura slowly unravel, and her erratic nature affect everyone around her. Especially Tilly, who is also attempting to deal with the loss of her grandparents.
The Visitor by Rebecca Starford was a slow burn for me. While the story had a promising premise of mystery and supernatural themes, it was not fulfilled.

There was little opportunity to connect with the characters. At times, the plot felt disjointed. While the descriptions of Brisbane and the outback were appealing, they were sadly not enough to save the story.

The ending presented more questions, which did little to improve my impressions.

Thank you to Better Reading, Allen & Unwin and Rebecca Starford for my ARC copy of The Visitor.
Publication date August 2025

#betterreading

[marlin1 · Rating 4 out of 5]

I quite enjoyed this quick read.
Laura’s parents have died in mysterious circumstances in the Australian Outback and after living in the UK since moving from home, she returns to Brisbane with her husband and teen daughter Tilly to sell the house and settle the estate.
Laura has recently been estranged from them but still, she can’t understand what drove them to just take off bush.
But when she returns Laura starts to become obsessed to find out why her parents died where they did, especially on finding a room filled with cutting and articles of the outback. Her moods become erratic and Tilly is drawn down the hole too, especially when things start moving, images in picture appear and disappear….and then there is the neighbour.
This had quite a malevolent undertone, a neighbour I didn’t know what to think of and the descriptions of the typical Queenslander house with hot, sultry weather all lent itself to an atmospheric read.
In the end I took away that it was part supernatural, part gothic and an exploration of grief and loss.
I found it an interesting read without truely connecting to the characters.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for a copy to read.

[Lakinloveslit · Rating 4 out of 5]

I ripped through this in one sitting last night and TBH I don’t really know what I read but I loved it anyway haha.
Laura lives in England with her husband and 14 year old daughter Tilly. When she gets notified that her parents back in Australia have died, they go back to organise their affairs and prepare their house for sale. As the renovations progress, odd things seem to happen, and Laura becomes erratic, which alarms Tilly. Is there really something sinister going on in the house though? Is it behind her parents’ odd death? Or is it just grief and muddling neighbours making things feel fraught?
I was instantly hooked the minute I picked this up. The writing is so evocative of the place, and I felt so tense reading this. The heat of an Australian summer, coupled with odd goings on and mysterious outback deaths was eerie. This reminds me of some of my favourite older gothic reads in the way it’s written and the undercurrents running through it had me questioning what was going on. It did sort of end with no real answers, which usually I HATE but it worked for me with this one. I think this will be one of those books you’ll either love or hate, but I loved it. Thanks to @allenandunwinnz for sending this my way!

[Wendy Loud · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Visitor
Rebecca Stafford
A review:
Laura reluctantly returns to her Brisbane home from the UK with her husband and daughter Tilly. Is is necessary for Laura to settle her deceased parent’s affairs following their strange deaths in desolate outback Queensland.
Laura does not accept the coroners judgement of no suspicious circumstances and their sudden abandonment of their home preys on her mind unsettling her thoughts and actions.
Her strained relationship with Tilly comes to a head when she learns of Tilly’s friendship with her neighbour Anita’s daughter Ava.
Laura is suspicious of Anita’s interest in her family becoming fixated on the notion Anita may be hiding something that led to her parent’s deaths. The author describes how Laura’s mental state was challenged with post natal depression. As a reader I found Laura a complex character battling with a mix of conflicting emotions. a novel that will test your own emotions I feel.

[Frankiie Lot · Rating 3 out of 5]

Laura lives in the UK with her family is an Aussie abroad.
One day her pass away in mysterious circumstances which is dismissed by a coroner as being of natural causes. This causes Laura to uproot and bring the family back down under to settle her parents house but she finds that their next door neighbour, Anita whom she used to be good friends with has a letter from Laura's parents stating their will to donate their family home to the community centre.
Laura's daughter Tilly grasps with how her mother has been acting strangely since the death of her grandparents and the strange feeling of the house they're living in. Slowly the family start to come undone and their once strong bond seems to be growing further and further apart with every day of living in the house.
I found the book to be an easy read but felt it lacked a strong ending. Reading the blurb, I think I was expecting the story to be different.

[Tara · Rating 3 out of 5]

A mixed POV novel alternating between mother Laura and daughter Tilly. I couldn't identify whose POV was being told until I started reading each chapter. I am used to names listed next to the chapter title so I did get a bit confused at times.

I enjoyed reading the diary and learning about Eliza. I found that really helped me get into the story and relate to how she was feeling. What was the mystery letter? The postcard was solved at the end but still didn't give that finished feeling.

I felt like the story wasn't finished with questions unanswered. Does Tilly return? What happened to Ava and her Mum? Ava lying about the family death was a bit strange, it felt like they were trying to set something up?

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

[Meg · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm going to describe this book as Brisbane Gothic, and I loved it!
When Laura's parents die suddenly in outback Australia, she brings her husband and teen daughter from the UK to Brisbane. Ostensibly, they are there to prepare the house for selling, but Laura really wants to find out why and how her parents died.
But something sinister is lurking in the house. Pictures move, books of creepy outback stories keep reappearing, and there are strange noises in the night. Laura becomes more and more obsessed with writing her new novel and following in her parents footsteps.
There is something particularly unique and challenging about writing a *chilling* story in a hot steamy Brisbane summer setting. I thought the house, the setting, and the characters were fantastic and it was a wonderful novel.

[Caroline O'Sullivan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Do you believe in ghosts?
Because after reading this book, I’m still not sure what I read… but I loved it.

I devoured this in under 24 hours — it was one of those fast, addictive reads where the pages basically turn themselves. The story starts in the UK with Laura, a wife and mother enjoying a quiet evening at home when the police knock on the door with devastating news: her parents have died back in Australia. Suddenly, she and her family are flying to Brisbane to handle the funeral and sort through her childhood home.

What happens next? Honestly… I couldn’t tell you even if I wanted to 😆 (and I wouldn’t dare spoil it if I could).

It’s eerie, emotional, a little bit wild — and completely unputdownable. I’m so glad I picked this one up. If you’re after something binge worthy and a bit mysterious, go grab it!

[Mike · Rating 2 out of 5]

A psychological thriller tale, The Visitor (2025) by Rebecca Starford, is a domestic noir. Laura left her family home as a teenager and lives in England. When she is informed of her parents' death, she returns to Brisbane with her husband and teenage daughter, Tilly. As Laura sorts out her parents’ belongings, her husband renovates the property. Laura begins to experience strange events. The neighbour’s insistence that she was to inherit the house causes further strain as Laura's grief deepens. As Laura becomes increasingly erratic, Tilly also begins to see things. The tale has an ethereal element as Laura is determined to find out what happened to her parents. An enjoyable enough read, if somewhat disappointing tale with a two and a half star rating. The opinions herein are totally my own and freely given without obligation.

[Helen Bookwoods · Rating 4 out of 5]

A well-written atmospheric book that succeeds in the task of creating a Gothic novel set in a contemporary Australia (another great book that did this was The Engagement by Chloe Hooper). Starford nicely builds up the chills and tensions when an ex-pat woman, her husband and child return to her parents' old Queenslander house in Brisbane following their mysterious death during an outback camping trip. The daughter finds evidence her parents fled the house for an unexplained reason and then she too, hears mysterious noises, sees strange things etc. Beautiful writing, good characters and atmosphere but I thought Starford didn't quite follow through with the courage of her convictions re the ending.

[Georgia · Rating 4 out of 5]

When Laura discovers her parents have mysteriously passed away, she returns to her home town in Australia to settle their affairs and renovate her parent’s house before she sells it. Eventually, Laura begins to experience strange occurrences in the house. Could it possibly be haunted? We get the perspectives of both Laura and her teenage daughter, Tilly, as they adjust from leaving Britain to moving into Laura’s parent’s house. I loved the paranormal elements to the story. I also felt a touch of sympathy for Tilly when she had to deal with her mother’s irritable moods.

[Steven · Rating 1 out of 5]

I have just wasted the hours necessary to read this. I’m from Brisbane and am somewhat familiar with the part of the Australian bush where our heroine Laura ran to in order to piece together the events of her parent’s death. But really!
There’s enough references to the Paddington/ Red Hill district of Brisbane to convince the reader that she has some knowledge of the place, but again…Really?
Stafford convinced me quite early in the tale. Yes..she’s been there.
I wanted to like this story. Theres plenty to even overlap with my own life.
The only sympathetic characters lived next door.

[Karen · Rating 2 out of 5]

When Laura's parents die she, her husband and daughter return to Brisbane from their home in London. The Visitor is a described as "a compelling exploration of intergenerational trauma, dispossession and the ghosts we can't outrun" but it didn't really work for me. The writing and the plot felt very tame, young adult or below. The characters lacked depth and outside of some adequate descriptions I was left thinking - what was the point of this book?

[Maureen · Rating 2 out of 5]

I just couldn't get with this one. I persisted in the hope that the ending wasn't the one I was forecasting, but it was and it was plain silly. 'A masterfully wrought study of expatriate hysteria and disorientation'. Um, must have read a different book to the one I did.
The parents/grandparents were educated, sensible people who were unlikely to fall for the 'ghost' theory this book is built around. They would have picked the other possibility, as I did early on.

[Mercedes · Rating 3 out of 5]

It’s totally on me that I started reading this eerie, hauntingly atmospheric book in a place that could absolutely be haunted. I was staying two nights in the homestead of explorer William Lawson in Bathurst, who in 1813 crossed with Blue Mountains with William Wentworth and Gregory Blaxland. He built his homestead in 1820 on land given to him by Governor Macquarie. And on this big, rambling property in the middle of nowhere, I started reading The Visitor.

It follows the story of Laura, who long ago left her childhood behind in Brisbane, raising her teenage daughter in the UK. But when she receives news her elderly parents have died in mysterious circumstances in the Outback, she must return to close up their lives and claim her inheritance.

It’s the perfect opportunity to fix up her childhood home and put it in the market, so she decides to spend a year back in Brisbane with her husband and daughter. But it’s not long before she feels a wariness in her childhood home, even a sense of unwelcome. Could this be what drove her mother to act so strangely in the months before her death?

Starford taps into all the trademark fears of old houses, complete with bumps in the night, to produce the perfect modern gothic tale. But she also explores themes of family bonds, and in particular, the mother daughter relationship, and asks: can you ever truly leave your childhood behind.

I may have had a few sleepless nights in the old homestead as I read this book, but it added to the eerie atmosphere that made it all the more enjoyable.

[Claudia · Rating 3 out of 5]

A slow burn psychological horror that really gets under your skin.
Not a twisty thriller more of a creeping unease that builds beautifully. Brisbane heat, memory, grief and madness. Couldn't stop reading.

Rating at 3 stars as I found the ending to be NQR and anti-climactic which was disappointing. Writing however really is stunning.