Wringland

by Sally Spedding

A novel of chilling menace and powerful atmosphere set in haunted fen country. Her new job negotiating sales for Holtbury Prestige Homes takes Abbie Parker to sinister Black Fen. From the moment she arrives, Abbie falls prey to bizarre incidents both on the building site and in the surrounding wet-lands. The unwanted attentions of a deranged clergyman, the increasingly odd behaviour of her soldier boyfriend, growing awareness of the appalling abuse heaped on a strange little girl, all of these are trial enough. But Abbie's real nightmares begins with the disembodied voices of singing children, the constant reappearance of a battered prayerbook... and the gloating laughter of Martha Robinson, hanged for infanticide a century earlier.

674 pages, Paperback

First published September 6, 2002

Reviews

[Stuart Aken · Rating 5 out of 5]

• Wringland by Sally Spedding. Pan Books.
673 pps. 77 chaps. 200,000 words
Powerful, disturbing, intense and engaging, the narrative moves this story at a pace that never falters. Finely drawn characters move, repel, haunt and enmesh the reader in this tale of a young woman and her man as they struggle to understand and attempt to defeat the potent forces stacked against them. Quinn, the sinister but complex tool of evil, controlled by the spirit of the vengeful Martha, embodies a type of wickedness that can reside only in the being of an uncertain man of the cloth. Abbie, essentially open but naïve, provides a wonderful example of the honest thinker caught up in the material world of corrupt sales: a heroine who grows through the experiences she faces.
Sally Spedding’s sense of place is superb and captures the dreary, claustrophobic atmosphere of the Fens with such accuracy that the reader can smell the tide-washed mud, feel the weight of sky and hear the ever-present motion of the water.
This thriller tackles the world of ghosts and the spiritual supernatural with confidence enough to draw in the disbeliever. The very humanity of the characters compels the reader to follow them through their trials to the conclusion. Un-put-downable.

[Keri · Rating 5 out of 5]

As I've long maintained, nobody does creeping, subtle horror like the British. Realistic, flawed but likable characters in Abbie and Simon, a haunting setting, and foreboding atmosphere. Great storytelling all around!

[Sammie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Disappointing. The same story could have been told in half the words. I stuck with it because parts of it intrigued me - but I didn't find the end particularly satisfying. Perhaps this genre isn't for me.

[Michelle Le · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent Read

Horror/Ghost story. Chilling! Very good read and very hard to put this book down! It is well written story. Thank you! Great to read a really good book.

[Margaret Abel]

Did not enjoy