Firstly, thank you, all of you (1036 people – amazing!) who entered the recent Goodreads Giveaway for Shadows of the Lost Child, my most recent novel. Congratulations to the lucky winners, your book will be winging its way towards you soon; and commiserations to those who didn’t.
But the good news is… the ebook version is now on SALE, and for a limited time, is 
available at a reduced price: check it out here:
http://tinyurl.com/qdolfd6 (UK) & http://tinyurl.com/ks3ksng (U. States)
OR, via http://authl.it/B00NGSSVM2 (all countries).
I hope you enjoy it. There’s a missing boot, and a mystery to solve and a girl called Alice who crosses time to meet a boy called Tom – and will there be a happy ending? You’ll just have to read it!
In the meantime, here are two ghost stories – not unfortunately, with happy endings, but of interest, especially if you’ve been to Warwickshire. Don’t go alone!
The White Swan Hotel, Henley-in-Arden
Henley-in-Arden, not that far from Stratford-upon-Avon, is a small town, with one main High Street. On this street is the White Swan Hotel; the present building dates from around 1600, but there’s thought to have been an inn on this site since the 14th century. At one time the site was apparently a stopping point on the stage coach route between Birmingham and London.
The ghost was a woman called Virginia Black, who fell down the stairs, having quarrelled with a man in 1845. She may have been a ‘lady of the night’ and he may have been a client of hers. It’s said she roams the hotel’s corridor, lingering outside room 17…
In case you should visit the inn yourself, she hasn’t been seen for some time!
The inn was once the site of the local court, in the mid-late 19th century. The courtyard was used for public hangings, and a ghost was said to have lingered there for some years, after she was hung, for murder.
Charlecote Park
Also not far from Stratford-upon-Avon, is Charlecote Park, now a National Trust property and open to visitors. The house itself is said to be haunted, but so is the lake, by the ghost of a woman, possibly a servant, who may have drowned herself there in the past.
According to the story, her shadowy figure drifts from the house to the site of the lake, throws herself in, then disappears. Oddly enough, there’s never a splash, or ripples on the water.
Get your own ghosts and shadows to take home with an ebook version of Shadows of the Lost Child; now on SALE until Saturday 28 February. Available from Amazon at:
http://tinyurl.com/qdolfd6 (UK) & http://tinyurl.com/ks3ksng (U. States)
Article written by Ellie Stevenson, author.
This article is copyrighted material. Brief extracts including a link to this site can be quoted but the article must not be reproduced in full anywhere without the author’s written permission.
Sources
- Skinner, J. (compiler) Haunted Warwickshire: ghost stories, Bradwell Books, 2013 (The Francis Frith Collection).
- White Swan Hotel, Henley-in-Arden: website
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