The Birthing House A Novel [Paperback]

A chilling ghost story that is also a tale of exquisite psychological suspense,The Birthing Housemarks the debut of a writer whose first novel is a terrifying tour de force.

Conrad and Joanna Harrison, a young couple from Los Angeles, attempt to save their marriage by leaving the pressures of the city to start anew in a quiet, rural setting. They buy a Victorian mansion that once served as a haven for unwed mothers, called a birthing house. One day when Joanna is away, the previous owner visits Conrad to bequeath a vital piece of the house's historic heritage, a photo album that he claims belongs to the house. Thumbing through the old, sepia-colored photographs of midwives and fearful, unhappily pregnant girls in their starched, nineteenth-century dresses, Conrad is suddenly chilled to the bone: staring back at him with a countenance of hatred and rage is the image of his own wife???.

Thus begins a story of possession, sexual obsession, and, ultimately, murder, as a centuries-old crime is reenacted in the present, turning Conrad and Joanna's American dream into a relentless nightmare.

???A blend of supernatural horror and psychological thriller, Ransom's impressive debut chronicles a couple's descent into madness after they purchase a 140-year-old Victorian house in rural Wisconsin . . . this addictively readable ghost story will keep readers up all night, with the lights on, of course.??? ???Publishers Weekly

???A biting and well-written novel??? The kind of genuinely scary story that makes little hairs stand up on the back of your neck??? This is a rare thing: a ghost story with class. Read it.??? ???Peter Blauner, author of the New York Times bestseller Slipping Into Darkness

???The birth of an exciting new voice in dark fiction???The Birthing Houseis a book that will leave you holding your breath.??? ???Scott Nicholson, Bram Stoker Award finalist, author of They Hunger

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