Content levels
Trigger warnings
Positive tags
Hero archetypes
Heroine archetypes
Protagonist archetypes
Themes
Synopsis
Michael is dressing for dinner at a friend's country house in Ireland. As he descends the staircase, he spots a small painting of a landing with an old linen press and the white marble statue of an angel. In the background is a woman clad in a dark green dress. During dinner, Michael comments on the painting to his hosts but they say there is no woman in the picture. When Michael goes up to bed later, he sees that they are correct. This is only the first in a series of incidents that lead Michael to question his grip on reality. His wife Elilzabeth is unsettled by the changes she sees in a man she originally married because he was dependable and steady, not because she loved him. She realises she has never really known Michael and as he changes, she sees glimpses of someone she could fall in love with. Michael, in the meantime, is disturbed by events at his family's ancestral home in the wilds of Scotland and by a past that is threatening to destroy everything, and everyone, he has ever loved.
Is The Girl on the Landing appropriate for my child?
Suitable for most readers 16 and up.
This psychological fantasy involves reality-bending supernatural events and a protagonist questioning his sanity. Themes of marital estrangement and past secrets may be unsettling for younger readers.
What to know going in
This book has mild violence, mild sexual content, and mild language. Content notes include mental illness, gaslighting, and anxiety.
Who'll love this
Older teens who enjoy mind-bending mysteries and supernatural stories about the past intruding on the present will find this intriguing.