Content levels
Trigger warnings
Positive tags
Hero archetypes
Protagonist archetypes
Synopsis
Captain Hal Stirling is flown home from Helmand Province, Afghanistan, an IED rendering him battered and broken, and scarred in more ways than one. After a brief rehabilitation at Headley Court, Hal learns that his mother is dying. He returns to Stirling Towers - his ancient, family home near the remote Scottish Border - intending to convalesce there indefinitely. But when Hal arrives it is too late. His mother has passed; and all that now remains of the household are her nurses, Sister Teresa Vale and her daughter, Francesca. In the isolated, bitterly cold house, Hal starts to see things he's sure can't be there. Although initially dismissing these as the effects of his medication, he soon makes an unsettling discovery: the two women are spiritualists, and have been conducting seances under his roof. As the winter weather increasingly cuts him off from the rest of the world, and his visions intensify, Hal starts to wonder how alone he is, and who these two women really are.
Is The Woman in Silk appropriate for my child?
Suitable for most readers 16 and up.
A wounded veteran returns home to find spiritualists conducting seances in his ancestral home, leading to psychological suspense with themes of war trauma, grief, and the supernatural. Contains moderate war-related content and intense psychological situations.
What to know going in
This book has moderate violence, no sexual content, and mild language. Content notes include death of parent, grief, and war (see the full list above).
Who'll love this
Teens who enjoy atmospheric mysteries with ghostly elements and psychological twists will be drawn to this Gothic-tinged thriller.