Synopsis
'Switchblade sharp fiction for the work-life unbalanced' GLEN JAMES BROWN
Danielle MacKinnon's nearly thirty and still hasn't got her life sorted. Her job as a PA to the blithely privileged Jeannie is boring, and existentially depressing, and now, after a break-up, she needs to find somewhere to live for the next two months.
Her best friends Ben and Anita are keen to help, but Danielle's broke, burning through couches and good-will, until she gets an unexpected proposal from Jeannie. Danielle can stay at Westerley, the sprawling Yorkshire estate where Jeannie grew up. They need someone to look after the old place anyway. She'd be doing them a favour.
At Westerley, Danielle luxuriates in her idyllic, borrowed life as lady of the manor - but the house is big, old and uneasy. It's a strange place to live alone. The sleep paralysis that began in London is beginning to worsen.
And then Jeannie arrives unannounced. Working for her, serving her, living in her house, the razor-thin boundaries begin Danielle and her boss begin to dissolve. Soon their relationship slides into something older, stranger and harder to name.
Something is happening at Westerley. Things where they shouldn't be. The shadow of a maid sweeping in the dawn light. But is the house really haunted? Or is Danielle?
Danielle MacKinnon's nearly thirty and still hasn't got her life sorted. Her job as a PA to the blithely privileged Jeannie is boring, and existentially depressing, and now, after a break-up, she needs to find somewhere to live for the next two months.
Her best friends Ben and Anita are keen to help, but Danielle's broke, burning through couches and good-will, until she gets an unexpected proposal from Jeannie. Danielle can stay at Westerley, the sprawling Yorkshire estate where Jeannie grew up. They need someone to look after the old place anyway. She'd be doing them a favour.
At Westerley, Danielle luxuriates in her idyllic, borrowed life as lady of the manor - but the house is big, old and uneasy. It's a strange place to live alone. The sleep paralysis that began in London is beginning to worsen.
And then Jeannie arrives unannounced. Working for her, serving her, living in her house, the razor-thin boundaries begin Danielle and her boss begin to dissolve. Soon their relationship slides into something older, stranger and harder to name.
Something is happening at Westerley. Things where they shouldn't be. The shadow of a maid sweeping in the dawn light. But is the house really haunted? Or is Danielle?
Details
25 June 2026
9781786586285Imprint: Manilla Press
Reviews
Switchblade-sharp fiction for the work-life unbalanced. An ingenious melding of nightmares. Trapped in a city you can't afford, trapped in a haunted manor that isn't yours. Mooney's hilarious novel asks - which is scarier?
This novel completely captivated me. It depicts the horrors of 2020 Zoom calls combined with early 19th century servitude, showing that the nature of work hasn't changed as much as we'd like to pretend.
