The Knocking: A Novel

In a house this haunted, both the living and the dead pose dangers to a female journalist in nineteenth-century New York in a chilling historical gothic by the author of Who Is the Liar. It’s 1850 when intrepid journalist and women’s-rights advocate Edith Ann, “E. A.,” Howe arrives at the home of iconic newspaper founder Horace Greeley. Her assignment is to chronicle the uncanny gifts of Cathie Fox, an eleven-year-old medium in Horace’s charge. Mysterious knocking sounds follow Cathie as she channels the restless spirit of the Greeleys’ deceased son, Pickie—a ghostly consolation to Horace’s profoundly unwell and grieving wife. As her condition worsens, E. A. suspects foul play. Something is very wrong in this house. Sharp-tongued housekeepers warn her to steer clear of the attic. Pickie’s alleged messages from beyond are more disturbing than comforting. And the seemingly guileless Cathie claims that the house is eating her alive. All the while Cathie’s beautiful English governess is awakening something restless in E. A. As she wrestles with her own childhood terrors, E. A. must investigate the story of the spirit-knockings and reveal whether the greatest threats are coming from the living or the dead.