The Retreat

PART OF THE NORTHERN WEIRD PROJECT Richard's sister Julie returns home from a mysterious wellness facility in remote Cumbria in 1994. He's convinced that this place was a cult and was the cause of his sister's eventual suicide. Finally, after years as an unaccomplished academic, he decides to investigate the disturbing accusations against the Hartman Retreat Centre. Then he meets Lucy, a young woman whose story is eerily similar to his sister's decades before. Richard is determined to unearth what's really been happening at the Hartman Retreat Centre but more importantly, who is Charles Hartman, the celebrated healer who casts a powerful hold over all who come to the retreat. Told through letters, interviews and found texts, lovers of Gemma Fairlcough's Bear Season will be swept up in a sinister world of wellness gurus and mystery. Advance Praise: "A suspenseful novella that defies easy categorisation. It's a gothic thriller, a medical horror story, a warning; most importantly, it's a great read!" Johanna van Veen, author of Blood on Her Tongue "The Retreat is both victim statement and witness testimony...On the surface a story about a cult and its charismatic, sinister leader, it's also a moving portrayal of illness and the search for wellness…and how in that quest, friendship and love can sometimes lose their way." Tim Lebbon, author of Secret Lives of the Dead "Eerie and unsettling, The Retreat draws you in, weaving a sense of uncertainty as it blurs the lines between fiction and reality. A commentary on the cultish possibilities of wellness culture…I took one bite of this book and couldn't stop until I'd devoured it all." Angie Spoto, author of The Bone Diver "A deliciously dark, compelling story of desperation and exploitation that leaves the reader with a chill on the spine. An addictive book!" Elizabeth Lee, author of Cunning Women "A chilling tale of the terrors and tragedies involved in a shady healing cult, led by a charismatic and manipulative individual who preys on the lonely, the desperate and the lost… Gemma Fairclough's unnerving narrative is stripped of melodrama and all the more horrific as a result." Rosie Garland, author of The Fates