“Once you start Catherine Burns's dark, disturbing, and enthralling debut novel, it's hard to stop. The Visitors is bizarrely unsettling, yet compulsively readable.” —Iain Reid, internationally bestselling author of* I’m Thinking of Ending Things*
With the smart suspense of Emma Donoghue’s Room and the atmospheric claustrophobia of Grey Gardens, Catherine Burns’s debut novelexplores the complex truths we are able to keep hidden from ourselves and the twisted realities that can lurk beneath even the most serene of surfaces.
Marion Zetland lives with her domineering older brother John in a crumbling mansion on the edge of a northern seaside resort. A timid spinster in her fifties who still sleeps with teddy bears, Marion does her best to live by John’s rules, even if it means turning a blind eye to the noises she hears coming from behind the cellar door...and turning a blind eye to the women’s laundry in the hamper that isn’t hers. For years, she’s buried the signs of John’s devastating secret into the deep recesses of her mind—until the day John is crippled by a heart attack, and Marion becomes the only one whose shoulders are fit to bear his secret. Forced to go down to the cellar and face what her brother has kept hidden, Marion discovers more about herself than she ever thought possible. As the truth is slowly unraveled, we finally begin to understand: maybe John isn’t the only one with a dark side....
**
Review
"Once you start Catherine Burns' dark, disturbing, and enthralling debut novel, it's hard to stop.The Visitors is bizarrely unsettling, yet compulsively readable." (Iain Reid, Internationally bestselling author of I'm Thinking of Ending Things )
"I absolutely loved it. I would advise any nail biters to sit on their hands while reading this book because they will chew right down to the knuckle. By far the creepiest novel I have read in a long time and I mean that in a really good way." (Liz Nugent, author of Unraveling Oliver )
"The novel sets up plenty of creeps and shivers, but… there is still a twist at the end." (Kirkus Reviews)
“Deliberate pacing, a claustrophobic setting, and vivid, wildly unsympathetic characters complement the twisted plot and grim conclusion.” (Publishers Weekly)
The Visitors is an insidious, creepy novel, with a slow burn that leads to a horrifying revelation.
(Literary Hub)
“With its two unsympathetic main characters, chilling atmosphere and grim dénouement, this is an insightful study of loneliness and evil.” (Daily Mail Online)
"Shades of Room." (The New York Post)
"I made the mistake of starting this one night before going to bed... It’s not an all out creepfest, but somehow through the use of these dichotomies, Burns has created a story and characters that are even more horrifying as they feel thoroughly realistic." (Read. Eat. Sleep. Repeat.)
"The Visitors, is dark and atmospheric, and its imagery is quite evocative... Through vignettes from Marion's point of view, Burns slowly layers morbid details as she unravels the disturbing Zetland history." (Shelf Awareness)
About the Author
Born in Manchester, Catherine Burns is a graduate of Trinity College, University of Cambridge. She worked as a bond trader in London before studying at the Gerasimov Institute of Cinematography and teaching film theory at the University of Salford. The Visitors is her debut novel.
Description:
“Once you start Catherine Burns's dark, disturbing, and enthralling debut novel, it's hard to stop. The Visitors is bizarrely unsettling, yet compulsively readable.” —Iain Reid, internationally bestselling author of* I’m Thinking of Ending Things*
With the smart suspense of Emma Donoghue’s Room and the atmospheric claustrophobia of Grey Gardens, Catherine Burns’s debut novel explores the complex truths we are able to keep hidden from ourselves and the twisted realities that can lurk beneath even the most serene of surfaces.
Marion Zetland lives with her domineering older brother John in a crumbling mansion on the edge of a northern seaside resort. A timid spinster in her fifties who still sleeps with teddy bears, Marion does her best to live by John’s rules, even if it means turning a blind eye to the noises she hears coming from behind the cellar door...and turning a blind eye to the women’s laundry in the hamper that isn’t hers. For years, she’s buried the signs of John’s devastating secret into the deep recesses of her mind—until the day John is crippled by a heart attack, and Marion becomes the only one whose shoulders are fit to bear his secret. Forced to go down to the cellar and face what her brother has kept hidden, Marion discovers more about herself than she ever thought possible. As the truth is slowly unraveled, we finally begin to understand: maybe John isn’t the only one with a dark side....
**
Review
"Once you start Catherine Burns' dark, disturbing, and enthralling debut novel, it's hard to stop.The Visitors is bizarrely unsettling, yet compulsively readable." (Iain Reid, Internationally bestselling author of I'm Thinking of Ending Things )
"I absolutely loved it. I would advise any nail biters to sit on their hands while reading this book because they will chew right down to the knuckle. By far the creepiest novel I have read in a long time and I mean that in a really good way." (Liz Nugent, author of Unraveling Oliver )
"The novel sets up plenty of creeps and shivers, but… there is still a twist at the end." (Kirkus Reviews)
“Deliberate pacing, a claustrophobic setting, and vivid, wildly unsympathetic characters complement the twisted plot and grim conclusion.” (Publishers Weekly)
The Visitors is an insidious, creepy novel, with a slow burn that leads to a horrifying revelation.
(Literary Hub)
“With its two unsympathetic main characters, chilling atmosphere and grim dénouement, this is an insightful study of loneliness and evil.” (Daily Mail Online)
"Shades of Room." (The New York Post)
"I made the mistake of starting this one night before going to bed... It’s not an all out creepfest, but somehow through the use of these dichotomies, Burns has created a story and characters that are even more horrifying as they feel thoroughly realistic." (Read. Eat. Sleep. Repeat.)
"The Visitors, is dark and atmospheric, and its imagery is quite evocative... Through vignettes from Marion's point of view, Burns slowly layers morbid details as she unravels the disturbing Zetland history." (Shelf Awareness)
About the Author
Born in Manchester, Catherine Burns is a graduate of Trinity College, University of Cambridge. She worked as a bond trader in London before studying at the Gerasimov Institute of Cinematography and teaching film theory at the University of Salford. The Visitors is her debut novel.