The sacred combe - Thomas Maloney

Longlisted for the Desmond Elliott Prize 2017

WANTED:
Diligent volunteer to carry out two months'
painstaking archival work for private library.
Board and lodging provided;
curiosity and imagination rewarded.

When Samuel Browne's wife unexpectedly leaves him, his world crumbles - until he spies this job advert hidden between the pages of a second-hand book. It leads him deep into the English countryside, to a new job in a cold and ancient house.

Sam must find a lost letter, hidden in a library of eighteen thousand books. As he sets to work under the watchful eyes of the house's eccentric inhabitants, he soon realises that this is not the only mystery that this strange, seductive place holds