Read more
February, 1929. The Regent Hotel in Birmingham is a place of deception and glamour. Behind its six-storeyed façade, guests sip absinthe cocktails on velvet banquettes, while the staff navigate the hotel's labyrinthine 'below stairs' to ensure the finest service is always at hand.
In the early evening, psychoanalyst Nora Dickinson checks in under a false name. It's unlike Nora to deceive - her aversion to lying borders on the pathological - but she's travelling with an agenda. Having shadowed the famous opera singer, Berenice Oxbow, from Zurich, she's determined not to lose sight of her now.
But when a terrible snow storm isolates the hotel - and its guests - from the outside world, reality appears to shift. Nora's grip loosens, and the nightmares she's worked hard to control begin to bare their teeth.
Kate Mascarenhas's latest novel offers her readers a horrifying ride through murder, madness and the darkestrecesses of the mind.'A delicious piece of art deco Gothic'
Natalie Marlow'Dark, complex and beautifully plotted'
Rebecca Netley'Immersive, unique... with a dark supernatural core'
Essie Fox'An atmospheric, claustrophobic novel... mesmerising'
Elizabeth Lee
About the author
Kate Mascarenhas is a part-Irish, part-Seychellois midlander. Since 2017, Kate has been a chartered psychologist. Before that she worked as a copywriter, a dolls' house maker, and a bookbinder. She lives in the Midlands with her husband in a small terraced house which she is slowly filling with Sindy dolls. She is the author of three novels, The Psychology of Time Travel, The Thief on the Winged Horse and Hokey Pokey.
Summary
'Begins as a compelling psychological mystery [and] turns to the supernatural... A well-plotted, original, nightmare blend of madness and monsters.' Guardian
The Regent Hotel in Birmingham is a place of lush glamour, where guests sip absinthe cocktails on velvet banquettes and obliging waiters are always on hand. Yet behind its glittering façade, you might find monsters lurking in the shadows...
On a cold February evening, Nora Dickinson checks in. A psychoanalyst with a dubious past, Nora has battled not to let her own demons overcome her. But when a terrible snowstorm cuts The Regent off from the outside world, the entire hotel's grip on reality slips - and the nightmares Nora's worked so hard to control begin to bare their teeth.
Kate Mascarenhas's latest novel offers her readers a horrifying ride through murder, madness and the darkest
recesses of the mind.
'A delicious piece of art deco Gothic' Natalie Marlow
'Dark, complex and beautifully plotted' Rebecca Netley
'Immersive, unique... with a dark supernatural core' Essie Fox
'An atmospheric, claustrophobic novel... mesmerising' Elizabeth Lee
Foreword
A grand hotel, a famous opera star and a psychoanalyst with a hidden agenda.
Additional text
PRAISE FOR KATE MASCARENHAS:
'Witty, inventive and unflashily wise about human hearts; Mascarenhas's future promises to be an exciting one' Guardian.
'Breathtakingly tender and wryly understated, The Psychology of Time Travel feels like an antidote to a great deal of reported (and even fictionalized) history, its excised women now finding their way back into the spotlight' New York Times.
'Bringing magical realism to a contemporary Oxford setting in an atmospheric examination of gender inequality' Guardian, on The Thief on the Winged Horse.
'Captivating, inventive and tender... A dazzling mix of crime, romance, magic and myth' Adele Parks, on The Thief on the Winged Horse.
'This is a novel packed with ideas... It'll leave you turning over the concepts in your mind long after the story is finished'
