The Naked Light

From the #1 bestselling author of THE BINDING Above the village of Haltington, a chalk face carved into the hillside is rumoured to protect the locals from malevolent spirits. So long as it is maintained by a local family, all will be well. But the First World War has decimated the men of the village, and when Aggie Bone dies not long after her sons are killed in battle, her cottage is left empty. There is nobody to tend to the upkeep of the Face. Still, it''s only an old wives'' tale. Isn''t it? Florence has come to live with her widowed brother-in-law and her rebellious teenaged niece. She has resigned herself to spinsterhood - until she sees a man''s shirts flapping on the line outside the newly leased Bone cottage. Could a husband have landed on her doorstep, and is that what she really wants? Kit is an artist - unconventional, androgynous and traumatised by the events of the war. She seeks peace, and a muse, in Haltington. But under the chalk, something is stirring... From the #1 bestselling author of THE BINDING, this is a dark, compelling and deeply moving novel about grief, identity and forbidden desires.

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'At once a moving study of women's lives after the First World War, an exquisite love story and a terrifying folk horror. So beautifully written that I could hardly bear to stop reading, this is Bridget Collins at her beguiling best' EMILIA HART
'I honestly never thought another author could rival Sarah Waters in terms of plot and quality and characterisation, but I was wrong. Bridget Collins' new book is every bit as good as Waters' best. The Naked Light was utterly beguiling, heart-shatteringly emotional, and will stay with me for a very, very long time. Hand on heart, I haven't read a historical novel quite as good as this for years!' LOUISE MORRISH

Product details

• Authors: Bridget Collins, Collins Bridget
• Publisher: The Borough Press
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Release: 25.09.2025
• EAN: 9780008424077
• ISBN: 978-0-00-842407-7
• Dimensions: 153 mm x 234 mm x 25 mm
• Subjects: Fiction > Narrative literature; Fantasy, Historical romance, Dark Fantasy, Modern & contemporary fiction (post c 1945), Historical fiction, FICTION / Literary, FICTION / Magical Realism, FICTION / Horror, Horror & ghost stories, Horror & supernatural fiction, Narrative theme: Sense of place, Magical Realism, First World War fiction, Fiction: general and literary, Narrative theme: Love and relationships, FICTION / LGBTQ+ / General, Myths and Legends / Mythic fiction, FICTION / Historical / 20th Century / World War I