The Unquiet Spirit by the late English author Marguerite Steen (
Wikipedia), a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature whose works enjoyed a period of popularity in the 1930s and 1940s, is her vintage standalone gothic-ish supernatural thriller novel, apparently with f/m romantic elements, where an invitation to spend time at an old schoolfriend's countryside home results in a man following a strange and spooky drama being played out, where local conflicts apparently centred around an unusual child turn into a battle against supernatural forces, free for a limited time courtesy of publisher Endeavour Press' Odyssey imprint, apparently as an apropos seasonal Halloween offering.
This was originally published in 1955 by Collins.
Currently free @
Amazon (available to Canadians & in the UK and pretty much everywhere else Amazon sells worldwide, since this is being done via their KDP Select exclusive-or-else program)
Description
Through a fortuitous meeting with an old schoolfriend, Arnold Lewes, whom he had not seen for years, Lord Whittenham is invited to spend a week-end at Arnold’s home in Buckinghamshire.
But his hopes of a pleasant week-end in the quiet of the country are soon dashed.
Lord Whittenham, the narrator of this strange story, soon senses the extraordinary tense atmosphere that shrouds the otherwise conventional scene and is uncomfortably conscious that a bewildering drama is unfolding before his incredulous eyes.
A drama of strife between two women, and a clash between the parents of an abnormal child, soon turns into a deadly battle for sanity against the supernatural forces of evil.
Marguerite Steen, who has proved herself so accomplished an artist in the longer novel of family chronicles, succeeds with impressive skill in making completely credible this curiously macabre but unforgettable tale of obsession and possession.