Cover of Houses That Remember

Mystery · Historical Fiction · Drama

Houses That Remember

Cassian Bray

The estate kept its own record of the family.

An architectural historian is hired to catalogue a manor before it is demolished. In the plaster of every room she finds a name scratched by a child who was never listed in the census.

Reading time
5 h 55 min read
Pages
328
Language
English
Recommended
14+
4.6 · 942 readers
Watch preview Hardcover $38Digital $12
Wishlist ShareCloth-bound with foil edging.
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Story world

The Wren Valley, where six great houses were built by the same absent architect and each one hides a room that does not appear on any plan.

InheritanceSilenceClassGhosts of recordLongingCuriosityGrief

Characters

  • Nell Ashcombe

    Architectural historian

    Reads buildings the way others read letters.

  • The Steward

    Last employee

    Has kept the west wing locked for forty years.

  • Tobias

    The unlisted child

    Wrote his name eleven times.

Timeline

  1. 1861

    Wrenfield is completed, one room over budget.

  2. 1904

    The census records eight children. The nursery has nine beds.

  3. Present day

    Demolition is scheduled for spring.

Preview

A fifteen-second trailer, then the opening pages as they were first printed.

Trailer coming soon

The reading preview is below

Opening pages

Wrenfield did not creak. That was the first thing Nell distrusted about it.

Houses of that age always complained; this one had learned not to.

End of preview

Soundtrack

  1. 01Plaster and Lime
  2. 02The Ninth Bed
  3. 03Wren Valley in Fog

Reader reviews

  • “A mystery told through floorboards. Extraordinary.”

    Aldo P.

  • “Quiet and heartbreaking. The last chapter undid me.”

    Sanne V.