'Deeper in the house, a barometer lied about the weather, while the Grandfather clock remained confused as to the hour. Gill no longer bothered about them; she preferred muddled instruments to harsh precision. She'd rather not know the proper time or how cold it really was.'

Dancing with the Dead is a novel that tells the story of Gill, a young mother suddenly uprooted from her busy city life. Having suffered the loss of a beloved aunt, she must move into the family home with its dark secrets and inadequate mod cons. Told with a grim humour, the book examines the stresses of motherhood and loneliness. During her husband’s temporary absence, Gill must cope with loneliness, rising damp, a child with whom she cannot communicate and a series of letters from a dead, beloved aunt. As she learns more of her family history, she grows ever more isolated and neglectful. Living in a house full of ghosts, Gill slips into a world where mothers are to be feared and children can so easily be lost forever.

...A very atmospheric and disturbing read. I found Gill's gradual unravelling horribly plausible and the atmosphere of claustrophobia and neglect at Ramsons was absolutely tangible. ... Gradually I became caught up in the various tragedies, and the parallels between past and present kept me reading in a state of increasing trepidation. Clare Chambers