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The Nesting

C.J. Cooke
Chapters (56)
  1. Cover
  2. Title Page
  3. Acclaim for The Nesting
  4. Dedication
  5. Epigraph
  6. Prologue
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  48. Acknowledgements
  49. Author Note
  50. Keep Reading …
  51. LIV, 1998
  52. II
  53. III
  54. About the Author
  55. Also by C.J. Cooke
  56. About the Publisher

Cover

Cover image: The Nesting by C.J. Cooke

Title Page

Title image: The Nesting by C.J. Cooke

HarperCollinsPublishers Logo

Acclaim for The Nesting

‘Norwegian fjords and folktales are beautifully evoked in this vivid and compelling novel’

Rosamund Lupton

‘It has been such a tonic – chilling, totally engrossing and full of intrigue. The pages just whizzed by while I ignored everyone! It’s marvellous’

Katherine May

‘Nordic folklore, snowy landscapes, and an ever-turning screw of tension – a fun, gothic treat’

Kirsty Logan

‘The Nesting is a gorgeous, atmospheric book that chilled me to the bone. The perfect escape book into the deep woods of Norway, where nothing is as it seems. C.J. Cooke just became one of my favourite authors’

Samantha Downing

‘An original and haunting thriller, filled with secrets, ghosts, and Norse folk-tales. The Nesting is an evocative and chilling tale that will keep you guessing, and is best read with the lights on’

Alice Feeney

‘The Nesting is an intriguing mix of gothic drama and domestic noir’

Sophie Draper

‘A taut, scary thriller that winds the suspense so tightly you can barely breathe’

Simone St. James

‘The Nesting is at once a taut psychological thriller, an eerie Nordic fable, and a thoughtful meditation on stewardship – not only of children, but of friendship, of truth, and of the natural world we take for granted at our peril. Ms. Cooke tells her story with a spare, elegant prose that betrays a poet’s ear, and also a poet’s discipline. The language is beautiful, but effortlessly so, pushing the story forward in two deftly handled timelines. The characters are heart-breakingly three-dimensional, yet tell us only what we need to know when we need to know it. This is my favourite kind of book – a quick read with a long echo’

Christopher Buehlman

Dedication

For

Jared & Phoenix

Epigraph

Once upon a time there was a river who, like all rivers, knew exactly where she wished to go. Some people willed her to change her course, and when she did not bend to their will, they began to tear her apart, pebble by pebble, stone by stone.

Of course, the river won in the end, and returned to her route with a wet sigh of relief, running the length of her spine against the familiar grey rocks and stretching luxuriantly against the grooves of earth she had known for centuries.

And she made sure that the people paid dearly for their foolishness.

from P. Johansen’s Book of Remembered Norse Folk Tales, 1999

(trans. A. Faraday)

Antler artwork       Antler artwork

Prologue

Aurelia sprints through the dark forest, her white nightdress billowing like a cloud, her strides long and swift across the carpet of bark and brambles. She tries not to think too much about how the towering silver birches resemble skeletons, moonlight transforming the silvery trunks into endless prison bars and the weeping sky soaking her to the bone.