Listen to a sample
The Key
- Author
- Kathryn Hughes
- Narrator
- Joanne Froggatt
- Publisher
- Headline
- Publish Date
- 1 March 2018
- Run Time
- 10 hours 13 minutes
- Format
- Audiobook
What to expect
From Kathryn Hughes, the #1 bestselling author of The Letter and The Secret, comes a powerful, shocking, heartbreaking story set to get everyone talking in spring 2018.
1956
It's Ellen Crosby's first day at work as a student nurse at Fairhaven County Lunatic Asylum. When she meets Amy Sullivan, a young woman committed for allegedly attempting to drown herself and her stepsister, and Dr Stephen Lambourn, a pioneering physician keen to try out the various 'cures' available for mental illness, little does Ellen know that a choice she will make is to change all their lives irrevocably...
Present day
Under the cover of darkness, a young woman, Kate, picks her way through the brambles to the abandoned Fairhaven Asylum. A vast building with over six miles of corridors, the asylum still houses the metal-framed beds, rusty instruments and infamous padded cells used before it closed its doors for the last time. In an old wardrobe, Kate discovers a suitcase belonging to a female patient who was admitted to the asylum in 1956. The shocking contents of the suitcase lead Kate to unravel a forgotten story of tragedy, lost love and an old wrong that only Kate may have the power to put right.
Critics Review
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A heartbreakingly powerful read
The Sun
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Praise for Kathryn Hughes' international bestsellers
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Autumnal Sunday afternoons were invented solely to read heart-tugging novels like this
Red
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This moving love story had everyone talking . . . Get set to be hooked
Look
See more reviews See fewer reviews
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A beautiful story . . . I didn't want to put it down
Reviewed by Fran
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You will find it hard to put down. I cried buckets of tears reading it
Books With Wine And Chocolate
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A wonderful, uplifting story
Lesley Pearse
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Beautifully written and incredibly poignant. You cannot fail to fall for this story . . . I am delighted to highly recommend
The Last Word Book Reviews
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The story kept me gripped . . . A breath of fresh air, and just what I needed after a long day in the office
Here.You.Me
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An emotional and intriguing read . . . Keeps you guessing right to the end
People’s Friend
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Gripping
Good Housekeeping
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Heart-warming and optimistic
Jen Med’s Book Reviews
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A gripping and moving family drama that will tug at the reader's heart
Writing magazine
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Pulled me in right from the first page . . . I really enjoyed this book
Rea’s Book Reviews
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I so thoroughly enjoyed this book, it was filled with all kinds of mystery, family secrets, [and] characters that really stood out
Read Along With Sue
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One that you just HAVE to finish
Hollie in Wanderlust
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A wonderful and memorable read that will stay with me for a long time
By The Letter Book Reviews
User Reviews
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Details
- Author
- Kathryn Hughes
- Narrator
- Joanne Froggatt
- Duration
- 10 hours 13 minutes
- Release Date
- 1 March 2018
- ISBN
- 9781472248879
- Format
- Audiobook
- Publisher
- Headline
- Genre
- Modern and contemporary fiction: literary and general, Historical romance, Crime and / or mystery fiction
Synopsis
'Riveting' Lesley Pearse on The Letter. 'Gripping' Good Housekeeping on The Secret. From Kathryn Hughes, the #1 bestselling author of The Letter and The Secret, comes a powerful, shocking, heartbreaking story set to get everyone talking in spring 2018. 1956 It's Ellen Crosby's first day at work as a student nurse at Fairhaven County Lunatic Asylum. When she meets Amy Sullivan, a young woman committed for allegedly attempting to drown herself and her stepsister, and Dr Stephen Lambourn, a pioneering physician keen to try out the various 'cures' available for mental illness, little does Ellen know that a choice she will make is to change all their lives irrevocably...Present dayUnder the cover of darkness, a young woman, Kate, picks her way through the brambles to the abandoned Fairhaven Asylum. A vast building with over six miles of corridors, the asylum still houses the metal-framed beds, rusty instruments and infamous padded cells used before it closed its doors for the last time. In an old wardrobe, Kate discovers a suitcase belonging to a female patient who was admitted to the asylum in 1956. The shocking contents of the suitcase lead Kate to unravel a forgotten story of tragedy, lost love and an old wrong that only Kate may have the power to put right.
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