The Guest of Night
Three teenagers are drawn into the hidden underside of Elizabethan England: a world where how you pray can get you hanged, and misplaced trust can kill. Catholicism is forbidden in this world, and Catholics walk the line between faith and fear. Protestant Stephen distrusts treacherous Papists but values his friendship with Catholic Hugh; Hugh and Bridget resent Protestant tyranny but find themselves relying on Stephen’s help – and his silence. All of them understand both less and more than their parents realize of the dangers hovering on the margins of their lives. And this is the kind of volatile mix that can put nooses round necks.
Paperback: $19.95 / £14.59 | Kindle: $9.99
For all episodes of Dust, Documents and Diamonds, click here.
TESTIMONIALS
“So few historical novels actually manage to capture the feel of an age. . . . Three things that really lift this book up: One, the writing: sharp, lively, tight, it draws you in and zips along. Two, the historical detail: the author is a professional historian and it shows – in a good way. … And three, what will stay with me the longest: the really vividly conjured sense of what it was actually like to live under a regime of religious persecution. The Catholic characters at the heart of the book, and also the Protestant characters recalling earlier ages’ persecutions (a minor but crucial theme of the book), give you a truly compelling sense of living against a background of fear, of endlessly making choices that will probably be safe but could always be lethal, of the fragile consolations people reach for to tell themselves that everything will be all right when they are well aware that it might not be. And yet finding a way of actually living despite it all. It’s haunting but also, in the end, unmistakably hopeful – and that really is a tough trick to pull off.” – excerpt from Good Reads review by Alec Ryrie, Professor of the History of Christianity at Durham University and a licensed lay preacher in the Church of England; author of Unbelievers: An Emotional History of Doubt
“The Guest of Night is a thrilling tale filled with adrenaline, courage, and lessons in wisdom. Read by the author herself, one is transported into Elizabethan England. Lucy Underwood-Healy’s narration is expressive, and draws the listener further into the story, to sympathize and admire all that our Catholic ancestors suffered for the sake of Christ, of truth, and of love.” -Thérèse Judeana, author of Ransom: Shadow of An Empire
“The book that took me by surprise was this belting Tudor thriller / rite of passage story . . . [The Guest of Night].” – Frank Cottrell-Boyce, Twitter
“Lucy Underwood Healy writes with impressive lucidity and authenticity. From the very beginning of The Guest of Night, we are immersed in a world of dangerous intrigue, rich historical detail and acute observation. She has created a cast of full-blooded characters whose story will absorb and engage us.” – Nick Warburton, Winner of the BBC/Radio Times Drama Award, the Sandford St Martin Award and the Tinniswood Award
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Lucy Underwood-Healy grew up in Cambridge, England. She received her BA in History and English from Oxford University, and completed postgraduate studies at Cambridge University. The Guest of Night, her first novel, grew in symbiosis with her research into Elizabethan England and its religious conflicts. A mother and scholar as well as a writer, she lives in St Albans, England with her husband and children.
OTHER YOUNG ADULT FICTION
The Darkspire Conspiracy
The Darkspire Conspiracy by Joseph Chaput As darkness rises in Scandia, and an ancient evil awakens after nearly twenty centuries of slumber and all things give way before it. Sigrún and her family and friends, embark on a whirlwind quest, of passion, vengeance and...
Wingswept: The Dragon and the Dove by Therese Judeana
Wingswept: The Dragon and the Dove by Thérèse Judeana Dragons in the mountains. Dragons in the ice. Dragons on the road. Dragons are extinct - that’s what Alandis was taught. That history is rewritten when Alandis runs from the breaking of her heart, and by strange...
Vows by Cynthia Linkas
Vows by Cynthia Linkas Fall, 1964. Academy of Sorrows' nuns and girls are at crossroads. Janey, a senior, yearns for faith and breaks the rules. Sister Philippe, a young independent nun, struggles to keep her vows. Mother Superior leads them in discipline and belief....
Galahad by Michael Walker
Galahad by Michael Walker Galahad is a knight in search of a quest. Abandoned at a medieval monastery as a child, he journeys to Camelot to earn his spot at the Round Table. Impressed by his valor in the tournament joust, King Arthur sends Galahad to find the Holy...
The Divine Tragedy by Chai Mahfood
The Divine Tragedy by Chai Mahfood Jackson Abgayani is employed by his local pastor to save two boys from the hands of Gary Miller. Unsure of what's to come, he'll agree to walk the dark road in hopes of stopping the profane sabbath. Will he endure? Paperback: $9.99...
Ad Maré: Song of the Pleiades by Grace Bourget
Ad Maré: Song of the Pleiades by Grace Bourget A kingdom living in the shadow of a five-hundred year curse. A people banished for protecting their home against it. Seven stars gliding westward. One ancient city has already fallen to the sea. The only hope to save...
Ransom: Shadow of an Empire – Book I: Cross of Secrets
Cross of Secrets by Thérèse Judeana An impenetrable shadow has bound the galaxy of Andromeda for centuries. After a freak accident of space, an empire of slave traders learns to control time. Now nothing can stop them from taking whom they will. In the deadly currents...
Ransom: Shadow of an Empire – Book II: Trial by Time
Trial by Time by Thérèse Judeana An impenetrable shadow has bound the galaxy of Andromeda for centuries. After a freak accident of space, an empire of slave traders learns to control time. Now nothing can stop them from taking whom they will. In the deadly currents of...
Ransom: Shadow of an Empire – Book III: Shards of Crystal
Shards of Crystal by Thérèse Judeana An impenetrable shadow has bound the galaxy of Andromeda for centuries. After a freak accident of space, an empire of slave traders learns to control time. Now nothing can stop them from taking whom they will. In the deadly...
The Messiah of the Metro Café
The Messiah of the Metro Café By Ronda Chervin It was 9:00 A.M., October 24, 2022. The reporters of the Catholic Weekly of Los Angeles met in the chief editor’s office for their special assignments. “This cult leader is influencing some St. Mark’s seminarians from his...
Vale of Hope
Vale of Hope by Grace Bourget In 15th-century Spain, a reckless youth finds himself grounded with the worst punishment he can imagine: volunteering in a leper camp. Working amongst those the world has proclaimed as dead to society, Paul finds that there is more to...
The Squire’s Journey
The Squire's Journey This is a story of a journey, written to help young people deal with grief and loss. Every journey has a beginning. Every journey has a starting point, when a person’s life takes a turn and he starts on the path that will be his life for the rest...
Only the Lover Sings, a Novel by Daniel Fitzpatrick
Only the Lover Sings by Daniel Fitzpatrick All is changed when a hurricane floods the city of New Orleans, displacing fourteen-year-old Roman Moran and his family not only from their home but also from the daily round rehearsed for them by generations of life in the...
Children of Slate by Thom Brucie
Children of Slate Morgan O’Bryan, studying for the priesthood at St. Francis Seminary, comes under the tutelage of Father Christopher. Father Christopher suspects that Morgan might possess the gift of healing, and he wants to introduce Morgan to the knowledge of and...