In September 1913, Mieczysław Wojnicz, a student suffering from tuberculosis, arrives at Wilhelm Opitz’s Guesthouse for Gentlemen, a health resort in what is now western Poland. Every day, its residents gather in the dining room to imbibe the hallucinogenic local liqueur, to obsess over money and status, and to discuss the great issues of the day: Will there be war? Monarchy or democracy? Do devils exist? Are women inherently inferior? Meanwhile, disturbing things are beginning to happen in the guesthouse and its surroundings. As stories of shocking events in the nearby highlands reach the men, a sense of dread builds. Someone – or something – seems to be watching them and attempting to infiltrate their world. Little does Mieczysław realize, as he attempts to unravel both the truths within himself and the mystery of the sinister forces beyond, that they have already chosen their next target. A century after the publication of The Magic Mountain, Olga Tokarczuk revisits Thomas Mann territory and lays claim to it, blending horror story, comedy, folklore and feminist parable with brilliant storytelling.

'Eerie. Dangerous. I loved it' - Claire Fuller, author of Unsettled Ground'Evocative, tender, terrifying . . . Superb' - Kiran Millwood Hargrave, author of The Mercies'Powerful, inventive and gripping to the very end' - Ian McGuire, author of The North Water'A hypnotic tale of twisted folklore that won’t let go' - Scott Preston, author of The Borrowed HillsExquisitely written and impossible to put down, The Hill in the Dark Grove is a haunting and sinister story steeped in Welsh folklore. Moving and chilling in equal measure, it is a story about a lost way of life and the terrifying lengths we go to to protect what we know.Carwyn and Rhian – the last in a long line of sheep farmers – are living out a brutal year on their hillside farm, deep in the mountains of Eryri, North Wales.When Carwyn discovers a buried prehistoric ruin in one of the fields on their land, his curiosity quickly descends into obsession. His wife, Rhian, meanwhile, is confronted with the growing realization that the man with whom she shares her life and home is becoming a frightening stranger.As the harsh winter closes in, Rhian finds herself alone with her increasingly peculiar husband, and the mountains, and the looming megalithic stones.'Vibrates with unease' - Anthony Shapland, author of A Room Above a Shop