River of Destiny

River of Destiny
Barbara Erskine

From the bestselling author of Time’s Legacy and Lady of Hay comes a thrilling new novel, River of Destiny, an epic story that spans Anglo Saxon Britain, Victorian Suffolk and the present day.Perfect for fans of Kate Mosse’s Labyrinth.On the banks of the River Deben in Suffolk are ancient barns dating back to Anglo Saxon times – within these walls lie secrets that have been buried for centuries.New arrivals Zoe and Ken move into one of the converted barns, ready to start a life away from the hustle and bustle of the city. To the outside world they seem happy, but they are growing further apart by the day. Meanwhile the strange presence Zoe feels within their home and the ghostly shapes she sees through the cloying mists on the river are getting harder to ignore.Nearby, farmers are ploughing the land beside the river and human bones are found. Are they linked to the Victorian tragedy the locals whisper about? The secret of the grassy mound has remained untouched through history, but now that it’s been disturbed, will there be devastating consequences?

Copyright (#ulink_d9938948-361f-5c0a-a247-acaa3082a956)

Published by HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd

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London SE1 9GF

www.harpercollins.co.uk (http://www.harpercollins.co.uk)

First published in 2012

Published by HarperCollinsPublishers 2016

Copyright © Barbara Erskine 2016

Cover layout design © HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd 2016

Cover photographs © Charles Smith/Corbis (heron); Duncan George/Getty Images (horizon); Guy Edwardes/Getty Images (trees); Jason Edwards/Getty Images (reeds); Shutterstock.com (http://www.Shutterstock.com) (branch)

Barbara Erskine asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work.

A catalogue copy of this book is available from the British Library.

This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.

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Ebook Edition © March 2016 ISBN: 9780007455652

Version: 2017-09-07

Dedication (#ulink_67745242-cf05-5081-883e-e8187980de7e)

For Jon, who keeps the wheels on the wagon

Epigraph (#ulink_b4529af9-6525-5e58-8ce5-f635d9660fd2)

… rich swords lay … eaten with rust, as they had lain buried in the bosom of the earth for a thousand years … the princes who placed their treasure there had pronounced a solemn curse on it which was to last until doomsday: that whoever rifled the place should be guilty of sin, shut up in dwelling-places of devils, bound in bonds of hell, and tormented with evil …

Beowulf

Contents

Cover (#ud15d40ee-905e-57b6-8fa8-8cba248ab85e)

Title Page (#u735c524c-50a3-5977-b958-7a43ef3ed3e0)

Copyright (#ua2f6f562-ac5c-500e-b237-45290f4e36ca)

Dedication (#ua0be2184-5d54-5429-8e0e-6d9b262ae9a7)

Epigraph (#u4bf47d44-e0e8-5748-a54b-8ee13bd0e56e)

Prologue (#u96152c55-2d6c-54cd-aa57-d9c26138e1da)

Chapter 1 (#ud9123919-aded-5eec-9dd9-e147be52ca66)

Chapter 2 (#ubcc9c1d5-b733-5fd3-a157-c09ed7ed8e8c)

Chapter 3 (#u85c7c416-71c7-5c2d-892e-7e60945c8750)

Chapter 4 (#u2d62c59e-f6bb-5f68-b311-91529c1caba9)

Chapter 5 (#uf398a4d7-a2c2-5237-b0cb-d75700d3716e)

Chapter 6 (#u356b6d39-0538-590c-ba8d-483056a5e9ae)

Chapter 7 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 8 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 9 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 10 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 11 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 12 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 13 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 14 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 15 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 16 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 17 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 18 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 19 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 20 (#litres_trial_promo)