In a move aimed at providing greater support for independent booksellers, Penguin Random House is realigning and expanding its indie bookstore selling teams, adding new field-rep positions, realigning publisher responsibilities, and building new programs to deepen its partnership with bookstores and strengthen their education and community outreach.

PRH's president of U.S. sales Jaci Updike, said: "It's been inspiring to see the indies reinvent so much of what they do during Covid, and to witness the incredible hard work and entrepreneurial spirit that has guided so many of them through the last couple of years. We are thrilled to be able to find new ways to support our customers, our books, and our authors, and we are very much looking forward to a successful and rewarding 2022 partnership with independent booksellers."

Among the changes:

Effective with the fall 2022 list, a new field sales team is being created and will be dedicated to PRH Publisher Services client publishers, the majority of which will be represented by this new group. (PRHPS clients include, among others, America's Test Kitchen, Astra, Beacon Press, Charlesbridge, Dark Horse Comics, DC, Hay House, Holiday House, IDW, Kensington, Library of America, Marvel, Melville House, MIT Press, New York Review Books, Other Press, Quirk, Shambhala, Verso and Wizards of the Coast.)

The new group, headed by Beth Koehler, v-p, field sales, includes PRH sales reps with experience in both children's and adult publishing, along with additional reps to be hired soon. The team will consist of 10 regionally based reps who will report to regional sales directors. They include Amy Comito in Southern California (reporting to Phil Budnick); Susie Albert in New England (reporting to Mike McGroder); Whitney Conyers in the lower Midwest and covering education account and Timothy Mooney in the upper Midwest (both reporting to David Underwood); and Lauren Mackey in the South and Nicole Dufort in the Mountains & Plains (both reporting to Valerie Walley). Four positions, covering Northern California, the Pacific Northwest, New York City and D.C. and the mid-Atlantic have yet to be filled.

Kim Shannon, senior v-p, adult retail & education sales, wrote in a memo to staff, "I am thrilled to welcome these highly respected and deeply experienced reps to their new selling team. They will be supported by a new associate director for PRHPS in the field, reporting to Beth. Their expertise, creativity, and strong account relationships will help us build a gold-standard field team to manage and grow sales for a stellar portfolio of PRHPS client independent publishers. All four adult field teams--Knopf Doubleday, Random House, Penguin Publishing Group, and PRHPS--will collaborate closely on marketing outreach and account promotions."

She added: "This new field sales team is not only a major PRH growth initiative, it also is an expression of our unwavering belief in the power and future of independent bookstores and its booksellers. Our goals are simple: maximize sales for all of our publishers, position the entire indie sales team for future sales growth, and create a structure that allows reps to bring an even greater focus, across all imprints and formats, on midlist, backlist, and the kind of 'make book' opportunities the indies excel at."

Penguin Young Readers and Random House Children's Books, previously sold by separate teams, will now be sold by one unified indie team, which will have smaller territories than in the past, allowing reps to spend more time on local marketing and outreach. New marketing initiatives designed for independent booksellers will focus on schools, education, and the continuing strong growth in various children's categories.

As outlined in a memo to staff by Felicia Frazier, senior v-p, children's and educational sales, there will be unified management and selling teams for each children's sales channel, with each now responsible for Penguin Young Readers, Random House Children's Books, DK, and Penguin Random House Publisher Services. The new channel heads are Enid Chaban, v-p, online sales; Becky Green, v-p, national accounts; Todd Jones, v-p, field sales; and Mark Santella, v-p, mass merchandise sales, all reporting to Frazier, who said, "These highly experienced leaders each have demonstrated a proven ability to build successful programs that lead to sustainable growth, in partnership with our customers."

In addition, two new group sales director leadership positions are being created "to work closely and collaboratively with our publishers." Deb Polansky is the v-p, group sales director, Penguin Young Readers, and Joe English is group sales director, Random House Children's Books. They also report to Frazier, who said they "will be responsible for building and executing our overall growth strategy, in partnership with our publishers and channel leads, and for ensuring that the entire sales team can mobilize quickly and comprehensively around opportunities for their division's titles."

Among changes in the new unified channel teams, Becky Green, v-p, national accounts, is also named director of Penguin Random House Publisher Services children's sales and will launch a new sales team dedicated to growing children's sales for PRHPS. Two positions are being added: one selling to Amazon, filled by Molly Humphrey, national account manager, PRHPS, and another currently open position selling to Barnes & Noble and Books-A-Million.

In field sales, reps will now represent Penguin Young Readers, Random House Children's Books, DK and PRHPS and will have smaller territories. Field sales and library sales will be led by Todd Jones, and Emily Bruce, director, field sales, will be responsible for managing the indie reps, for building individual account strategies, and for guiding the reps in their newly expanded outreach efforts.

Stella Galatis and William Steedman are retiring after many years selling a variety of accounts. Frazier called them "highly valued mainstays of the mass merch team."

Blackwell's Oxford

U.K. bookstore chain Blackwell's, which has been owned by its founding family since the first store opened in Oxford in 1879, has been put up for sale "for the first time in its 143-year history after scrapping plans to hand ownership of the business to its employees," Sky News reported. The company has appointed corporate financiers to oversee a sale process. Sources said discussions with prospective buyers had been underway for some time, and that a deal was possible in the coming months.

Blackwell's operates 18 stores--as well as online--including its flagship bookshop in Oxford, where the company is based, and also trades under the name Heffers at a store in Cambridge, as well as in London and Edinburgh.

"The sale of Blackwell's represents a genuinely unique and exciting opportunity for any potential buyer to own a much loved and trusted bookselling brand," said David Prescott, Blackwell's CEO. "The business has been quietly and successfully transitioning itself in recent years to establish a substantial global online presence alongside a core portfolio of iconic shops. We hope that a new owner and investment will help us to secure a long term future for Blackwell's and its booksellers for many years to come."

Blackwell's "explored a refinancing process last year that would have seen it converted into a structure owned by its roughly 350 staff, but concluded that it was impractical owing to the impact of the pandemic," Sky News wrote.

Toby Blackwell, the controlling shareholder and company president, said he "would have loved to have handed over the company to its staff, but I also accept that in order to grow and remain competitive in the future, it is time for new ownership, ideas and investment. I have always stood for innovation and transformation in the constantly changing world of bookselling. I am delighted to have supported, and now see, Blackwell's become a significant player in online bookselling and to have helped keep alive the concepts of service and expertise so well embodied by our chairman and board and our wonderful staff."

Andy Hunter

Andy Hunter is stepping down from his role as publisher of Catapult, Counterpoint and Soft Skull Press, effective February 18. Alyson Forbes, the company's current COO, will serve as interim publisher.

Catapult was co-founded by Hunter with CEO Elizabeth R. Koch in 2015 with the vision to create an environment that serves emerging writers at every stage of their craft, offering a publishing organization and an online magazine and writing program. Hunter is also the founder and CEO of Bookshop.org.

"I'm extremely proud of the company we have built, especially our team, writers, books, magazine, and writing program--which are all thriving today," Hunter said. "The company has never been stronger, and Catapult, Counterpoint and Soft Skull Press are well equipped to continue to do great work and publish exceptional works. I am grateful to Elizabeth and everyone at Catapult. It has been a dream to have been given the opportunity to help launch and build such a vital independent literary press, and I look forward to cheering on all their future success as well as to continuing to focus on my roles at Bookshop.org, Electric Literature, Literary Hub and my other creative endeavors."

Koch commented: "We truly owe a debt of gratitude to Andy for his stewardship, creativity and dedication in launching Catapult, and to the acquisition of storied imprints Counterpoint and Soft Skull Press. He has been a wonderful collaborator and I am not only extremely proud of what we have created, but also very excited for the future as we continue to develop and evolve these imprints. With Alyson stepping in as interim publisher, we will benefit greatly from continuity in our operations. But, today we celebrate Andy and wish him well in his creative pursuits and future endeavors."

Birdie Books is operating as a pop-up shop at 74 N. State St. in Uptown Westerville, Ohio, while plans continue for the permanent location of Birdie Books & Café at 86 N. State St. to open later this year. The Columbus Dispatch reported that owner Shari Russell said she has been waiting for city building permits to come through before construction begins, hopefully, in the spring. The city's planning commission gave final approval for the business March 25, 2021.

"Like everything right now, it's taking longer than originally planned, but that's okay. We think we're getting close," Russell said, adding that construction of the café and the renovation of the new space should take about nine months.

Noting that she opened the pop-up shop in late November, Russell said: "Online sales were just picking up, and this space became available, so we decided to do a mini version of what we're hoping to do in the Victorian house on the other side of Joe's Auto to get to know our neighbors and introduce what we're trying to do."

Krista Ankeny, who was hired as a pastry chef for the café and has been working at the temporary spot, said: "This has been fantastic. It has been really pleasant. This has been something different. It has been nice to be in a space and meet everyone. The customers are so excited to have a bookstore."

Russell also explained how she came up with the bookshop's name: "I have a background in plants and flowers. There's a bird flower in Australia that actually looks like a bird. And that's where our logo comes from. It's very much similar to that flower, called a bird flower. I thought it sounded nice."

Her late grandfather, David Persinger, was a bookseller when she was a child. "It always stuck in my mind how impressionable that was on me and how much I enjoyed going there," Russell said. "I started to think about opening a bookstore in Westerville."

Birdie Books has connected with Westerville City Schools and is also a partner with WeRISE for Greater Westerville's WeREAD 2022 project. "This business is rooted in the community," she said. "It's personally very important to me. It's more than just a brick-and-mortar bookstore. This really is a place for people to come together and share experiences and become stronger together."

The Barnes & Noble in Flagstaff, Ariz., is closing on February 23 after 23 years in business. B&N said that "the landlord is redeveloping this site and has opted not to renew our lease." B&N added that it is "doing everything we can to find a new store in this area."

According to several local reports, one of two new Goodwill outlets opening in the area is taking the space that B&N occupied.

Bookshop.org and the Booksellers Association have released the shortlist for New Futures, a program designed "to select, reach and foster entrepreneurs from underrepresented communities across the U.K. to open a new independent bookshop." The initiative "encouraged applicants from a wide range of backgrounds, including individuals who identified as Black and other marginalized ethnicities, LGBTQIA+, working class, physically disabled, neurodiverse, sufferers of mental health issues and those with learning disabilities amongst others." The New Futures finalists will be announced during the London Book Fair, which will be held April 5-7 in person at the Olympia. 
 
The 16 shortlisted candidates will now receive a series of hands-on sessions through a concentrated education program from industry partners in retail, technology and the book trade--including the Booksellers Association, Gardners, the Bookseller, Midas and publishers including Simon & Schuster and Faber & Faber.
 
"I was blown away, not only by the quality of the submissions we received, but by how they reaffirmed the need for a program like this, said Nancy Adimora, talent and audience development manager, diversity & inclusion, at HarperCollins. "I'm incredibly proud of this shortlist and I'm looking forward to the next phase of this program which will see applicants receiving the support needed to turn their ideas into reality."
 
Fleur Sinclair, Owner of Sevenoaks Bookshop, commented: "This is such an important project to be a part of and I'm so pleased it exists! Work with regards to inclusion and representation is so important in all areas of society and life. As a bookseller, I'm keen to use any knowledge and experience I have to help encourage new booksellers and bookshops into being that better reflect the whole of the reading community."
 
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Trade publishing sales in Italy grew by 16% in 2021, to €1.7 billion (about $1.9 billion), with 115.6 million copies sold, up by 18 million over 2020, according to research by the Italian Publishers Association (AIE). The Bookseller reported that "online bookshops are also still growing, with sales rising to €739.9 million [about $845 million] from €633 million [about $723 million] the year before, while physical bookshops are beginning to recover, having lost almost €200 million [about $228 million] in sales in 2020, making €876 million [about $1 billion] in 2021."

AIE president Ricardo Franco Levi said: "The data confirm our September forecasts: Italian publishing has been able to react to the pandemic and, also thanks to the public support policies implemented by the government and parliament, closes 2021 registering significant growth, after an already satisfactory 2020.

"These numbers are very good, also compared to the levels of performance of the other countries in Europe, but the future is not without unknowns. On the positive side, there is the confirmation of the public support measures and the wait for the new law for the book industry. But the paper emergency, in terms of prices and availability, and the heavy impact of piracy remains. Furthermore, certain sectors, such as art and tourism publishing, are still suffering greatly from the effects of the pandemic."

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Canadian publisher Coach House Books has launched a pair of editorial initiatives, including the creation of a nonfiction Indigenous advisory board to contribute to the volume and range of nonfiction published by and for the Indigenous community. The board, which has full autonomy for acquisitions and all decision-making regarding a line of Indigenous nonfiction titles, includes Denise Bolduc, Hayden King, Emily Riddle and Kim Wheeler.

The imprint will be called zaagigin, which "is Anishinaabemowin and describes when a sprout comes out of the earth," the board noted. "It is related to the Anishinaabemowin word for love. The associated teaching about the nehiyaw words (which are very similar) tells us that love is about giving people room/support for them to grow, so providing room for Indigenous writers to bring forth new nonfiction works is an act of love."

In addition, to broaden both its fiction and nonfiction lists, Coach House has enlisted six editorial consultants who are invited to bring in fiction and nonfiction projects and to serve as editors on them. The editorial consultants are André Alexis, Tamara Faith Berger, David Berry, Amanda Leduc, Pasha Malla and Suzette Mayr. --Robert Gray

Peter Crawley, former sales director at Faber, died January 18. He was 98. The Bookseller reported that his career in publishing spanned more than 70 years, starting at Faber in 1947 as an assistant to his father. He published his last two books with Weidenfeld & Nicolson in 2019. 

Crawley worked with his father throughout the 1940s and 1950s, becoming sales director in 1962 and then one of four principal directors. He left Faber in 1973, and went on to publish in association with Ward Lock and subsequently, in 1978, with Victor Gollancz, which was then sold to Cassell, Orion and finally to Hachette.

"Peter was one of the major figures in the history of the company," said Stephen Page, appointed as Faber CEO in 2001." There have always been extraordinary editors and more commercial people, but Peter was both."

Crawley started the Master Bridge series and invited writer, player and critic Hugh Kelsey to be the first editor. In later life, his friendship with Alec Clifton-Taylor, author of Pattern of English Building, led to his publishing English Brickwork, English Stone Building and Buildings of Delight. He also published several books by Ron Brunskill, a leading authority on vernacular British architecture, and by the architectural historian David Lloyd. Most of the photographs in these books were taken by Crawley. The list was sold to Yale University Press in 2005, the Bookseller noted.

Crawley also published books on sport, flower arranging and cooking. Nichola Fletcher, author of Charlemagne's Tablecloth, described Crawley as "the sort of publisher authors dream of having." For her and husband John, he "was a crucial and much loved part of both of our lives, launching and nurturing both of our writing careers in his always optimistic and encouraging way."

Richard Milbank of Head of Zeus observed: "What a long and fulfilling life Peter had! It is impossible to hear his name spoken without thinking about the qualities of courtesy, patience and kindness that he embodied. I retain the warmest memories of my professional association with Peter between 2003 and 2005 when I had in-house responsibility for his bridge list at W&N. He was one of nature's gentlemen."

Books Inc. in San Francisco's Marina District shared a photo of its sidewalk chalkboard message celebrating Groundhog Day:

"Remember, if I don't see you with a new book, it'll be 6 more weeks of winter."
"That's not how it works!"

Last week Anderson's Bookshop in Naperville and Downers Grove, Ill., posted a video on TikTok and Instagram featuring a few of the currently challenged titles across the United States. The response, said marketing manager Kerry Clemm, has been "incredible." In just a few days, the store has gotten more than 177,000 views on TikTok, over 25,000 likes and over 1,300 (mostly positive) comments. The store also quadrupled its followers.

Featured in the video are Drama by Raina Telgemeier, Milk and Honey by Rupi Kaur, All American Boys by Jason Reynolds and Brendan Kiely, The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls, Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark by Alvin Schwartz and Stephen Gammell, Stamped (For Kids) by Jason Reynolds and Ibram X. Kendi, Gender Queer by Maia Kobabe, Dear Justyce by Nic Stone, Darius the Great Is Not Okay by Adib Khorram, Blended by Sharon M. Draper, Infinity Son by Adam Silvera, Shout by Laurie Hals Anderson, The 57 Bus by Dashka Slater, and Class Act and New Kid by Jerry Craft.

Macmillan Publishers is handling U.S. and Canadian sales distribution for all print titles by Harriman House.

Harriman House, with headquarters in England, focuses on finance, investing, business and creative marketing, among other categories. Its bestsellers include The Psychology of Money by Morgan Housel, The Naked Trader by Robbie Burns, The Behavioral Investor by Daniel Crosby, The Choice Factory by Richard Shotton, The Zurich Axioms by Max Gunther and Quality Investing by Lawrence A. Cunningham, Torkell T. Eide and Patrick Hargreaves.

Harriman House managing director Myles Hunt said, "Harriman House has seen exceptional growth in the last two years, particularly in the U.S. market, where we have worked with some amazing authors to publish their brilliant books. As such, we now need a distribution partner with the ability, industry knowledge and reputation to help us continue to expand at a fast pace, and we believe Macmillan Publishers are just that partner."

Harriman House head of production & distribution Tracy Bundey added, "We have had a very successful partnership with Macmillan Distribution in the U.K. for the last five years and look forward to building the same solid relationship with Macmillan Publishers in the U.S."

At Leo PR:

Jessica Brock, formerly senior publicist and digital media strategist at Berkley/PRH, has joined the company as executive publicist.

Molly Mitchell has joined the company as publicity assistant.

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Olivia Wadsworth has been promoted to buyer of frontlist and overstock books at Edward R. Hamilton Bookseller, the mail order catalog in Falls Village, Conn.

One by One: A Memoir of Love and Loss in the Shadows of Opioid America by Nicholas Bush (Apollo Publishers).

Today:
Fresh Air: Russell Shorto, author of Small Time: A Story of My Family and the Mob (Norton, $17.95, 9781324020172).

Lionsgate's film adaptation of Judy Blume's classic Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret has been scheduled for a September 16 release, Deadline reported. Kelly Fremon Craig is directing her script, with Gracie Films' James L. Brooks producing. The two teamed up on The Edge of Seventeen. The movie stars Rachel McAdams, Kathy Bates, Abby Ryder Fortson (as Margaret), and Benny Safdie.

Hannah Lowe won the £30,000 (about $41,040) Costa Book of the Year award, honoring the "most enjoyable" read, for her book of sonnets, The Kids, the Guardian reported. Lowe's poetry collection bested other category winners Unsettled Ground by Claire Fuller (novel), Open Water by Caleb Azumah Nelson (first novel), Fall: The Mystery of Robert Maxwell by John Preston (biography) and The Crossing by Manjeet Mann (children's).

Chair of judges Reeta Chakrabarti said The Kids is "a book to fall in love with. It's joyous, it's warm and it's completely universal. It's crafted and skillful but also accessible." Chakrabarti added that it took the judges "several hours" to come to their decision. "It was a vigorous debate, it was passionate, people felt really strongly. But the center of gravity in the room was with the winner. We were looking for the most enjoyable book, the most accessible book, the book that you would most want to pass on to other people. And the winner was, for all of us, fresh and immediate, it spoke very directly to everybody. It has a universality to it--in a simple way, because everybody's been to school."

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Finalists have been announced in nine categories of the Minnesota Book Awards, sponsored by the Friends of the Saint Paul Public Library. Winners will be named April 26 at the Minnesota Book Awards gala, which will be in person this year after two years of virtual ceremonies. See the complete list of finalists here.

Sherry Mossafer Rind is the author of three previous books of poetry and two chapbooks and has edited two books about Airedale Terriers. Her work has received recognition from Anhinga Press, the King County (Wash.) Arts Commission, Seattle Arts Commission, the NE, and Artist Trust. In her latest book, The Store-House of Wonder and Astonishment (Pleasure Boat Studio, January 15, 2022), the poems focus on natural history writings, from Herodotus to Darwin.

On your nightstand now:

Not counting what fell on the floor: How to Teach Quantum Physics to Your Dog and How to Teach Relativity to Your Dog by Chad Orzel, The Other End of the Leash by Patricia B. McConnell, The Bedside Book of Birds and The Bedside Book of Animals by Graeme Gibson, The Unexpected Truth About Animals by Lucy Cooke and When We Cease to Understand the World by Benjamin Labatut.

Favorite book when a child

Lad: A Dog by Albert Payson Terhune, which my mother read to us. Our family dogs were collies, like the ones in the stories, very beautiful but not so noble and brave.

Your top five authors:

Shirley Kaufman, whose imagery is concise and knife-sharp; Adam Zagajewski for his melancholy tone and urban landscapes; Maxine Kumin, about whom a critic complained that she kept writing about her horse; Jane Austen for the way she balances true morality with ironic wit; Frans de Waal for his studies of primates--though I'd give you a different list another time.

Book you've faked reading:

I went through six years of university to an English MA without reading any Charles Dickens. Audiobooks made it possible to listen to Oliver Twist and others.

Book you're an evangelist for:

The Home Place by J. Drew Lanham. Lanham, a wildlife ecologist and professor, published this memoir in 2016. More than an account of his life, the book tells of the way place shaped him--the place where he grew up and his place in the natural world. Long before there was Central Park Karen, there was Drew Lanham risking his life in order to count birds.

Book you've bought for the cover:

Sarah Stone: Natural Curiosities from the New Worlds. Stone was a scientific illustrator in the 18th century.

Book you hid from your parents:

I could read anything I wanted; they didn't check or censor. So the only books I hid--from everyone--were my journals.

Book that changed your life:

In seventh grade I found e.e. cummings and discovered you did not have to rhyme your poems and could break grammar rules and even words, though my teacher graded me down and demanded I make corrections when I handed in a poem imitating his style. His 100 Selected Poems is still on my shelf.

Favorite line from a book:

"The evil that men do lives after them; the good is oft interred with their bones." --Shakespeare's Julius Caesar. A glass half-empty sentiment.

Five books you'll never part with:

There's really only one because it's irreplaceable: Welliver by Frank H. Goodyear, Jr., about the artist Neil Welliver, who was also a relative of my late husband. He signed it for us.

Don't Shoot the Dog by Karen Pryor because I look into it with every new Airedale.

The Sephardic Culinary Tradition by Elsie Menasce, all the recipes my mother never taught me.

The Complete Nonsense of Edward Lear because one must never forget to be silly.

Peterson's Field Guide to Western Birds. Without it, I wouldn't know what's in my own backyard.

Book you most want to read again for the first time:

I'll take that question to mean that I'm reading the book for the first time as the person and age I am now. Ben Aaronovitch's Midnight Riot for the pleasure of surprise and laughter from the very first paragraph.

Favorite book you read to your child:

Angus and the Ducks by Marjorie Flack. I gave away all our children's books but hers.

Gallant by Victoria Schwab (City of Ghosts) is the brooding, bewitching story of an estate, the shadow it casts and the wall that keeps the two apart.

Olivia Prior's most treasured possession is her mother's journal, a cryptic collection of emotional passages and mysterious illustrations. One fragment in particular speaks to her circumstances: "home is a choice." Olivia lives at Merilance, "an asylum for the young and the feral and the fortuneless," a "grim stone tomb" that will never feel like a home. It is a place where she is teased mercilessly because she cannot speak and where ghouls that only she can see roam the grounds. When a letter written by an unknown uncle invites Olivia to come home to Gallant, she is certain anywhere is better than Merilance. She decides to leave, despite the warning in her mother's diary: "you will be safe as long as you stay away from Gallant."

Gallant is a far-off estate and although the housekeeper and steward who greet her have no idea why she has come, it's immediately obvious to them that Olivia belongs: she looks just like the mother she never knew. Unfortunately, the uncle who supposedly invited her has been dead for more than a year, and her furious cousin--the only Prior left in the manor--insists she leave. But "the house leans in and whispers hello, whispers welcome, whispers home" to Olivia. She can still see ghouls, "pieces" of the people they once were, but here they are Priors, her family. Olivia doesn't know, though, that the Priors are cursed, given the task of making sure the gate is never opened and the wall never breached as they struggle to keep the "master" from entering their world.

Schwab's ethereal prose suffuses her tale with an otherworldly feel that is right at home with its content. Gallant weaves a spell, one which conjures the darkest of nights, the saddest of specters and the spookiest of secrets. Olivia's knack for seeing ghouls sets the stage for her ability to slip between worlds, challenge borders and defend walls. Manuel Šumberac's inky black creations are paired with specific pages of journal text, and Olivia pores over them as intently as she does the words. This atmospheric addition enhances the reading experience and further serves to illuminate the plot. Fans of Neil Gaiman, Melissa Albert and Rin Chupeco should find much to love in Gallant, a place where shadow "forces stain... the world like ink in water." --Lynn Becker, reviewer, blogger, and children's book author

Shelf Talker: Gallant is the mesmerizing tale of a young woman who leaves behind a grim childhood to find that her new home is haunted and her family is cursed to guard a gate between worlds.