A gripping historical gothic set in 1903 Nebraska that weaves together themes of loss, madness and deception with the tantalizing lure of the otherworldly.
Once a prominent fixture in Omaha’s high society, Nina Wilson is now drowning in debt and disgrace following the untimely death of her father. Her engagement has been broken off, their once grand estate has fallen into disrepair, and her mother is mad with grief, unable to handle even the most basic household tasks.
When Nina learns of Leroy Marshall—a traveling medium who has been performing seances in elite circles around town—she is highly skeptical of the man’s claim that he can communicate with the dead, but she sees an opportunity to bring her mother some much needed closure. Unable to pay for his services, Nina convinces Leroy to visit her mother by pledging to return a favor at a later, unspecified date.
Nina finds herself both strangely attracted to and repelled by the charismatic medium. Meanwhile, her mother seems to immediately fall under the man’s spell, and the two enclose themselves in her bedroom chambers all hours of day and night, performing occult rituals outside of Nina’s purview. When the young woman objects that this “healing process” is not only highly inappropriate but also loosening her mother’s already thin grasp on reality, it’s instead Nina’s sanity that is called into question.
But, in truth, Nina has been experiencing unsettling visions of her own, almost like something in the house has been awakened by Leroy’s very presence–and Nina finds herself even more entangled when Leroy asks her to make good on that promised favor.
A spellbinding and seductive tale, The Night Guests taps into fear of the great unknown as well as the more earthly terror of inviting someone unfamiliar into your life.