A literary ghost story in the vein of Pola Oloixarac’s Mona with a Shirley Jackson twist, for fans of Jordan Peele.

IN RESIDENCE
by Jessica Widner
Mariner, Fall 2027
(via Wolf Literary Services)

When Eva and Elliot receive a vast inheritance from Elliot’s mother, it is as welcome as it is troubling. Middle aged, without children and already leading a comfortable middle-class life in Edinburgh, they decide to use the money to launch a fully funded residency for emerging artists.

Yet, as soon as the money arrives in Elliot’s account, a strange atmosphere converges around the couple. It follows them to the Yorkshire Dales, where they renovate a large countryside property ahead of the inaugural residency. They each begin dreaming of a presence, a dark and inescapable creature, and whispers seem to linger in the air even after they wake.

When the first batch of guests arrives – a dancer from Busan, a mixed-media artist from Los Angeles and a writer from Toronto – they too are caught up in the increasingly terrifying happenings. Tensions escalate as they all suspect each other of foul play, but the true culprit is a legacy that extends far into the past, surfacing to remind Eva and Elliot of the full extent of their inheritance.

Perceptive and piercing, Widner examines the small compromises we make with ourselves every day, spinning a story of patronage, privilege, class, and complicity until its dark heart emerges.

Jessica Widner is a writer and literary scholar. She is a lecturer in English & Creative Writing at the University of Strathclyde.