The Brides of Aberdar — Christianna Brand

A young governess brings new life to a Victorian manor, but soon falls victim to its curse in this haunting novel from the author of Heads You Lose.   For four hundred years, the squires of Aberdar have lorded over this gloomy patch of Wales. In Elizabethan times, the house burst with life, love, and intrigue, as gentlemen schemed endlessly in the shadow of the Virgin Queen’s court. But now the house is dark, populated only by two darling twins, their ghastly Belgian aunt, and their father, whose grief for their departed mother is too powerful to bear. Into this grim environment steps Miss Alys Tetterman, a bright young governess with a disfiguring scar and secrets of her own. As she undertakes the education of the girls, she learns there is a long history of twins at Aberdar manor—and of brides dying young. There is one lesson Miss Tetterman should learn herself: Run.