Brooke Hardwick Author

BROOKE HARDWICK

‘An eerily atmospheric debut.’

Anna Downes

Born in tropical North Queensland, Brooke graduated with a degree teaching English literature and left to see the world. Since then, she’s lived and worked in Australia, England, Scotland and Hong Kong and is currently based in an ancient fort town shaped like a snowflake in the Netherlands.

She’s fascinated with the psychology of psychological thrillers and thinks there’s nothing more terrifying than human nature.

When she isn’t writing, Brooke combs fields for shards of Delft pottery and reads thrillers until she’s too scared to sleep.

THE FOG is her debut novel.

Meet

brooke

about the book

A woman on the brink travels to a remote writers’ retreat to uncover the secrets of her past – and lands herself in a deadly situation that could destroy her future.

The fog

Kate arrives on the wild, remote island of Rathlin in the freezing Irish Channel for a ten-day writers’ retreat. Plagued by memories she can’t unravel and desperate to understand the breakdown of her marriage, Kate is determined to leave the retreat with answers.

As the retreat’s director uses techniques that tap into the eerie mythology of the island, Kate becomes increasingly fascinated by him and her surrounds. But as the temperature plummets and the strange therapy intensifies, her memories unspool. Triggered into a series of disturbing flashbacks, Kate realises her past hides a frightening truth, but can she trust her own mind?

Faced with dark secrets and duplicity, Kate must unlock the answers she’s so desperate to find – and survive the danger she has unwittingly walked into.

listen to an audio sample

dear reader,

At twenty-five, yearning for adventure, I travelled to Rathlin Island. It was December, and the island was bitterly cold but visually dramatic. I was keen to explore, and when a kind local offered a sightseeing tour, I jumped at the chance. Soon, we were driving along staggering cliffs to the furthest reaches of the island and a solitary lighthouse embedded into a cliff. When he said there was no way to leave without the ferry, I asked why anyone would want to. He agreed they wouldn’t, not only because of its astounding beauty but because there wasn’t any crime.

It made me think... what if someone did commit a crime in a place like this, and what if that crime was murder?

Almost two decades later, with this question still burning, I attended a writers’ retreat in North Yorkshire. It was held in the former home of Ted Hughes, with Sylvia Plath buried in a graveyard nearby. As the retreat progressed, strange things happened: doors slammed, an eerie fog descended, and lights abruptly extinguished. Were we being haunted by the ghost of Sylvia Plath? I couldn’t help but observe the group dynamic, becoming gradually more interested in them than the program.

What if a group of vulnerable writers were lured to a manor, haunted by the ghosts of other tortured writers and unable to escape? Would they be driven to insanity? Murder? I already had the perfect setting, Rathlin Island, and got to work. I’d written the first draft in one hundred days – THE FOG was born.

Brooke Hardwick

the trip to rathlin island that inspired ‘the fog’

RATHLIN ISLAND

Photograph of Rathlin Island

by Douglas Cecil

THE WRITERS’ RETREAT that inspired the concept

PRAISE FOR ‘THE fOG’

‘An eerily atmospheric debut … this was such a compelling read, very much enhanced by the interweaving of folklore and the rapid exchange of past and the present as the protagonist grapples with her memory.’

Anna Downes, author of Red River Road

The Fog by Brooke Hardwick is a hard book to put down. In this smouldering novel, past and present collide as secrets are unlocked and dangers lurk around every corner. Brooke Hardwick is a master of tension and suspense.’

Vikki Petraitis, author of The Unbelieved

‘The Fog is a haunting debut that delves into the human psyche and our ability to cope when pushed to extremes. This dark, eerie read will keep you on edge until the very last page.’

Petronella McGovern, author of The Last Trace

‘A mind-bending gut punch of a novel. I had my heart in my mouth the entire time I was reading!’

Dinuka McKenzie, author of Taken

‘A disorientating gothic novel and an intense psycholocial thriller with a startling conclusion.’

Books+Publishing

‘This gothic thriller about control and manipulation is deeply unsettling and eerie in the best possible way, with atmosphere to spare, assured writing and a remote island setting that’s a character in its own right.’

Kate Riordan, author of Summer Fever

‘Suffused with a creeping sense of dread and an eclectic cast of characters, The Fog is an accomplished debut that draws deeply on its evocative setting to pull the reader into a dark secret.’

Amanda Reynolds, author of Close to Me

‘The Fog skilfully plays with memory and unreliability amongst a group of troubled writers at a lonely clifftop retreat. I raced through this enigmatic and unsettling debut.’

Emma Styles, author of No Country for Girls

‘The Fog is a beautifully written, utterly absorbing and atmospheric thriller.

I tore through it.’

Katy Brent, author of The Murder After the Night Before

reviews