The Forgotten Boy

Laura Andersen

Aug 2024 · Highbridge Audio · Narrated by Kim Bretton

About this audiobook

1460: Ismay Deacon, caught between sides in the War of the Roses, tries to hide away in her ancestral home, Havencross. But when word gets out that she has a child, and speculation on who the father might be, Ismay has to make a terrible choice to protect her son. The Deacon family disappears, but there are rumors of a fair-haired, unsmiling ghost of a boy haunting the halls of Havencross . . . 1918: War nurse Diana Neville is hired by Havencross School for Boys to run the infirmary. She's enjoying the change from the front lines-but soon, vials are smashed in the infirmary when no one is there, there is knocking on her door in the darkness, and she hears footsteps in empty corridors. Moreover, the youngest students are reporting a ghostly boy luring them from bed in the middle of the night. But as Diana tries to investigate, she is faced with an outbreak of the Spanish flu, a child's disappearance, and a journey into terrifying medieval tunnels. 2018: Juliet Stratford is hired to spend the winter at Havencross to clear it out before it becomes a luxury hotel. Juliet, a historian, throws herself into the mysteries of the estate. Who is the forgotten boy who has haunted Havencross for so long? And is it the same boy that Juliet has begun to see in the echoing, empty house?

Ratings and reviews

I loved this. All three of the intertwined stories are well-paced and compelling. I’ve always been fascinated by the Wars of the Roses, so I enjoyed that aspect of the book. The audiobook narration added to the enjoyment of the novel. CW: child death Thanks, NetGalley, for the ARC I received. This is my honest and voluntary review.

About the author

Laura Andersen is the award-winning author of the Boleyn Trilogy (The Boleyn King, The Boleyn Deceit, and The Boleyn Reckoning) and the Tudor Legacy novels (The Virgin's Daughter, The Virgin's Spy, and The Virgin's War). She has a BA in English, with an emphasis in British history.

Kim Bretton is an Audie Award nominee, a Broadway World Award winner, and was voted Best Actress in Nashville by the Nashville Scene. She has narrated over 100 audiobooks to date. Her TV and film credits include Call Red for ITV, Don't Look Back for New Forest Films, and the lead role in the 1990s TV series Mentors.