The Echo of Lost Stories: A BRAND NEW compelling and beautiful historical read for 2026

A BRAND NEW unmissable dual-timeline historical novel from bestselling author Victoria Scott. Perfect for readers of The Midnight Hour and The Lost Bookshop! 🌹 Some stories wait centuries to be told... ‘Intriguing and haunting ... draws the reader in from the first pages.’ ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Rachel Burton, bestselling author of The Butterfly Garden

1842: London is preparing for Christmas, but Isabelle Burdett wants nothing to do with the world. Grieving her husband, she has withdrawn from work, family, and even her daughter. Yet as Christmas Eve draws to a close, an unexpected arrival at her door shatters her carefully built solitude – and brings a choice that could change everything.

Present day: Emily, a history lecturer still mourning her father, is called to a crumbling house in Cheapside, where developers have discovered a stack of old notebooks. They tell the story of three ghostly visitors on a Christmas Eve long ago. But who wrote them – and how could they have been written before Dickens’s famous tale?

As Emily searches for answers, the past and present collide, and long-hidden truths emerge that will haunt both women forever.

‘A compelling and brilliant twist of a much loved classic, this is a page-turner of a book!’ Clare Marchant

‘A gorgeous reimagining of Dickens, full of heart and skill’ Fiona Walker

' Engrossing, page-turning and utterly inspired … a book I wish I’d written!' Jenni Keer

Praise for Victoria Scott:

'It's a heartwarming hug of a book which packs a powerful emotional punch . Just the thing to curl up with on a cold winter's eve – or on a sun-lounger in a heatwave!' Andreina Cordani

'The twists and turns revealed kept me turning pages way longer than I was meant to stay awake. The way Meredith's mind gets confused as she learns more and more tugged at my heart, and reading Ellen's experiences with her beau and how his mental health was essentially compartmentalised in an era when there wasn't much knowledge was heartwrenching.' ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

'Within the tale, there are elements of the gothic tradition, with old houses, fog, rising waters, stormy weather and more. The reader's pulse rate rises as we are committed to following the action. I thoroughly enjoyed The House In The Water. It consumed me from the start. It was the first book by Victoria Scott but I certainly she she will write more.' ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

'Don't you love a dual time line novel? I do and this one is exceptional – I have read the author's earlier work and this is straying into much darker territory, but I think it only serves to show what a great writer she is… Atmospheric, gripping, with huge heart and impossible to put down – the very best sort of book! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Beautiful captivating prose, kept me totally engaged in both timelines.' ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

'Wonderful. My first by this author but not the last.' ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

'This is definitely a spellbinding and unsettling tale with a dash of romance set in WW2 and 2013 that might haunt your dreams and leave you with a lot to think about! A riveting read.' ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

'I was engrossed in the story from the start. May Day House is a rehab house for soldiers during WWII. They are cared for and sent back to war. Years later a couple buys the house which soon appears to be haunted by the soldiers who had been there. It is a great story.' ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️