{"title":"Books by Johanna van Veen","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"9781464245084","title":"Blood on Her Tongue","description":"\u003cp\u003e\"\u003cb\u003eGothic horror for the ages…\u003c\/b\u003eCombining shiver-inducing horror with sharp-fanged social commentary, this more than merits comparison to Dracula and other genre titans.\" – \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003ePublishers Weekly\u003c\/i\u003e, Starred Review\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003e\"I'm in your blood, and you are in mine…\"\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eThe Netherlands, 1887.\u003c\/b\u003e Lucy's twin sister Sarah is unwell. She refuses to eat, mumbles nonsensically, and is increasingly obsessed with a centuries-old corpse recently discovered on her husband's grand estate.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe doctor has diagnosed her with temporary insanity caused by a fever of the brain. To protect her twin from a terrible fate in a lunatic asylum, Lucy must unravel the mystery surrounding her sister's condition, but it's clear her twin is hiding something. Then again, Lucy is harbouring secrets of her own, too.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThen, the worst happens. Sarah's behaviour takes a turn for the strange. She becomes angry…and \u003ci\u003ehungry\u003c\/i\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eLucy soon comes to suspect that \u003ci\u003esomething \u003c\/i\u003eis trying to possess her beloved sister. Or is it madness? As Sarah changes before her very eyes, Lucy must reckon with the dark, monstrous truth – or risk losing her forever.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eA haunting gothic tale for fans of all things supernatural, \u003ci\u003eBlood on Her Tongue\u003c\/i\u003e is refreshingly biting and unashamedly chilling, taking its place as a horror story for the ages.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eTropes\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eGothic Horror\u003cbr\u003eSapphic Love\u003cbr\u003eLGBTQ+\u003cbr\u003eSupernatural Books\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56300440846709,"sku":"9781464245084","price":9.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9781464245084_41072788-bf98-4bf1-bdc7-4deeb915a56d.jpg?v=1786021137"},{"product_id":"9781464227677","title":"My Darling Dreadful Thing","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eWinner of the British Fantasy Awards Best Horror Novel 2025\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIf the dead can wake and walk among us, how can we know what is truly real?\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eRoos Beckman has a spirit companion only she can see. Ruth—strange, corpse-like, and dead for centuries—is the light of Roos' life. That is, until the wealthy young widow Agnes Knoop visits one of Roos' backroom seances, and the two strike up a connection.\u003cbr\u003eSoon, Roos is whisked away to the crumbling estate Agnes inherited upon the death of her husband, where an ill woman haunts the halls, strange smells drift through the air at night, and mysterious stone statues reside in the family chapel. Something dreadful festers in the manor, but still, the attraction between Roos and Agnes is undeniable.\u003cbr\u003eThen, someone is murdered.\u003cbr\u003ePoor, alone, and with a history of 'hysterics', Roos is the obvious culprit. With her sanity and innocence in question, she'll have to prove who—or what—is at fault or lose everything she holds dear.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56312417812853,"sku":"9781464227677","price":9.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9781464227677_1ddaaac4-9659-4ac1-bd2f-d2f0a8b0a4e4.jpg?v=1786021012"},{"product_id":"9781464275517","title":"Bone of My Bone","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eUSA Today\u003c\/i\u003e bestseller and Bram Stoker Award nominee Johanna van Veen unveils a sapphic folk horror tour de force—perfect for fans of \u003ci\u003eThe VVitch\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eThe Salt Grows Heavy\u003c\/i\u003e. A skull’s grin is eternal…\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe year is 1635.\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eSister Ursula, a young nun fleeing the ruins of her convent, and Elsebeth, a sharp-witted peasant, escape a band of marauding soldiers and disappear into the Bavarian forest. War scorches the land, and no one survives it alone. Amid the devastation, they find something in the arms of a dying man: the gilded skull of a saint.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIt is said that if you reunite the saint’s skull with her body, a wish will be granted. Desperate for salvation, and each with secret desires of their own, Ursula and Elsebeth follow a ragged map across the blighted countryside. But darkness follows them. A necromancer, drawn to the relic’s power. The saint herself, whispering at night. And as the lines between blessing and curse blur, the women must face a harrowing truth: the magic they seek comes at a cost.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAt the journey’s end, they’ll face an impossible choice—one that could tear apart everything they know…or bind them to each other forever.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAs beautiful and tender as it is dark and terrifying, \u003ci\u003eBone of My Bone\u003c\/i\u003e showcases one of queer horror’s most exciting writers in her most chilling tale yet.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eTropes\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eFolk Horror Fantasy\u003cbr\u003eDark Fairytale\u003cbr\u003eSapphic Love\u003cbr\u003eHistorical Fiction\u003cbr\u003eSupernatural Books\u003cbr\u003eLGBTQ+\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAlso by Johanna van Veen:\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eMy Darling Dreadful Thing\u003cbr\u003eBlood on Her Tongue\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56420645667189,"sku":"9781464275517","price":9.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9781464275517_b3145226-68d1-4746-8088-42fbf3b394a0.jpg?v=1786020488"},{"product_id":"the-literary-remains-of-cornelia-feyen","title":"The Literary Remains of Cornelia Feyen","description":"Fall in love with half-fae romance author Cornelia Feyen in this wonderfully romantic, light academia novel full of whimsy, perfect for fans of Heather Fawcett.   Cornelia Feyen is missing two things: a lover, and a book. The first she lost in a storm of tears, while the second has yet to be written - and her editor is on her back. Cornelia's only sanctuary is her brother Alfred's medical practice on a small Dutch island, where she plans to wallow in heartbreak.    Alfred is struggling to get the locals into his practice, but Cornelia's gift of breaking curses might just help - you're never too far away from being cursed on an island brimming with fae. Unfortunately for Alfred, Cornelia has moping to do and is not at all keen to unwittingly incur a faerie's wrath by breaking any curses they've cast.   When the pair save governess Josefien from a faerie attack, they become the talk of the town. Suddenly business is booming, and Cornelia seems to have found in Josefien a woman who finally understands her. But Cornelia and Alfred are soon to discover there are consequences to breaking the wrong faerie's curse...","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57680255451509,"sku":"9781399762090","price":22.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9781399762090.jpg?v=1792423579"}],"url":"https:\/\/backstory.london\/collections\/author-johanna-van-veen.oembed","provider":"Backstory","version":"1.0","type":"link"}