Used book – The Taxidermist's Daughter, Kate Mosse

Sussex, 1912. In a church cemetery, villagers gather. According to an old superstition, tonight they will see the ghosts of those who will die in the coming year walk in procession. And here, where the estuary opens onto the great sea, superstitions die hard. Alone, a little apart, the taxidermist's daughter observes the scene. At twenty-two, Constantia Gifford lives with her father in a dilapidated house containing the remains of the old taxidermy museum, once world-famous. The stuffed birds that once adorned the parlours of bourgeois homes have gone out of fashion, and Gifford has become a bitter man, struck by disgrace. The events that led to the closure of the museum run by her father are never mentioned. However, following an accident, Connie has lost her memory, and she has no recollection of that time. The bell begins to ring, all eyes are fixed on the church. No one sees the gloved hands or the steel wire they hold. The last echoes of the chimes fade into the darkness... a woman lies there, very close. As the village prepares to face the rising waters and the highest tide of the season, Connie tries to find out who is responsible for this death, and why this incident brings back memories of her lost, forgotten years. Translated from English by Valérie Rosier.