The Death of Hope: The Scolaris Chronicles · Prequel, A Gothic Mystery

Long before he became Custodian of the Great Library in the walled city of Scolaris, Will Wittgenstein was just a fisherman's son named Ted, hiding a secret in a coastal village that didn't ask questions, until the night it had to.

Gormsey is a hard, salt-worn place, and Ted's home is harder than most. His father's fists have taught him and his mute sister, Doris, to survive by staying quiet. Then Ted wakes to find both his parents murdered, and the local patrol decide, in under an hour, that Doris did it.

Ted knows she couldn't have. He also knows that in a village this small, the truth is the one thing everyone would rather not find. With his sister's life on the line and no one left to trust, he has to choose between the only home he's ever known and the one thing that might save her. Leaving it, and becoming someone Gormsey will never recognise again.

The Death of Hope is the prequel to The Scolaris Chronicles. It's the origin story of the man Quill will one day call Master.

Similar to books like: The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco, Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro.

Keywords: coastal village mystery, fishing village, family secrets, wrongful accusation, disability representation, mute character, sibling loyalty, brother protector, hidden identity, assumed identity, reinvention, origin story, series prequel, coming of age, orphan, long held secrets, cunning adversary, suspense, intrigue, gothic, poverty and hardship, quiet tragedy