The Year of Shadows
Olivia wants a new life, and it might take ghosts to get it. A heartfelt, gently Gothic novel from Claire Legrand.
Olivia Stellatella is having a rough year.
Her mother's left; her neglectful father, the maestro of a failing orchestra, has moved her and her grandmother into the city's dark, broken-down concert hall to save money, and her only friend is Igor, an ornery stray cat.
Just when she thinks life couldn't get any weirder, she meets four ghosts who haunt the hall. They need Olivia's help; if the hall is torn down, they'll be stuck as ghosts forever, never able to move on.
Olivia has to do the impossible for her shadowy new friends: save the concert hall. But helping the dead has powerful consequences for the living; and soon it's not just the concert hall that needs saving.
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Claire Legrand
Claire Legrand writes the kind of stories that haunt you long after the last page—tales that don’t just unfold, they resonate. With a gift for weaving eerie atmospheres, thorny heroines, and questions that refuse easy answers, she has carved out a singular space in contemporary fantasy and horror. Her worlds shimmer with light and menace, beauty and teeth—perfect for readers who crave emotional intensity wrapped in rich, imaginative storytelling.
Raised in Texas and once a classical pianist, Legrand’s early love of music infuses her prose with rhythm and grace. But it’s her fearless exploration of power, trauma, and the gray spaces between good and evil that sets her apart. From the sweeping, time-bending arcs of The Empirium Trilogy to the unsettling, visceral dread of Sawkill Girls, her books tackle darkness without losing sight of hope.

