Nowhere Burning

A refuge for lost children may also be their prison...
High in the mountains sits Nowhere, a verdant valley surrounded by walls of rock. People have lived at Nowhere for centuries, though never for long, and rarely happily. Its last owner was its most famous: movie star Leaf Winham, who built Nowhere House as his refuge, to hide from his fame... and to hide his crimes. Only when Nowhere House went up in flames were the graves discovered, the last resting places of five young men who would never go home.
Years later, fourteen-year-old Riley pulls her brother Oliver from his bed in the middle of the night, drawn by the promise of Nowhere. It is rumoured that the valley is now a refuge for lost children that adults cannot enter, and Riley hopes to find a new family there. Beyond the barred gates, Marc has come to make a documentary about the Nowhere Children and the legacy of Leaf Winham. But the children are fierce in defending their valley and their secrets. There is darkness in the ruins of Nowhere House, something which asks a terrible price for sanctuary...

Catriona Ward was born in Washington, DC and grew up in the US, Kenya, Madagascar, Yemen, and Morocco. She is the bestselling author of Looking Glass Sound, Sundial and The Last House on Needless Street, which was both a Richard and Judy Book Club and BBC2 Between the Covers Book Club pick. She lives in London and Devon.