The Governess of Greenmere
Paul Leone
It’s time for another exclusive cover art (and back-cover blurb) reveal here on The Scifi and Fantasy Reviewer, and I’m pleased as punch to announce that it’s another work by friend of the blog, and supremely talented author, Paul Leone! Master of multiple genres, Paul has written stories about the inner workings of a modern-day Third Reich in the Alternate History triptych In and Out of the Reich, about the realities of life in a Europe occupied by a victorious Third Reich and its allies, as well as a murder-mystery in a modern-day Crusader State centered on Jerusalem in Murder in Jerusalem, and a tense scifi thriller about aliens invading near-future Manhattan in Little Greys. He’s also taken a tour into urban fantasy with the Vatican Vampire Hunters series about a holy war between the Catholic Church and vampires.
But most recently he’s taken taken on the ever-popular Occult Detective genre, with the utterly brilliant and sophisticated The Mysteries of Zillah Harvey, a collection of short stories focusing on the eponymous Zillah Harvey, a medium in Victorian London who finds herself clashing with a variety of occult forces. I absolutely loved the stories and Leone’s unique angle on the Occult Detective genre, and was eager to see what else he could come up with; and while new Zillah Harvey tales aren’t quite on the horizon yet, there is a tangential connection to the young medium in The Governess of Greenmere, Leone’s upcoming new release.
Here’s the cover for the novella, and I’m certain that you’ll agree that this is yet another absolutely stunning piece of cover art by illustrator Jackson Tjota and with fonts and titling by Leslie Chase, both of whom collaborated on the cover for the Zillah Harvey volume:
It’s a beautiful piece of art that once again neatly sums up some of the major themes that are present in the novella – and I also have here the back-cover blurb for the book to further intrigue you:
Britain, 1899.
Young orphan Elise Cooper applies for a job as governess. Leaving the bustling city to work for a rural aristocrat should have been peaceful, and yet… Hardly has Elise settled in at the remote Barsetshire estate of Greenmere House before she finds evidence that her employers are at the center of an ancient mystery. She quickly realizes that her understanding of history and the world around her are about to be fundamentally challenged.
Armed only with her good common sense and strange abilities she didn’t know she had, Elise finds herself pulled into a shadowy otherworld, the scene of a great battle between good and evil. Can she prove her worth and rise above the challenges, and in the process save Britain from the evil powers that lurk in the darkness?
Leone was also kind enough to give us a short explanation about the novella and the insiprations behind it, telling The Scifi and Fantasy Reviewer:
The Governess of Greenmere is written in the tradition of authors such as C.S. Lewis, Stephen Lawhead and Mike Mignola. It blends together Arthurian mythology, British folklore and Catholic legends in an original setting and a classic story of a heroine rising to the challenges she’s thrust into as she journeys through a strange, fantastical mirror of the English countryside.
The Governess of Greenmere is scheduled to be released on the 13th November 2020, and you can preorder it from the following links:
Once again, as with all of Leone’s works, I absolutely cannot wait to get my hands on a copy of this novella and start reading through it, and I’ll be hosting my own review of the collection just as soon as it’s released!
The Sci-Fi and Fantasy Reviewer 
Sounds wonderful. ❤️
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