Broken Voices

by Andrew Taylor

A chilling ghost story, it is set a hundred years ago in an East Anglican cathedral city. Two lonely schoolboys at the end of childhood are forced into an unwanted companionship. One of them is terrified of what the future holds.

Does music have its ghosts? Its victims? Something is stirring in the cathedral that both echoes an ancient tragedy and seems to offer a chance of future happiness. One thing is certain. Broken voices make false promises. And their lies may prove fatal.

Genres: Fiction, Short Stories, Horror

79 pages, Kindle Edition

First published December 18, 2012

About the author

Andrew Taylor (b. 1951) is a British author of mysteries. Born in East Anglia, he attended university at Cambridge before getting an MA in library sciences from University College London. His first novel, Caroline Miniscule (1982), a modern-day treasure hunt starring history student William Dougal, began an eight-book series and won Taylor wide critical acclaim. He has written several other thriller series, most notably the eight Lydmouthbooks, which begin with An Air That Kills (1994).

His other novels include The Office of the Dead (2000) and The American Boy (2003), both of which won the Crime Writers’ Association of Britain’s Ellis Peters Historical Dagger award, making Taylor the only author to receive the prize twice. His Roth trilogy, which has been published in omnibus form as Requiem for an Angel (2002), was adapted by the UK’s ITV for its television show Fallen Angel. Taylor’s most recent novel is the historical thriller The Scent of Death (2013).

Reviews

[Steve · Rating 3 out of 5]

Really enjoyed the writing style and era that the story is set.
I agree with most reviews that the writing style is similar to M. R. James and Susan Hill.
Sadly for me the ending did not seem to conclude and left me with so many unanswered questions, such as were the boys reprimanded for their actions.

[James Cage · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well written. This story is 87% foreshadowing by volume. Also, I think it's a subtle commentary on Harry Potter and the romanticization of boarding schools.

[Michael · Rating 3 out of 5]

An [?early] Andrew Taylor novella, originally a Kindle short story. Not classic, but good on the period [before the Great War], and a moist-palm dénouement.

[Catherine · Rating 3 out of 5]

I very much like the authors style in ghost story. As other reviewers have remarked the style is that of Susan Hill. However both Susan Hill and Andrew Taylor are in the style of M.R. James, the quintesential and (in my opinion), best ghostwriter of them all.
The build-up was promising and the nocturnal, cathedral foray was suspenseful, but there was a distinct lack of ghost for a ghost story. I assume, as in M.R. James stories, the idea is that the sense of fear is something not quite defined, something on the peripherary of our concious. There are snatches of song and shadows, but as these manifestations appear to someone other than the narrator of the story (and the narrator is an unsympathetic little beast), then the sense that anything is ocurring other than the boys' fear of the dark and heights, is lost somewhat.

[Andy Weston · Rating 4 out of 5]

A classical ghost story that has all of the qualities you would expect. If I had a criticism it's that it isn't very original, but if we read a ghost story in the classical mode I guess we expect all those things.

As with Susan Hill's latest, I question the difference between a short story and a novella. Cynics may say that a short story sells as part of several in a collection, but a novella sells alone. We are in an age of novellas, I guess like those new wave and punk records of the 80s that only lasted a minute and a half.

[Bill Kupersmith · Rating 5 out of 5]

This novella is a solid addition to the canon of great English ghost stories in the tradition of M. R. James. Broken Voices exemplifies all the classical Jamesian features: a cathedral city in the fen lands of East Anglia (Yes, I do wish I lived in Ely!) with schoolboys as the protagonists. And the story is set in James's period, just before the First World War. If you enjoy Susan Hill, you should love this one.

I had the good fortune to read this Christmas ghost story on Christmas eve.

[Suzie Grogan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really did enjoy this, but not for the ghostly elements, which are not quite what I anticipated. Instead I give it 4 stars for the chilling and claustrophobic atmosphere it creates and the relationships between the two young boys and those living in the cathedral close. It does seem to end quite quickly though and it is certainly a novella - don't expect a long read!

[Nicolas Bateman · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent novella that I found gripping from line 1, a really enjoyable short read and an intelligent tribute to both gothic and post-victorian novels

[Lorna · Rating 3 out of 5]

A novella and fairly classic ghost story. Easily read nothing special

[Martin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Superb ghost story.... although it does leave some questions unanswered. In the tradition of MR James, Dickens' ghost stories, etc.

[Carol · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another Kindle Single. Good ghost story, a but Susan Hill-ish. Some fine characterisation a and spooky descriptions of Cathedral Close.