The Retreat
Richard’s sister Julie returns home from a mysterious wellness facility in remote Cumbria in 1994. He’s convinced that this place was a cult and was the cause of his sister’s eventual suicide. Finally, after years as an unaccomplished academic, he decides to investigate the disturbing accusations against the Hartman Retreat Centre. Then he meets Lucy, a young woman whose story is eerily similar to his sister’s decades before. Richard is determined to unearth what’s really been happening at the Hartman Retreat Centre but more importantly, who is Charles Hartman, the celebrated healer who casts a powerful hold over all who come to the retreat.
Told through letters, interviews and found texts, lovers of Fairclough’s Bear Season will be swept up in a sinister world of wellness gurus and mystery.
Gemma Fairclough
Gemma Fairclough is a writer living in Manchester. She has a BA (Hons) in English Literature and a Master’s in Contemporary Literature and Culture from the University of Manchester. She recently completed the Write Like a Grrrl programme and formed a writing group with peers from the course. A range of unsettling influences, including horror films, surrealist art, and folklore inspire her writing, which frequently centres upon experiences of alienation, grief, and aberrant desire. Twitter @GemFairclough
