Ah, the 1920s! Post-war high society wealth and charm! Fashion and parties! And… ZOMBIES?!
Lauren Baratz-Logsted‘s new novel Zombie Abbey takes takes the era of lords, ladies, and decadence to a new extreme with one simple addition: The freaking zombie apocalypse!
The novel follows three sisters, all ladies of a wealthy estate, and their house staff (including some in-house crushes), and even the local villagers as they come together to fend off the living dead. Think of it as Downton Zombie, if you will.
In an excerpt exclusive to The Fandom, eldest sister Lady Kate Clarke introduces us to Will Harvey, a stablehand and childhood friend. Thanks to the rules of class and society, Kate and Will haven’t interacted much as young adults, but that hasn’t stopped her curious fascination with him.
Take a look!
Kate couldn’t have rightly said why she didn’t admit immediately to recognizing Will Harvey’s name as soon as Wright uttered it, because of course she did. Kate went to the stables nearly every day of her life, and every time she went there, Will Harvey was there, too. If, to Father, someone like Will Harvey was just a nameless person carrying out a necessary function on the estate, to Kate he was the person who took best care of that which she loved best outside of Father: the horses in general and, in particular, Wyndgate.
But it was more than that. When she’d been just three years old, she’d been taken to the stables for her first riding lesson. No sooner had the horse master got her seated than from the corner of a stall, a small voice was heard to cry with joy, “Horsey!” When questioned by the horse master, the little boy explained that he’d been playing on his aunt and uncle’s farm but somehow, in his running and roaming, had wound up here.
And so, for that one day in her life, Kate had had a friend—someone who loved horses as much as she had immediately loved them. The event no doubt would have faded from memory, as most things experienced by three-year-olds do, were it not for the fact that for day upon day afterward, she’d looked for Will’s return. And when he didn’t, he became a fixture in her mind, like an imaginary friend who might yet be made real. That day represented her earliest memory in life. There was nothing before it, not even memories of her parents, only after. Just one day, when she’d had a friend. But no matter how much she’d looked for him after that, he didn’t come back for four years.
And by then, the line had been drawn. Will Harvey was a stable boy and Kate was a lady of the house, however young a lady she might be. Over the ten years since, they’d exchanged the occasional inadvertent smile because, both loving horses as they did, how could they not? But she would never cross that line again.
We’re sure a few flesh-eating madmen will help them get over that apprehension real quick!
Zombie Abbey hits shelves on April 3, 2018. Want to win a copy on us? Simply enter via the Rafflecopter widget below!
Per the publisher, this contest is open to US residents only.
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MORE BOOK INFO
1920, England
And the three teenage Clarke sisters thought what they’d wear to dinner was their biggest problem…
Lady Kate, the entitled eldest.
Lady Grace, lost in the middle and wishing she were braver.
Lady Lizzy, so endlessly sunny, it’s easy to underestimate her.
Then there’s Will Harvey, the proud, to-die-for—and possibly die with!—stable boy; Daniel Murray, the resourceful second footman with a secret; Raymond Allen, the unfortunate-looking young duke; and Fanny Rogers, the unsinkable kitchen maid.
Upstairs! Downstairs! Toss in some farmers and villagers!
None of them ever expected to work together for any reason.
But none of them had ever seen anything like this.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Lauren Baratz-Logsted is the author of over 30 books for adults (Vertigo), teens (The Twin’s Daughter) and children (The Sisters 8 series which she created with her husband and daughter). She’d love to dress up in period costume from the 1920s but she’d be a lot less excited about meeting zombies. Lauren lives in Danbury, CT, with her husband and daughter and cat, all of whom are writers (well, maybe not the cat).
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