An unsettling Gothic novel that begins with the discovery of an abandoned Oxford house, then gradually unfolds into something much scarier than an abandoned Oxford house.

When an American academic arrives in England to catalogue the papers of a forgotten scholar, she finds herself drawn into a landscape where neglected gardens, old buildings, family histories and inexplicable occurrences begin to blur together. Ashe is less interested in shocks than in atmosphere, building a haunting out of memory, place and suggestion.

Rosalind Ashe was one of Britain's great writers of literary ghost stories, though she remains surprisingly overlooked today. Moths is a fine example of her gift: elegant, deeply English and patient in its accumulation of unease, recalling the work of Susan Hill, Elizabeth Jane Howard and M.R. James while maintaining a distinctly psychological sensibility. An ideal novel for readers who prefer their supernatural fiction to arrive by degrees, carried on beautiful prose rather than spectacle.

Penguin Random House paperback (2025 reissue). Clean copy with light shelf wear and a tight, unmarked interior.