A haunting book for tween and teen girls, In the Serpent's Coils will mesmerize and intrigue readers with its dark fantasy and mystery.
In the Serpent’s Coils, the first book in the Hallowmere series by Tiffany Trent, captures the reader’s interest immediately. There’s mystery, dark unnatural entities, and a bit of Civil War history in every chapter, making it difficult to set this book down.
The Opening Plot
Fifteen-year-old Corrine starts life on a farm in Maryland. The Civil War has just ended as she and her mother await the return of her father. Time passes and her father does not return from the war, but other men, other soldiers, still need help. Corrine and her mother pack up and go to Washington where her mother will help nurse soldiers back to health.
Living in a rooming beside a canal, Corrine and her mother come down with the ague. Her mother dies and Corrine is close to death. After a long bout of fever, Corrine wakes up in her Uncle William’s home. The doctor comes and visits her, giving her bitter medicine. She drifts in and out of consciousness, and dreams of her parents. It’s hard for Corrine to believe they are both gone.
Uncle William, while not a bad person, is strict and threatens to send Corrine away if she does not do exactly as she is told. One of his rules forbids Corrine from ever trying to open an old, locked trunk that belonged to her mother. This makes no sense to Corrine. The trunk was her mother’s and it should rightfully belong to Corrine.
Improving in health, Corrine is allowed to walk on the grounds. She hears a strange voice come from an ancient hawthorn on the property. When she moves closer to it, the voice asks Corrine to retrieve a stone from Uncle William’s study and bring it to the hawthorn. In return, the fairy voice promises to restore Corrine to full health.
That night Corrine has trouble sleeping. She gets up out of bed and walks over to the window. Looking down she sees a man standing under the hawthorn tree. He looks up at her and, to her horror, lifts his blood stained hands up towards her.
The next day, Corrine finds the stone the fairy asked for. She takes the stone to the hawthorn and the voice thanks her. In return for the stone, the hawthorn’s fairy gives Corrine a small pouch of medicine and promises to grant her the wish that is in her heart.
That night someone breaks into Uncle William’s study and busts open the locked trunk. Corrine will finally get to look inside her mother’s trunk. But it all leads to trouble. Corrine is caught snooping by her Uncle and he immediately sends her packing. It isn’t until she arrives at her new destination that she discovers she’s been sent to a boarding school for wayward girls. What’s worse is that the school is run by a group of witches and a priest who never ages.
Promising New Series!
Girls start disappearing from the school. The man with the bloodied hands continues to haunt Corrine. Ghosts wander the grounds and a two-headed serpent nearly captures Corrine in its deadly fangs. In the Serpent’s Coils, the first book of the Hallowmere series, shows exciting promise of being an incredible series that older girls will love. There are ghosts, Fae, witches, and the aftermath of the Civil War all rolled into a fabulous story that will haunt the reader for years to come.
