Ghost

Spanning two millennia of English woodland, Finbar Hawkins weaves together three women whose fates converge across time. A Roman-era slave girl, an eighteenth-century herbalist, and a present-day teenager nursing a grudge all find themselves drawn into the same ancient forest, where something old and hungry has been waiting. The novel moves fluidly between its three timelines, building a portrait of female resilience and the unresolved past that bleeds into the present.

Gemma Whelan brings a gift for atmospheric storytelling that suits this material precisely. Known for her range on screen, she navigates the tonal shifts between historical dread and contemporary teen frustration without losing the thread that ties the narratives together. At just over four and a half hours, the runtime keeps the pacing tight, and the layered, ghost-story structure rewards listening in longer stretches. Whelan's voice gives the quieter, more elemental moments the weight they need to land.