<p><b>***SHORTLISTED FOR THE WALTER SCOTT PRIZE FOR HISTORICAL FICTION***</b><br><br><b>From the bestselling author of <i>Asylum</i>, <i>Trauma</i> and <i>Spider</i></b><br><br><b>'Ghosts of the theatre and the spectre of fascism haunt cold and grimy London in this atmospheric tale from a master of the grotesque.' <i>Guardian</i></b><br><br>JANUARY 1947.<br><br>London is in ruins, there’s nothing to eat, and it’s the coldest winter in living memory. <br><br>To make matters worse, Charlie Grice, one of the great stage actors of the day, has suddenly died. His widow Joan, the wardrobe mistress, is beside herself with grief.<br><br>Then one night she discovers Gricey’s secret. Plunged into a dark new world, Joan realises that though fascism might hide, it never dies. Her war isn’t over after all. <br><b><br>'McGrath is one of the age's most elegantly accomplished divers into the human psyche . . . a master writer.' John Banville<br><br>‘McGrath is that rare yet essential thing, a writer who can expose our darkest fears without making us run away from them.' <i>New Statesman</i></b><br><br><b>'Wonderfully sinister ... a delight ... you are in for a thrilling ride.' </b><b><i>Spectator</i></b><br><br><b>'A brilliant evocation of the theatrical world’s seedy glamour, <i>The Wardrobe Mistress</i> is also a moving portrait of a woman struggling to make sense of her past and imagine a future for herself.' <i>Sunday Times</i></b><br><br><b>'[A] rich and highly spiced feast of a novel, even before it reaches its classically gothic McGrath climax.' <i>Reader's Digest</i></b></p>