Reviews…

 • Scharper’s prose in Marged’s voice is just as measured, just as alluringly old-fasioned as many a Pulitzer or Orange Prize winner before her… stunningly beautiful…Scharper accomplishes first-rate historical fiction…believable, charming and genuinely hypnotic to read… Her prose will haunt you. – The Globe and Mail

 

• If I could sum up Perdita in one word it would be: hypnotic. With themes of love and understanding…Hilary Scharper’s unforgettable story-telling will leave you breathless and fascinated. – The Literary Housewife

• Perdita is a wonderfully satisfying read. – Literary Hoarders

• Hilary Scharper deftly mines the beauty and wonder of both the human heart and nature in this haunting tale of eduring love. – Cathy Marie Buchanan

• Perdita is an eminently readable novel, compelling in part because it is structured by an unfolding investigation and in part because its sections of Marged’s writing are so beautifully composed. I recommend it wholeheartedly to anyone interested in a summer read, but also more specifically to those interested in thinking through what it might look like to translate eco-activism into imaginative literature. – La Fleur Epuisée

• It is abundantly clear that Hilary Scharper’s fine debut novel Perdita has been inspired by Emily Bronte’s Wuthering Heights, Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre and Daphne Du Maurier’s Rebecca…Perdita tells us that the past can be healing…It’s also about what our environment teaches us–if we listen to and respect it.

– Critics at Large

• “An enrapturing, thoughtful, strangely alluring ghostly, gothic mystery tale… The novel, as a whole, is definitely another strong representation of the top-notch writing quality represented in most of the Sourcebooks Landmark books… very strongly written, and has great pacing and innovative narrative structure. ”

– A Bibliophile’s Reverie

 

• “This Gothic novel will beguile many a fireplace-illuminated evening… Twisty-turny, captivating.” – Philly.com

• “From the first page I was hooked and was engrossed all the way through… beautiful, descriptive writing.” – Always With a Book

• Oh, the trees! If you, like me, grew up with Anne and Emily naming and loving trees in L.M. Montgomery’s novels, you will love Hilary Scharper’s novel Perdita…an engaging and passionate story. One which feels peculiarly appropriate to read in the summertime, when memories of shorelines and rockfaces tug most determinedly on readers’ hearts and thoughts.  – Buried in Print

• [Hilary Scharper’s] debut novel is very much a product of her love of nature (she describes her fiction as Eco-gothic, a new literary genre building on traditional 19th century gothic, with the landscape as an active, central character). As a scientist myself I am thrilled with this new genre…as a whole we should create a sustainable respectful relationship with nature. – Celtreads

• With compelling characters, and a fascinating blend of Canadian nautical history, romance, and even Greek Mythology, Perdita is sure to appeal to a wide audience. – By Hook or By Book

• Ms. Scharper has done an amazing job of creating images within this reader’s mind of the beauty and savagery of the Georgian Bay with her highly descriptive words…Perdita is not just a story within a story, but a story within a story within a story as the reader learns about Marged, Garth, and the lost tale of Perdita…If you enjoy reading books that combine historical and contemporary storylines then you’ll definitely want to grab a copy of Perdita to read. – The Book Diva’s Reads

• PERDITA seamlessly weaves back and forth between past and present as Garth reads Marged’s diaries dating back to the 1800s. Hilary Scharper does a marvelous job at depicting the scenery as the past comes vividly alive…Readers who enjoy strong character development will appreciate the nuances of PERDITA. – Fresh Fiction

• This book had me engrossed by the end of the first page….I loved this book…a great balance of history, paranormal, nautical adventure, Greek mythology, romance, and mystery. (Four kisses.)

– Kissin Blue Karen

• “The gothic aspect of this book was interesting. Inflections of Emily Brontë are found throughout Scharper’s prose… an engaging read.” – Royal Review