Olivia Prior has grown up in Merilance School for girls, and all she has of her past is her mother’s journal—which seems to unravel into madness. Then, a letter invites Olivia to come home—to Gallant. But when Olivia arrives, no one is expecting her. Her cousin Matthew wants her gone, but Olivia is not about to leave the first place that has ever felt like it could be home. It doesn’t matter if Matthew is hostile or if she sees half-formed ghouls haunting the hallways—even if one of them might be her mother. Olivia knows that Gallant is hiding secrets, and she is determined to uncover them. One is the ruin of a wall in the garden, the wall Matthew has warned her not to go near, the wall with the locked iron door, but that spans only a few feet in either direction. What could be so dangerous about that? Then one evening at just the right time, Olivia steps over the ruin, and finds herself in a place that is Gallant—but not. The manor is crumbling, the garden is dead, the ghouls are solid, the wall stretches as far as the eye can see, and a mysterious man rules over all. Now Olivia sees what the wall is keeping out, what has unraveled generations of her family—and where her father may have come from. Olivia has always wanted to belong somewhere, but will she take her place as a Prior, protecting our world against the Master of the House? Or will she take her place beside him? New York Times bestselling author V. E. Schwab crafts a vivid and lush novel that grapples with the demons that are often locked behind closed doors. Readers of Neil Gaiman, Holly Black, Melissa Albert, and Garth Nix will quickly lose themselves in this novel with crossover appeal for all ages.