Publication Date: July 10, 2026
A photograph of three young sisters. A forgotten pearl necklace that sends her tumbling through time…
Present day: single mother Elsa Dean is shocked when she inherits a sprawling three-storey house from her estranged uncle. Elsa hasn’t seen the golden stone façade in over a decade. Then an antique pearl necklace and a black and white photograph hidden behind a secret door in the attic sweeps her back into the past. Elsa sees her aunts, the three Merriwell sisters, each make their own terrible choice that will change their family forever…
1959: When sixteen-year-old Edie Merriwell finds herself pregnant just as her beloved mother dies suddenly, she has no-one to turn to. All she has left is her mother’s last gift: a tiny seed pearl on a delicate silver chain. She never takes it off. Her sisters could never understand. And her father is courting a new wife suspiciously quickly. Within a year, gossip about the Merriwell family will reach fever pitch, and none of the sisters will ever live in the beautiful house again.
History repeats itself at this house of pearls and lies. What really happened to Edie and her baby? Elsa has been keeping her own secrets too. Will she be brave enough to confront her tangled history and lay the ghosts of the house to rest for good?
An utterly gripping and heartbreaking tale of betrayal and a family secret that echoes down the generations. Perfect for fans of Louise Douglas, Eve Chase and Rachel Burton.
Inheriting her childhood home opens the door to unexpected memories for Elsa Dean.
Author Ali Mercer creates a web of secrets in The House of Pearls. When Elsa moves into the house with her own teenage daughter, she discovers an old photo of her aunts, along with a pearl necklace that provides a conduit to the past.
Those trips to the past uncover a devastating family secret that shines light on Elsa’s own secrets. Untangling the past could have real-life implications.
The author does an excellent job portraying the social norms of 1959, particularly the scandal that would have surrounded an unwed mother. It’s a tragic history destined to be repeated until the truth finally emerges.
The House of Pearls offers a slow build that soon coalesces into a series of unexpected revelations.
Ali lives in Oxfordshire with her husband and their two children. She decided she wanted to be a writer pretty much as soon as she learned the word, and attempted her first novel when she was at primary school. Ali studied English at University College, Oxford in the early 90s, then worked in educational publishing before doing a diploma in journalism at Cardiff University. She moved to London to work as a journalist and landed a job as a reporter at The Stage.
Ali began writing fiction in earnest after starting a family and moving to Abingdon. She also work part-time in publishing locally. Her son is autistic, and was diagnosed in 2011. The following year her novel Stop the Clock was published by Transworld, followed by After I Left You in 2014.
