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Table of Contents
About The Book
The acclaimed author of the “chilling, mesmerizing debut” (Rachel Harrison, author of The Return) Beneath the Stairs returns with a gripping, atmospheric suspense novel about a woman investigating a serial killer’s connection to her mother’s disappearance—for fans of I Have Some Questions for You and Notes on an Execution.
One hot August night in 1993, a young couple go to a party. When their car breaks down, they are picked up by a truck driver who attacks the man and abducts the woman. She is never seen again.
That woman was Fiona Green’s mother.
When the trucker, Eddie Ward, is caught, a mass grave of bodies is discovered in his backyard but Fiona’s mother isn’t there. Thirty years later, on his prison deathbed, Ward insists that he didn’t kill her, so Fiona finds herself back in the small town where her mother disappeared. Fighting demons of her own, she’s shocked when history repeats itself: another woman, another roadside breakdown, and another disappearance. Only this time the primary suspect is Jason Ward, Eddie’s son. Desperate, Fiona hunts down answers, unaware that she is being drawn into a dangerous trap.
With Jennifer Fawcett’s signature “suspenseful and immersive” (Library Journal) prose, Keep This for Me is a fresh, spellbinding exploration of what we unwillingly inherit from our parents and how one random act can send ripples years into the future.
One hot August night in 1993, a young couple go to a party. When their car breaks down, they are picked up by a truck driver who attacks the man and abducts the woman. She is never seen again.
That woman was Fiona Green’s mother.
When the trucker, Eddie Ward, is caught, a mass grave of bodies is discovered in his backyard but Fiona’s mother isn’t there. Thirty years later, on his prison deathbed, Ward insists that he didn’t kill her, so Fiona finds herself back in the small town where her mother disappeared. Fighting demons of her own, she’s shocked when history repeats itself: another woman, another roadside breakdown, and another disappearance. Only this time the primary suspect is Jason Ward, Eddie’s son. Desperate, Fiona hunts down answers, unaware that she is being drawn into a dangerous trap.
With Jennifer Fawcett’s signature “suspenseful and immersive” (Library Journal) prose, Keep This for Me is a fresh, spellbinding exploration of what we unwillingly inherit from our parents and how one random act can send ripples years into the future.
About The Author
Photograph: Chelsea Bos/Chelsea Bos Photography
Before writing books, Jennifer Fawcett was an award-winning playwright and cofounder of the theater company Working Group. She is the author of Beneath the Stairs and Keep This for Me. Born and raised in Canada, she spent a decade living in the Midwest before settling in the Hudson Valley. She holds an MFA from the Iowa Playwrights Workshop. Her work has been published in Third Coast Magazine, Reunion: The Dallas Review, Storybrink, and in the anthology Long Story Short. She teaches writing at Skidmore College and lives in upstate New York with her husband and son. Visit her at JenniferFawcettAuthor.com.
Product Details
- Publisher: Atria Books (October 7, 2025)
- Length: 352 pages
- ISBN13: 9781668050668
Raves and Reviews
Praise for Jennifer Fawcett's debut Beneath the Stairs
"[Beneath the Stairs] reminds readers how easily a thought becomes a truth, how quickly a dream becomes a nightmare, and how unknowingly we ourselves can become haunted houses. . . . Fawcett’s debut is both incredibly suspenseful and immersive. A word of caution to readers: leave the light on."
– Library Journal
“In Beneath the Stairs, Jennifer Fawcett explores the lasting impact of childhood trauma in this metaphysical story about a house with buried secrets. An enthralling debut by a gifted storyteller!”
– Wendy Walker, author of Don't Look for Me and All Is Not Forgotten
“A spell-binding horror story, where the terror comes not from ghosts, but from the haunted places we find within ourselves. A thoroughly engrossing and compulsive read.”
– Elizabeth Brundage, author of The Vanishing Point
"Jennifer Fawcett's Beneath the Stairs had me from the very first page. Tense, surprising, and utterly gripping, I loved this book!"
– Karen Dionne, author of international bestsellers The Marsh King's Daughter and The Wicked Sister
"A novel brimming with menace and secrets, a haunting story of friendship and old betrayal that I devoured in one sitting. Fawcett delves into the complicated ties of teen girls against the backdrop of a small town and a strange house’s sinister history. Atmospheric, cleverly constructed—the past meets the present in this gripping debut."
– Karen Brown, author of The Clairvoyants and The Longings of Wayward Girls
Resources and Downloads
High Resolution Images
- Book Cover Image (jpg): Keep This for Me eBook 9781668050668
- Author Photo (jpg): Jennifer Fawcett Photograph: Chelsea Bos/Chelsea Bos Photography(0.1 MB)
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