Withered Hill is an English folk horror novel, written by David Barnett, published by Canelo Publishing. A rich and absorbing story that draws elements from dark thrillers and fantasy tales, built around a dual timeline clearly divided between after and before the character's arrival to Withered Hill, a rural village whose atmosphere and uncanniness play an important role in the whole plot.

Sophie Wickham, our central character, is a 32-year-old living a hedonistic and directionless life in London; while all her known ones have been moving towards stability, she still finds herself on temporal jobs, spending too much and having a chaotic life. After starting her latest job, she finds herself finding threatening packages and messages, warning of a danger; all until one day she arrives, naked and devoid of memories, stumbling out of the woods, at Withered Hill, a village in an indeterminate point of Lancashire that she cannot escape from.

Unfolding the timeline in two different timelines is part of what makes this book so effective. On the one hand, we have the "Outside" timeline, leading up to Sophie's arrival at Withered Hill, playing with the symbolism and constantly introducing hints to the reader about who might be the ones behind the messages and their intentions. On the other hand, the "Inside" timeline jumps around in a non-linear way, being deliberately confusing, but portraying that Withered Hill that still has the pre-Christian ways and in which Sophie is the guest of honour (with all the things it brings); it adds to the mystery, making you guess what's happening, and why is Sophie in this timeline having to rebuild her memories and her life.

The writing lands on the richer side when talking about imagery and symbolism, especially as the big dates are being celebrated on Withered Hill, each one a moment where Sophie will be tested and will discover more about herself and the own village. The atmosphere might become too suffocating at moments, but that's part of the charm of this book; the uncanny feeling, the "there's something not right here and Sophie is starting to get along it" that remembers so much to Dani's arc in Midsommar.
The pacing is excellent, as Barnett expertly jumps from one scene to another, putting all the fragments in front of the reader but letting themselves to be the ones that tie them together, while balancing the level of tension felt by the reader.

Withered Hill is an excellent folk horror novel, a book that makes the most from its setting and its main character, and one that trusts the reader to put it all together. Won't be the last David Barnett novel I read!