Ashley Smith - a bright-eyed American studying in London - has unexpectedly been invited by her classmate Emma Chapman to spend Christmas at her family's Cotswolds manor house, Starvewood Hall. The holiday is a true English fantasy: woodland walks, charming pubs and elaborate dinners at the manor, with the added romantic potential of Emma's twin brother, Adam, who feels like Ashley's wildest dreams come true. But is there something strange about the old house, both stately and rundown; what could the true motives of the mysterious Chapman family be; and what may lie beyond the pages of her diary? Swept up in her own story, can Ashley see the horrors that may be about to play out?