Mistletoe (novel)
2019 novel by Alison Littlewood
Mistletoe is a fantasy and horror novel by English writer Alison Littlewood. It was first published in the United Kingdom in October 2019 by Jo Fletcher Books, and is about a widow who buys a farmhouse in Yorkshire to start a new life, but is haunted by ghosts of the farm's former occupants.
Mistletoe generally received positive reviews from critics, and was shortlisted for the 2020 British Fantasy Award for Best Horror Novel (August Derleth Award).
Plot summary
Leah Hamilton buys Maitland Farm, a derelict farm in rural Yorkshire. She recently lost her husband and young son, and wants to occupy herself with renovating the farmhouse. She also wants to escape the coming Christmas and start a new life. Leah's only contact with the outside world are her neighbours on the next farm, Cath, her brother Andrew, and Cath's young son, Charlie. They are concerned for Leah's safety, living there on her own, and warn her of Maitland's past.
Unbeknown to her neighbours, Leah's maiden name is Maitland and the farm had belonged to her ancestors over a hundred years ago. Leah is determined not to let the past bother her, but soon starts to see visions of people from long ago.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Mistletoe (novel)” as 2019 novel by Alison Littlewood. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
Why this record matters
The subject matters to the arts & letters register because the source frames it as 2019 novel by Alison Littlewood. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
Attribution, date and provenance are strongest when supported by the original work, a catalogue record and documented transmission. The source revision retrieved here is dated May 18, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q116649344. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 2019 and 2020.
Later fame can flatten the distinction between original context, subsequent adaptation and institutional collecting history. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Separate the work, its editions or performances, and its later reception. Catalogue records, publication histories and object files often preserve different parts of that story.
- Identifying works and editions
- Tracing reception history
- Finding collection records
The original object or edition, catalogue raisonné, performance record, rights file and holding institution.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Mistletoe (novel)”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Mistletoe (novel) primary sources, Mistletoe (novel) archive and Mistletoe research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Mistletoe (novel)”?
- Where is authorship, date or provenance documented?
- Which edition, object, performance or recording is being described?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Mistletoe (novel)” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.