The world

Aldermere

Six hundred years of stone, rain, fog and bells.

No spoilers past Chapter 15.

A small, ancient university town in England, two hours north of London by train. The stone is the colour of wet bone.

The river Alder loops around the old town and spills into the Mere, a black, cold lake edged with reeds.

There is no secret society at Aldermere. Everyone will tell you so. But a black envelope still finds its way under the right door, sealed in blood-red wax, and the seal is a haloed lamb.

Old Court: The main quad. Keep off the grass: only the fellows may walk on it.
Staircase K: The Founders’ room, at the top, always goes to the Founders’ Scholar.
All Saints’ Chapel: Six families paid for its windows in 1612, and put their own faces on the saints.
The Boathouse: Aldermere Boat Club, on the Alder. Someone is out on the water at five in the morning.
The Penitents’ Bridge: An old stone footbridge over the Alder, at the end of the towpath lamps.
The Mere: The black lake below the town. It doesn’t give back what it takes.

A red coat folded on a flat stone at the edge of a black lake in the fog — The red coat, folded on a stone by the Mere.

A row of stained-glass saints in a dark gothic chapel, coloured light on the pews — Six saints in the glass. They have faces.

A winding stone staircase lit by iron lanterns beside a tall leaded window — Staircase K. Seventy-three steps to her door.

A lone rower on a misty river at dawn beside lamplit college buildings — The river Alder at dawn. Someone is always rowing.

A stained-glass saint in armour holding a pair of scales — Saint Michael in the glass, with his scales.

A wet towpath with gas lamps and fallen leaves leading to a stone bridge in the fog — The towpath to the Penitents’ Bridge.

Stone tomb effigies in a candlelit vaulted crypt — The founders, under the chapel.

A black lake in thick fog between bare trees — The Mere, in the fog.

Read All the Saints Lie The series

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Twenty-seven lock screens from the Under Wax books, on Pinterest. Save the ones you like.

A dim study with red velvet curtains, a gothic window and a leather armchair

A gothic college chapel seen through a stone arch hung with red ivy

A candlelit chapel aisle leading to a red rose window

All the wallpapers on Pinterest