Bestselling novelist Erin Kelly collaborates with Ben Walker, Kirsty Merryn and Basia Bartz to give life to a folk song at the heart of her new thriller, The Skeleton Key, published today.
The Skeleton Key is the new novel by the Sunday Times bestselling novelist Erin Kelly. Described by Lucy Roley as a ‘gloriously gothic – a richly layered, utterly compulsive read’, the book is a must-read for fans of the folk revival. The thriller opens in the 1960s with a folk song that has a spell at its heart:
‘Gather the lady’s bones with love to see the lady rise’.
The consequences twist through generations; two families and their secrets. What’s a folk song without a tune and a singer? With a childhood steeped in folk records and a love for the tradition, Erin Kelly worked with good friend and Folk Award-winning musician Ben Walker, acclaimed singer-songwriter Kirsty Merryn and prolific violinist Basia Bartz to lift the words from the page and make the song sound and feel just as it should. With a nod to Fairport and more than a dash of Matty Groves, ‘To Gather the Bones’ has all the ingredients that a good old-fashioned folk song should have – murder, magic and true love. Ben, Kirsty and Basia have released an exclusive video of the recording of ‘To Gather the Bones’ to celebrate the launch of The Skeleton Key.
Erin says, ‘I was raised on folk music. I’m sure those songs, worlds the size of novels condensed into five minute ballads, played a big part in my becoming a storyteller. Fairport Convention were the soundtrack of my childhood, and I would sing songs from Leige & Lief to my own children when they were babies. I’m a firm believer that the stories we hear when we are tiny take root in us and grow, becoming part of us, whether those stories are sung, drawn or written.’
Kirsty agrees, ‘Most of the best traditional songs are pretty dark stories when you think about it – this one’s new but it absolutely fits the bill – violence, dismemberment, a witch – you can’t really go wrong. And of course, true love saves the day.’
Ben adds ‘It’s always great fun to take words and make them a song again. Given that this song is set in a very particular place and time in the novel, it was important to make it sound right for the period. You can probably see from the video that it was great fun to make!’
The Skeleton Key by Erin Kelly (Hodder) is published today and can be found in all good bookshops, including at waterstones.com and Bookshop.org