An exciting and gripping novel exploring the effects of losing your grip on reality. Profoundly influenced by romantic literature and striving to escape her possessive twin sister, Alice moves to the Yorkshire Dales to teach and live an idyllic dream in a moorland cottage. There she meets William, her elderly neighbour's nephew and professional actor, and is instantly attracted to him. William and Alice's friendship blossoms and Alice falls madly in love with William, believing they're soul mates. Alice overhears a row between William and his uncle over William's severe debt from gambling. When William's uncle dies after falling from the moorland crags above her cottage, Alice suspects William pushed him. Soon after, William's aunt Annie is taken ill and Alice suspects that William has poisoned Annie as a result of witnessing his uncle's murder leaving Alice to fear that she will be next. The Perils of a Literary Life is ultimately a romantic love story set in the beautiful Yorkshire Dales combined with the fast-paced nature and tense climax of a chilling thriller. As Alice, the heroine, becomes unable to distinguish between reality and fiction, this novel shows the fascinating impact of fantasy and literary fiction upon the psyche.