Beloved by Toni Morrison

 

Title:  Beloved

Author:  Toni Morrison, Honorée Fanonne Jeffers - introduction

Narrated by:  Toni Morrison, Karen Murray

Publisher: Random House Audio

Length: Approximately 12 hours and 33 minutes

Source: Purchased from Audible

What is the saddest book you’ve ever read?  I would rate this as one of mine.

Sethe was born into slavery but was able to escape with her children to Ohio.  When her former master finds her and her children, she makes a decision that will haunt her forever.  Now a ghost haunts her home.  When a girl appears with the name Beloved, the only word carved on the tombstone of her baby, is this girl the ghost of her child or an imposter?

My thoughts on this novel:

·       This was the January read for the Back to the Classics Book Club at the Kewaunee Public Library.  Only two of us braved the cold, but we had a good discussion on this complex book.  I selected this book as I’ve been too scared to read I on my own as I knew it involved the death of a baby.

·       Toni Morrison won both the Pulitzer Prize and the Nobel Prize for literature, but this is only the second book of hers that I’ve read.  I really wish we would have studied her when I was in college.

·       This was a deep book that I keep thinking about.  It was written in a very unique way with a variety of narrators and a variety of time periods.

·       I really liked the intro and the ending.  The ending basically said that terrible things happen and are then forgotten.  They need to be remembered so we don’t repeat the terrible things in our history.

·       I was disturbed to find out in the intro that this book was based on a true story.

·       I listened to this book on audiobook.  It was very interesting.  I liked also having a physical copy of the book to read along with it.  I also stopped and looked up chapter summaries on SparkNotes as recommended by a book club member. It did help me to understand what I was reading.

·       This was a very sad novel describing the horrors of slavery.  It was so horrifying that you would kill your own child rather than have them be a slave.  Sexual abuse was used to control the women and it didn’t just break the women, it broke the men as well to see their wives, mothers, and sisters treated this way.

·       Schoolteacher talks about Sethe like she is an animal.  He compares her to a horse and says that you can’t beat a horse too much or you wreck it.  His nephew and others had stolen Sethe’s milk and then whipped her.  She does not want her children to go back to this kind of life.  Other people do not understand this.

·       The house is haunted, and no one will go inside due to what has happened to her.

Overall, Beloved by Toni Morrison was a haunting novel about a terrible part of our history.

The Ghost Cat by Alex Howard

 

Have you had a favorite pet in your life? 

I have had a lot of pets over my lifetime that I have loved, but one of my favorite pets was my cat Rufus.  He was my college cat.  He arrived bedraggled at my Mom’s house one summer right before I started graduate school.  He was a small kitten with fleas, ear mites, and a wounded leg.  I wasn’t sure he was going to make it, but he grew into a sassy cat who could do tricks like fetching items and shaking his paw.  He wasn’t sure about my husband Ben when we first got married, but later he would trout around with him on rounds around the house.  He especially loved when we had kids and let them all carry him around and play with him.  He really loved them.  He sadly died when he was fourteen and I still miss him.  I called him my “soul cat” as he always knew when I was down and would comfort me. 

Grimalkin dies after a happy life as an indoor cat in 1902.  After this, he becomes a ghost cat for the rest of his nine lives and he see all the changes that happen over the next 120 years in Edinburgh.

My thoughts on this novel:

·       “A cat has nine lives.  For three he plays, for three he strays, and for the last three he stays.”  This is an old English Proverb which described Grimalkin’s afterlife.  Cat-sith explains this to Grimalkin after his first death that he has eight more lives.  Cat-sith is a fairy creature form Celtic mythology.

·       This was a fun book to read in October in the Halloween season, but it is a good read for any time of year.

·       I loved the concept.

·       I enjoyed Grimalkin’s relationship with Eildidth, the maid, who discovered him as a kitten and cared for him. As a ghost, he watches her grow older.

·       Grimalkin the cat is the POV for this novel.  He is an orange marmalade cat.  I enjoyed imaging him and his adventures.

·       I loved seeing the changes in history and time over the course of the novel.

·       There were also great footnotes in the book which described the reality or true history.  I really enjoyed the footnotes.

·       There was a great change from 1902 to 1922 with coal heat, electricity, cars, etc.

·       717 Marchmont Crescent in Edinburgh is the setting.  Grimalkin strays from here but always returns.

·       The story ends with the death of Queen Elizabeth in 2022.  I loved the other true history like the publication of Peter Pan.

·       This story was humorous and sad.  It was a sweet and slow read.

Overall, The Ghost Cat by Alex Howard is an enjoyable historical fiction novel that shows the changes over 120 year period in Edinburgh through the eyes of a ghost cat.

Book Source:  Thank-you to @netgalley for a review copy of this novel. 

The Haunting of Paynes Hollow by Kelley Armstrong

 

Title:  The Haunting of Paynes Hollow

Author:  Kelley Armstrong

Narrated by:  EJ Lavery

Publisher: Macmillan Audio

Length: Approximately 9 hours and24 minutes

Source: Thank you @netgalley for the review copy. 

What is your favorite ghost story? The Legend of Sleepy Hollow by Washington Irving is one of my favorite ghost stories and Halloween favorites.  I was excited to hear that a new novel, The Haunting of Paynes Hollow by Kelley Armstrong, was a modern reimagining of The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.

Samantha Payne’s estranged grandfather has passed away.  She is surprised to discover that he left her very valuable property on Lake Ontario in Northern New York state.  He has left numerous stipulations including that she has to stay in the family cottage on the property for a month.  Her father took his own life there when she was a kid after being accused of murdering a local youth.  Sam needs the money to pay for her mother’s medical care.  She decides to live in the property with her aunt, but when strange things start to happen, is she losing her mind or are there creatures out there too terrifying to contemplate?

My thoughts on this novel:

·       There was a sense of dread and unknown throughout the novel.  Is Sam crazy?  Is she the one doing everything?  Is someone setting it up to spook her?  Is it really a ghost?

·       They visit an old cottage and discover old books left behind when the cottage was abandoned including Twilight, Shopaholic, The Time Traveler’s Wife.  This does tell a certain point of time and I was reading them all.

·       I couldn’t stop listening to this audiobook.  It was a riveting story with a great narrator.

·       The story had a great ending.  The story and explanation for it all really worked for me.

·       I enjoyed the Dutch folklore that was part of the story.  I have Dutch ancestors myself that lived in the state of New York on the Hudson River for two hundred years until they moved to Michigan.

·       This story has both horror and supernatural elements.

·       This story had great characters.  I loved Sam, her Aunt Gail, Ben (caretaker and brother of the murdered boy), and Josie (deputy).

·       The story was creepy and atmospheric.  It was perfect for Halloween.  I started it for the holiday but read most of it this month.

·       This is the first book that I have read by this author, but I will definitely be reading more.

Overall, The Haunting of Paynes Hollow by Kelley Armstrong was engaging horror story, with great atmosphere and characters.

Specters in the Glass House by Jaime Jo Wright (AustenProse PR Book Tour)

 

Do you believe in ghosts?  I just went on a haunted trolly tour of Door County with one of my book clubs and it was a lot of fun.  I always enjoy a good ghost story.

Marian Anderson has lost her parents and her home in Milwaukee in 1921 after prohibition has caused the shut down of her family brewery.  She retains her family’s country estate, Mullerian, in rural Wisconsin near Milwaukee.  As she settles in, death seems to surround the estate and Marian has limited time to discover who the killer is before her own time is up.  In present day, Remy has moved to Mullerian Manor to help an author write a book about Marian Anderson and the Butterfly Butcher serial killer.  Will Remy be able to solve the mystery of both Marian and her own past?

My thoughts on this novel:

·       The gothic atmosphere of this novel made this a perfect read for October.  I loved the ghosts and haunted house aspects.  I especially love a house with passages that lead to no where and secret entrances and exits.

·       The cover of this novel is beautiful, and I love how it features the glass butterfly house which is an important part of the story in both timelines.

·       As a resident of Wisconsin, I really loved the Wisconsin setting.  I also enjoyed the historical aspect as I always wonder how different breweries made it through prohibition and all the bars.  I know the major breweries started producing soda pop, but not everyone made the switch.

·       There were side characters in each timeline that were interesting.  I particularly enjoyed Marian’s childhood friend Felix, a WWI veteran who has returned with demons of his own.

·       I thought it was very interesting that the book looked into mental health in a sensitive and thoughtful way.

·       The storyline was intriguing, and it kept me engaged throughout.  Especially towards the end I could not put this book down.  I did not guess the ending to the mysteries.

·       Both storylines were equally engaging.  Sometimes I like on storyline in a dual storyline book more than the other.  It was not the case in this novel!

·       There are great discussion questions for a book club at the end and a sneak peek into Jaime Jo Wright’s next book which is set in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.  I can’t wait to read it when it comes out next spring.

Favorite Quotes:

“Death had always been fashionable.  Women celebrated it by donning black silks and feathers and shawls and lace.  Men acknowledged it with a band on their hat or a mourning ring on their finger.  Of course, that was more to announce their eligibility than anything else.  For what man could continue to flourish in life without a wife to manage his household and rear his children?”  Great 1^st paragraph of the novel!

“There were no bodies.  Nothing but broken wings and the memory of someone who smiled when death came to call.”

“People have this measuring stick they use and hold one another up to.  If you’re running a tad short, then something’s wrong with you.”

Overall, Specters in the Glass House by Jaime Jo Wright was an engaging Gothic historical mystery romance set in Wisconsin that was perfect for the spooky season.

Book Source:  Review copy from Bethany House as part of the Austenprose PR Book Tour. Thank-you!  Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

BOOK DESCRIPTION

An ominous butterfly house. A sinister legacy. An untraceable killer.

In 1921, Marian Arnold, the heiress to a brewing baron's empire, seeks solace in the glass butterfly house on her family's Wisconsin estate as Prohibition and the deaths of her parents cast a long shadow over her shrinking world. When Marian's sanctuary is invaded by nightmarish visions, she grapples with the line between hallucinations of things to come and malevolent forces at play in the present. With dead butterflies as the killer's ominous signature, murders unfold at a steady pace. Marian, fearful she might be next, enlists the help of her childhood friend Felix, a war veteran with his own haunted past.

In the present day, researcher Remy Shaw becomes entangled in an elderly biographer's quest to uncover the truth behind Marian Arnold's mysterious life and the unsolved murders linked to an infamous serial killer. Joined by Marian's great-great-grandson, can Remy expose the evil that lurks beneath broken wings? Or will the dark legacy surrounding the manor and its glass house destroy yet another generation?

ADVANCE PRAISE

"Readers will be eager to take this twisty, suspense-filled ride."— Publishers Weekly

AUTHOR BIO

Jaime Jo Wright is the author of twelve novels, including Christy Award and Daphne du Maurier Award winner The House on Foster Hill and Carol Award winner The Reckoning at Gossamer Pond. She's also a four-time Christy Award finalist, as well as the ECPA bestselling author of The Vanishing at Castle Moreau, The Lost Boys of Barlowe Theater, and two Publishers Weekly bestselling novellas. Jaime lives in Wisconsin with her family and fabulous felines. Learn more at JaimeWrightBooks.com.

Night Falls on Predicament Avenue by Jaime Jo Wright (Austenprose PR Book Tour)

 

Do you have any “haunted” houses near where you live?  In Kewaunee where I live, we have a haunted hotel and jail.  I’ve picked up a haunted houses of Wisconsin book and found them in there and they’ve also been featured on TV.

In 1910, Effie James and her sister, Polly, stumble across a murder at 323 Predicament Avenue.  Polly stays silent on what she saw, and Effie must piece it together from what she heard.  When a mysterious British gentleman comes to town claiming the victim was his wife, will they together be able to discover the murderer? 

In the present day, Norah runs 323 Predicament Avenue as a B&B.  Sebastion is a guest and a true crime cold case podcaster.  When another guest dies of a heart attack after seeing a ghost, Norah must face her demons and investigate not only the mystery from a century ago, but the murder of her beloved sister.  Will Norah be able to face her anxiety and solve her sister’s cold case?

My thoughts on this novel:

·       This novel was very atmospheric and Gothic.  I loved how it started with a bang.  It would make an excellent Halloween read.

·       This is a dual timeline novel.  The link is that the only two people that have been murdered in Shephard, Iowa, were both connected to the home at 322 Predicament Avenue.

·       I had a hard time putting this book down as I got towards the end.  It was a great suspense novel.  I did not guess the ending in either timeline.

·       I liked the look into anxiety with Norah trying to deal with her anxiety throughout the novel.

·       The novel also looked at fear and working through it through faith.

·       This book was a clean read.

·       I enjoyed the teaser at the end for her fall 2024 novel, Specters in the Glass House which will be set near Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Favorite Quotes:

“Death had been a guest here at Predicament Avenue for decades, and it was clear that Death wasn’t ready to check out yet.”

“Yet that was what fear was after all.  When a person lived afraid of death, when they could feel death’s cold breath on their neck every moment of the day, there was no courage left to be had.  No anticipation.  No hope.  Only the force of one’s own will to try to outrun the fear before they were eaten alive by it.  Before their greatest fear became their greatest reality.”

Overall, Night Falls on Predicament Avenue by Jaime Jo Wright is a delightfully Gothic historical mystery that will have you guessing right up until the end.

BOOK DESCRIPTION

As the walls of the house at Predicament Avenue reveal their hidden truths, two women--generations apart--discover that fear and foreboding are no respecters of time.

In 1910, Effie James is committed to doing anything to save her younger sister, who witnessed a shocking murder, leaving her mute and in danger of the killer's retribution. Effie must prove what her sister saw, but when a British gentleman arrives, he disrupts Effie's quest with his attempts to locate his wife, Isabelle Addington, who was last seen at the supposed crime scene in the abandoned house at 322 Predicament Avenue. Just as Effie discovers what she seeks, she finds that the blood staining the walls will forever link her to a scandal she couldn't imagine, and to a woman whose secrets promise to curse any who would expose them.

A century later, Norah Richman grapples with social anxiety and grief as she runs her late great-aunt's bed-and-breakfast on Predicament Avenue. But Norah has little affection for the house and is committed only to carrying out her murdered sister's dreams until crime historian and podcaster Sebastian Blaine arrives to investigate the ghostly legacy of the house's claim to fame--the murder of Isabelle Addington. When a guest is found dead, the incident is linked to Isabelle's murder, and Norah and Sebastian must work together to uncover the century-old curse that has wrapped 322 Predicament Avenue in its clutches and threatens far more than death.

AUTHOR BIO

Jaime Jo Wright (JaimeWrightBooks.com) is the author of ten novels, including Christy Award and Daphne du Maurier Award-winner The House on Foster Hill and Carol Award winner The Reckoning at Gossamer Pond. She's also a two-time Christy Award finalist, as well as the ECPA bestselling author of The Vanishing at Castle Moreau and two Publishers Weekly bestselling novellas. Jaime lives in Wisconsin with her family and felines.

To Swoon and to Spar by Martha Waters

 

Title: To Swoon and to Spar (The Regency Vows novel)

Author:  Martha Waters

Narrated by:  Anais Inara Chase and Joel Froomkin

Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio

Length: Approximately 9 hours and 15 minutes

Source: Review Copy from Simon & Schuster Audio.  Thank you @simonandschuster @BookClubFavorites #BookClubFavorites for the free books!

 

What's your favorite book series?

To Swoon and to Spar by Martha Waters is the fourth novel in the Regency Vows series.  The fifth book, To Woo and to Wed just came out this month.  This is a great regency romance series and I have fun reading a new novel in it every year.

Viscount Penvale has been working and saving for five years to buy back his family estate, Trethwick Abbey, from his Uncle.  He is excited when his Uncle finally agrees to sell . . . if Penvale will marry his ward, Jane.  Jane is socially awkward and seems to have a waspish tongue.  Penvale seems to Jane to be a useless aristocrat.  Once they move to Trethwick Abbey, it seems that the estate is haunted.  Will these two make their relationship work and is the house really haunted?

What I liked about this novel:

·       I loved the enemies to lovers story.  It reminded me of Ten Things I Hate About You or Shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew in ways.

·       I loved how Jane is a reader and there is much discussion of books, especially Jane Austen.

·       The haunting of the house reminded me of Northanger Abbey and other Gothic tales.  It was a lot of fun.  I especially loved the set-up of the haunting in the prologue.

·       I enjoyed seeing the couples I fell in love with in the past books show up again.  This book does work as a standalone if you have not read the other books in the series.

·       The humor is fun in this book, especially as it relates to the haunting.

·       The romance in this novel was a slow burn that became steamy.  I thought it was hilarious that Jane had discovered a stash of steamy books in the library left by some previous owner that she read to educate herself.

·       I loved the narrators of this audiobook.  The two narrators were the two different viewpoints in this book, Jane and Penvale.  I especially loved narrator Joel Froomkin’s accent.

Overall, this was exactly the fun, light romantic read I needed right now.  The haunting elements brought even more fun to this regency romance.  I highly recommend this book and this series.

One Christmas Morning by Rachel Greenlaw

 

Do you like to get up right away on Christmas morning or sleep in?  I was excited that this year, now that the kids are teenagers, we were allowed to sleep in until 9 AM.  When they were younger, we used to have a rule that they couldn’t wake us up before 7 AM as we were usually up half the night wrapping presents.

Eva is not excited for Christmas.  Three years ago, her beloved grandmother passed away at Christmas, and she lost her baby.  Since then, she and her husband James have been living in their own worlds.  Eva has buried herself in her work, ignoring her husband and her friends.   Her best friend Hallie has chosen an estate that her Grandmother always stayed at for the holidays, Penhallow in Cornwall, for a Christmas house party.  James thinks they should accept the invitation, but Eva is worried about being away while her new business needs to be launched.  She also has sad memories associated with this place and her grandmother’s death.  Will Eva be able to reconnect with her husband and friends at Christmas?  Will she be able to break out of her grief and empathize with people again?

Eva wake up on Christmas morning and she is no longer herself, but her assistant Diana.  She lives the day as Diana, not only seeing the mistakes that Eva has made, but also realizing that Diana has a lot going on in her own life that Eva has not seen at all.   Eva relives the day repeatedly in the lives of various house guests.  She learns new things about her friends and loved ones, and new things about herself every day.  Will she be able to use these lessons to put her life back on track?

I loved the concept of this book.  It was like Groundhog’s Day, but on Christmas day and if Bill Murrey lived the lives of different characters.  It also had shades of A Christmas Carol when Scrooge can see himself and past decisions and how they may shape the future.  Wouldn’t we all like the ability to see how we are viewed by others and how we can change our lives for the better?  Or would you not like that?  I really enjoyed Eva’s redemptive arc and the ending of this novel.  I also enjoyed that it was her Grandmother’s spirit that was her guide through this journey.

This book is heavier than a typical Christmas book.  Christmas is being celebrated in the background of the novel, but the real theme of the novel was grief and how people deal with it.  Eva came off as a very unlikeable character at first, but it gave her a lot of room for growth and understanding as the story unfolded.

I enjoyed this debut novel and I’m looking forward to seeing what author Rachel Greenlaw writes next.

Book Source:  Review copy from Avon Books from a Book Club Girls giveaway. Thank-you!  Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders

 What is the strangest book you’ve ever read?  Lincoln in the Bardo is definitely going on that list for me.  This was one of the most unique books I’ve ever read.  This was the January pick for the Rogue (FLICKS) Book and Movie Club, and it provides for some good discussion.

In February 1862,  Abraham and Mary Lincoln’s eleven-year-old son, Willie, died of typhoid.  The loss of their son affected both greatly.  It was said that Abraham Lincoln would visit Willie in his crypt and would hold his dead body.  From this historical snippet, Saunders have crafted a great tale that takes place over the first night that Willie is entombed, and Lincoln has come to visit. The graveyard is full of souls that are stuck between life and the afterlife.  The three main souls are Roger Bevins III, a man who committed suicide, Hans Vollman, a man who died when a beam hit him on the night he was going to consummate his marriage with his young wife, and the Reverend Everly Thomas, a pastor who was afraid of going to hell and is stuck in the in between. 

This book is hard to describe.  I read through it quickly.  It was brief snippets of stories told from the various ghosts.  There are over 100 different characters in the book.  You learn about their pasts as well as the current happenings in the cemetery.  There are also chapters that have the history of what was going on at that time.  Some of these snippets are real history from books, and some are made up.  What I found amusing about them is different people remembered different things – the color of someone’s eyes was different depending on the narrator or there was a moon in the sky or not also depending on the narrator.

I enjoyed the unique way this story was put together as it is always fun to read something completely different at times.  It also made me puzzle over life and death during the time that my own grandmother was dying.  The people in the in-between seemed to be caught there as there was something in the real world that they just couldn’t let go.  It could be their wife, or daughters, or something that had been undone.  The pastor was afraid that he would go to hell from what he saw at the end, although he couldn’t think of what he had done wrong.  After they were able to let go, they passed on to the afterlife.  It also made me think about the great love that Lincoln had for his son, and the great loss.  I also thought about the so many parents of that time who were losing their children during the civil war.  It was a thoughtful novel.

Favorite Quotes: 

“I have grown comfortable having these Dead for company, and find them agreeable companions, over there in their Soil & cold stones Houses.”

“Strange, isn’t it?  To have dedicated one’s life to a certain venture, neglecting other aspects of one’s life only to have that venture, in the end, amount to nothing at all, the products of one’s labors utterly forgotten?”

Book Source:  Birthday gift from my friend Jen.

A Ghost in Shining Armor by Therese Beharrie

 

Do you have a favorite ghostly romance that you enjoy?  Mostly what I can think of were movies such as Ghost and The Ghost and Mrs. Muir.

A Ghost in Shining Armor by Therese Beharrie was my last spooky time read earlier this month.  Gemma has been able to see ghosts since she was a child.  After she accidentally kisses Levi, he now appears in human form.  Levi was accidentally killed due to a food allergy and is desperately trying to get back to his sister by helping Gemma to find her way back to her sister.  Gemma has recently discovered that she had a twin sister, but that her parents only adopted her.   Levi and Gemma have to start a fake relationship to explain why he is suddenly always around Gemma.  Being together so much starts to turn feelings from fake to real.  Will Gemma find her sister and start a relationship with her?  Will Levi be able become a real human again?

I enjoyed this unique story, although it did move rather slow for me.  I liked the family drama and feelings about adoption.  I also liked the chemistry between Gemma and Levi.  I will admit though that I was weirded out a bit with Levi being a ghost.  This is a good read though if you want to read a romantic ghost story without any scary bits.

Review Copy from Netgalley.  Thank-you! I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Haunted Tales Edited by Lisa Morton and Leslie S. Klinger

 

Do you have a favorite ghost story, book, movie, or character?  I used to love Caspar the friendly ghost when I was growing up.  We are currently watching the show Ghosts on Paramount Plus.  My favorite ghost story is probably the Turn of the Screw by Henry James.

I was happy to be able to review Haunted Tales, Edited by Lisa Morton and Leslie S. Klinger.  It is a perfect book for the season.  It is a great collection of “classic stories of ghosts and the supernatural.”  The book starts with an interesting introduction by editors Lisa Morton and Leslie S. Klinger.  It discusses how the industrial revolution in the nineteenth century also brought about mass murder.  The Napoleonic wars killed more than four million people.  Those left behind were looking for new ways to communicate with their loved ones.  Ghost stories became a popular genre.  They were found in popular magazines and were especially popular at Christmas time, for example the spirits in A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. They were published all year round though and not just for holidays.

I loved how this anthology included stories from well-known authors such as Oscar Wilde, Rudyard Kipling, H.G. Wells, and Virginia Woolf, but I loved even more that it included stories from authors that were popular in the nineteenth and early twentieth century but aren’t as well read now.  At the start of each story, there was a biography of the author. I like the biographies as much as the stories.  There were great footnotes throughout the stories to fill in the historical references. 

I found the stories to be fascinating and spooky.  They gave gothic vibes which would thrill Catherine Morland from Jane Austen’s Northanger Abbey.  All of these stories were new to me, and I was happy to finally read “The Canterville Ghost by Oscar Wilde”.  I have to admit, “The Canterville Ghost” was my absolute favorite story in this collection.  It was both hilarious and heartwarming.  It was also beautifully written.  The Canterville Ghost is pretty proud of all of his shenanigans through the years, but when an American Minister and his family move into the estate, he can’t seem to scare them.  Worse still, the young twin sons start to terrify the ghost.  It is the daughter of the family though who really figures out the mystery of the Canterville Ghost.  I thought “They” by Rudyard Kipling was a poignant story especially knowing from the bio at the start of the story that he had lost his own young child. 

I also enjoyed the Gothic splendor of “The Cold Embrace” by Mary Elizabeth Braddon.  “He was an artist – such things as happened to him happen sometimes to artists.  He was a German – such things as happened to him happen sometimes to Germans.  He was young, handsome, studious, enthusiastic, metaphysical, reckless, unbelieving, heartless.  And being young, handsome and eloquent, he was beloved.”  He loves his cousin Gertrude, and she loves him.  They promise to devote each other until death, but while his love strays, Gertrude’s remains even after death. 

One last story call out was “M. Anastasius” by Dinah Mulock.  Charles Dickens himself thought it was the best ghost story ever written.  I enjoyed it.  It was also Gothic and haunting about two young lovers that are haunted by the ghost of the young woman’s guardian who was lost at sea. 

I loved in the notes for “The Canterville Ghost” that it discussed that the phrase in this story “England and America are two countries divided a common language” was first seen in this story although it is commonly attributed to George Bernard Shaw.  I had just seen this elsewhere lately attributed to Shaw and I thought this was interesting information.

I highly recommend this collection for lovers of all spooky tales!

Review Copy from Pegasus Books.  Thank-you! I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

The Haunting Season by Bridget Collins, Natasha Pulley, Kiran Millwood Hargrave, Elizabeth Macneal, Laura Purcell, Andrew Michael Hurley, Jess Kidd, Imogen Hermes Gowar

 

What is your favorite ghost story, novel, or movie?

 The Haunting Season was the perfect book to read over Halloween weekend.  I meant to post this review last weekend, but the weekend got away from me!

 The Haunting Season is “eight ghostly tales for long winter nights.”  I loved them.  Most of the stories were set in the past, in particular, Victorian times, but there were also some modern stories.  They were very spooky and inspired by telling spooky stories around a fire in winter.  They are very atmospheric type of old-fashioned stories and I enjoyed them.

 My favorite stories in the collection were:

  ‘A Study in Black and White’ by Bridget Collins which is a story about a man coming to a village and seeing a mysterious house with a chess theme to the gardening.  He decides to rent it and soon finds out that the chess loving former owner may still be around.

 ‘Thwaite’s Tenant’ by Imogen Hermes Gowar is the story of a woman who has taken her son and left her cheating husband.  She soon discovers that leaving with her father may not have been a good idea.

 ‘Lily Wilt’ by Jess Kidd tells the tale of a photographer that falls in love with the dead girl who he has been sent to take pictures.  What will he do to bring her back?

 ‘The Chillingham Chair’ by Laura Purcell is the story of a girl in a wheelchair getting ready to celebrate the wedding of her sister.  She soon starts to realize that the wheelchair may be haunted, and that her sister’s fiancé may have secrets of his own.

 ‘The Hanging of the Greens’ by Andrew Michael Hurley is a spooky story that involves Christmas holly in a way I’ve never heard from before.  I liked how the story was told in a unique way.

 My least favorite story was ‘The Eel Singers’ by Natasha Pulley.  I had a hard time figuring out what was happening in this story.  I looked it up and saw that in involves characters from other books she’s written.  If you like her books, then this story is for you.  Otherwise, not really.

 Overall, The Haunting Season is the perfect book of spooky stories to read by the fire.

 Book Source:  Review Copy from Pegasus Crime.  Thank-you!