This is a story
with ghosts in it, but it is not a traditional ghost story. There are no chains
rattling, no dishes being thrown, no bleeding walls. Two ghosts inhabit the
house of the late Richard Walker: Alice and Sandra. They spend most of their
time getting on each others nerves, until Walker’s ex-wife, Caroline; their daughter
Minna and son Trenton; and Minna’s four year old daughter Amy
come to deal with the funeral and estate. Things change rapidly for them at
this point. Everyone, living or dead, has secrets and problems that start
coming out. Caroline can’t face anything- including getting out of bed- without
alcohol. Minna only seems to find life bearable if she’s shagging someone-
anyone at all. Trenton is still recovering, both physically
and emotionally, from a nasty car accident along with being one of those kids whom
everyone in school picks on. They are all absorbed in their own pains and
cannot really see each other- until Trenton meets girls both living and dead.
This is a great
family drama as well as a mystery; why are the two (and then three, as another
joins them part way into the story) ghosts stuck in the house? What do some
missing girls have to do with them? The story shows the perils of being trapped
in the past and not facing up to things. The characters, other than Trenton, are very deeply flawed and, in fact,
not likable at all. They are the kind of people who, if they were your
neighbors, you would wish they would move away. But they are capable of
learning from their mistakes, and this made me feel better about them. The book
lacks somewhat in depth- there are too many characters to get deeply into most
of them- but I understand that this is the author’s first venture into adult
fiction and this could be the reason. I’m willing to give this book 4 stars and
look for more of the author’s work.
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This book was provided to me by the Amazon Vine program in return for a fair review.
Neither of these things affected my opinions.
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