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Ghost Story – Elisa Lodato

She came to write, but the island has its own story . . .

Off the windswept coast of Scotland lies Finish Island, rugged and remote. Once a home, it now stands abandoned, a place of dark history and deep memory, a place that holds its stories close. Unable to write since her daughter’s death, it’s here that Seren comes to work, hoping that the solitude and silence will inspire her next novel.

But the island holds memories of its own, restless and unwilling to stay buried. As unsettling occurrences become even more bizarre and frightening, Seren starts seeing uncanny resonances between her past and the island’s history. There is something on this island, something ancient and unforgiving. Will Seren discover its secrets, before it’s too late?

My thanks to the publisher, Manilla Press, for a review copy ahead of the Ghost Story blog tour and to Tracy Fenton of Compulsive Readers for the opportunity to join the tour.

Seren is in a bad place. Her debut book was published to great acclaim and she enjoyed a degree of success. However, against her better judgement and after a number of failed approaches the sequel fails to deliver and readers appear underwhelmed. For Seren this is of no real interest as she is mourning the loss of her young daughter. Wrapped in the tragedy of her personal loss she has no appetite or inclination to write.

When we meet Seren at the start of Ghost Story she has found herself in a lonely and somewhat desperate situation. Her house is being packed up, she is moving out and her ex is now with another woman who is pregnant with his baby. It appears to have been a naturally agreed parting of ways between Seren and Jamie and she is even on speaking terms with Jamie’s new wife, Claire. Though only just.

Seren is taking some control of her own future – she has agreed with her publisher to write a new book. The decision was entirely driven by the need for money but Seren does realise she needs to try to start afresh. During their negotiations around what book her publishers would like to see the idea of a ghost story is floated and Seren is won around and agrees to deliver what they need. To do so she decides she needs a change of location, a resettlement to a place of undisturbed peace and inspiration. The remote Scottish Island of Finish is where she picks. If isolation is desired then there can be no better place.

Seren would visit Finish Island as a child and rememebers the rugged, desolate landscape. There are no inhabitants any longer, a house is available to lease (through the Scottish National Trust) but it relies on a wind generator and facilities are basic at best. When she enquires about a lenghty lease there is a degree of shock as most visitors only look to spend one or two nights before they return to the comforts of civilisation. Seren does get her way in the end and we soon join her on the Scottish West Coast as she prepares to take up residence in her new home.

A troubled writer, grieving and alone on a remote island with a dark history of violence where nobody wants to live any longer. All the ingredients are in place for a tense read. And it is a tense read which Elisa Lodato delivers for the readers. But not the read I had been expecting and I don’t really feel I can explain why without straying too far into spoiler territory…tricky.

Seren is very much the focus of this story and the turmoil and baggage she brings with her will play a significant part in the telling of Ghost Story. Very near the start of the book the reader will get some insight into what may happen to Seren as she works on the manuscript but as you dig deeper into the story you will find there’s a lot more going on than you may have originally anticipated. It isn’t the chilling supernatural tale I had expected from the title but there are the twists and surprises I enjoy when I go into a new book “blind” and with no real insight as to what my be about to happen to the characters being introdduced.

One key part of my enjoyment of Ghost Story was the seeminly effortless flow of the chapters. Elisa Lodato has a style of writing which I could read all day long. There are some delightfully funny moments, particularly as Seren prepares to leave on her journey and is ticking off a few chores, doing some research and scratching the odd itch before she embarks. I felt the characters were seeded very well and their quirks and peculiarities made them interesting to follow which helped keep me reading. That said they also have some incredibly frustrating features and habits too – this isn’t a sugar-coated fluffy unicorn tale I am afraid and some dark and unsettling things are going to happen.

I can best summarise Ghost Story as an unexpected but engaging story (for me). The writing was terrific and the pacing kept me reading as I wanted to discover more about Seren and what may be about to occur. Definately one to consider as the darker evenings draw in and the autumnal chills draw us to creepy and disturbing stories.

Ghost Story publishes on 26 September 2024 and will be available in Hardcover, Digital and Audiobook format. You can order a copy here: https://www.waterstones.com/book/ghost-story/elisa-lodato/9781786583369

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July 22

The Ghost Hunters – Neil Spring

Welcome to Borley Rectory, the most haunted house in England.

The year is 1926 and Sarah Grey has landed herself an unlikely new job – personal assistant to Harry Price, London’s most infamous ghost hunter. Equal parts brilliant and charming, neurotic and manipulative, Harry has devoted his life to exposing the truth behind England’s many ‘false hauntings’, and never has he left a case unsolved, nor a fraud unexposed.
So when Harry and Sarah are invited to Borley Rectory – a house so haunted that objects frequently fly through the air unbidden, and locals avoid the grounds for fear of facing the spectral nun that walks there – they’re sure that this case will be just like any other. But when night falls and still no artifice can be found, the ghost hunters are forced to confront an uncomfortable possibility: the ghost of Borley Rectory may be real. And, if so, they’re about to make its most intimate acquaintance.

My thanks to Quercus for my review copy which I received through Netgalley.

Borley Rectory, the first “real” haunted house that I had ever heard of (thanks to an Usborne book of ghosts in my primary school library). It sparked a fascination for ghost stories that never really went away.

When I heard about Neil Spring’s The Ghost Hunters I knew that this was a book I really wanted to read. As usual I was late to the party as The Ghost Hunters released in 2013, but good books are not time critical and they don’t all need to be read in the week of release. As I wasn’t battling a reading deadline I was able to take my time and enjoy the detail in the story and I believe enjoyed it all the more as a result.

Basing the story around Harry Price (a real person who did investigate Borley Rectory in the late 1920’s) we see events through the eyes of Harry’s assistant Sarah Grey. Though Harry and Borley Rectory (and all the mysterious events within) are key to the plot this is Sarah’s story and it is often a harrowing tale. Sarah first meets Price when she takes her mother to a séance at Price’s London laboratory, Sarah’s father died in the Great War and her mother has not coped well since his passing. The family are somewhat down on their fortunes but Sarah hopes that making a “connection” with her father will bring peace for her mother. Things take an unexpected turn (no spoilers) but ultimately Sarah ends up working for Price.

I will confess that at this stage in the story I was a little frustrated that Borley was not getting a mention (I am sometimes an impatient reader) but once Price and Sarah are teamed up things pick up pace. By the time I finished The Ghost Hunters I appreciated why so much of the early part of the book had concentrated on Sarah, her background and the unpredictable and often unlikeable Price. Stick with this as the payoff is absolutely worth it.

Price and Sarah begin an investigation into the “hauntings” at Borley. A ghostly nun, ringing bells, projectiles aimed at residents, unexplained cold patches in the middle of rooms. Neil Spring paints a delightfully creepy story around the “hauntings”. But Price is out to explain the unexplained and debunk the myth of ghosts – he has his work cut out and will let nobody stand in the way of proving he is right. Friendships are scarce for Mr Price, his methods are controversial and he is not a likeable character – it makes for fascinating reading.

The Ghost Hunters is a story about a life but the focus is the dead. Through Sarah Grey we chart the fantastic career of Harry Price and see the legacy he left. There is so much depth to this book, far beyond a simple Haunted House tale that it really is one to take time to enjoy.

The Ghost Hunters is published by Quercus. You can order a copy by clicking through the link here.

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