The Ghost Writer

by John Harwood | Literature & Fiction |
ISBN: 0156032325 Global Overview for this book
Registered by wingperryfranwing of Elk Grove, California USA on 12/28/2014
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2 journalers for this copy...
Journal Entry 1 by wingperryfranwing from Elk Grove, California USA on Sunday, December 28, 2014
The Ghost Writer
Author: John Harwood

In this tantalizing tale of Victorian ghost stories and family secrets, timid, solitary librarian Gerard Freeman lives for just two things: his elusive pen pal Alice and a story he found hidden in his mother's drawer years ago. Written by his great-grandmother Viola, it hints at his mother's role in a sinister crime. As he discovers more of Viola's chilling tales, he realizes that they might hold the key to finding Alice and unveiling his family's mystery - or will they bring him the untimely death they seem to foretell?

Harwood's astonishing, assured debut shows us just how dangerous family skeletons -and stories- can be.

Journal Entry 2 by wingperryfranwing at North Ogden, Utah USA on Friday, January 9, 2015
I really enjoyed this Gothic horror story about a young man living in Australia with his family who happens on to some secrets of his mother's including a photo of a young unknown woman and a story written, as it turns out, by his mother's grandmother, Viola. Along the way, the boy, Gerard, becomes "penfriends" with a young girl, Alice, who lives in England who had been in an accident where she lost her parents and became paralyzed. Gerard writes to Alice for years and looks forward to finally meeting her in England. Then after his mother dies, he receives some correspondence from a woman who had known his mother's sister in England who had disappeared not long after Gerard's mother moved to Australia. Gerard goes to England and ends up searching his mother's old house for answers including whether or not his mother had killed her sister. Woven into the novel are several ghost stories written by Viola that seem to relate to the history of Gerard's family. All of this leaves one with a feeling of dread throughout the novel as Harwood expertly weaves his tale of terror. Overall, I really enjoyed this one and would recommend it even though the ending was a little bit open to interpretation. I also have Harwood's second novel, The Seance and look forward to reading it.



1/15/15: This is going into the paperback surprise bookbox.

Journal Entry 3 by quickheels at Havana, Florida USA on Monday, February 2, 2015
Picked from the suprise book box

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