A young woman travels alone to a remote island to uncover a past she never knew was hers in this thrilling modern ghost story
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reviews
Jun 28, 2011
karen
rated it: 
i think this is the kind of book v.s. naipaul is railing against whenever he talks shit about female novelists. and it's not that this is a terrible book, it is just not...accomplished. it is clumsy in its exposition, it is not particularly scary, for a ghost story, and the characters are pretty poorly realized. it's a fine escapist book for people who don't really want to be challenged while they half-read on their lawn chairs, sipping afternoon chardonnay while they make sure their kids don't
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May 02, 2010
Irene
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With an intriguing title and a captivating cover, The Tale of Halcyon Crane by Wendy Webb immediately caught my eye. The theme of “magical realism” and “gothic mystery” scurried through my whetted brain, and off I went on a satisfying adventure from land to sea to Grand Manitou, an imaginary island in Lake Michigan, rather reminiscent of Mackinac Island.
Imagine receiving a mysteriously large envelope, which not only contains a letter from an attorney that you have never heard of, but More...
Imagine receiving a mysteriously large envelope, which not only contains a letter from an attorney that you have never heard of, but More...
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Mar 28, 2010
Tara
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This was an utterly memorizing story. I was completely drawn into the story of Hallie/Halcyon and the past history of her family. Imagine getting a letter that not only tells you that your mother was alive for the last 30 years (when you have been told that she died) and then in the same letter that she had just past away. After another family tragedy, she leaves to go to the island where she was born and where she can find out more about the family that she was taken from and hopefully she w
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4 comments
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Jun 27, 2010
Jake
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When I was navigating the rift between nonfiction and fiction writing during my undergraduate career I found that I don't have a knack for nonfiction. I am sure it would take practice, diligence, all that sorta stuff, yada, yada, yada, for me to become as adept with nonfiction as I am with fiction. I love fiction-writing. That is truly where my heart is. I was in a class strictly for public relations writing and my teacher told me he could tell I was a fiction writer because my sentences were to
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Jun 30, 2011
Trudi
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This was an okay enjoyable read with plenty of atmosphere and gothic elements to recommend it, but for me, it was almost “textbook” gothic… what do you call it – a pastiche? Right down to calling the sprawling Victorian mansion Hill House. There are some genuine eerie moments and I don’t regret spending an afternoon curled up with this one, but unfortunately it’s one of those books that you know you’re going to forget in a day.
As my friends know I don’t read many mysteries, but when More...
As my friends know I don’t read many mysteries, but when More...
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Oct 25, 2011
Bodie
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I recently finished The Tale of Halcyon Crane, by Wendy Webb. When I finished it I knew I wanted to do a review. Why? That’s a bit less straightforward. Essentially the story is a tale of mistaken identity–Halcyon grows up the child of a widowed father, or so she believes. The book begins with a letter informing her that her mother has recently died and left her a bequest. She need only return to Great Manitou Island in Lake Superior to get it. (There will be more about Great Manitou Island late
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Sep 19, 2011
Loved this MN Book Award winner - which btw beat out a great field of contenders, such as Julie Kramer, David Housewright and William Kent Krueger in genre fiction. This is Wendy Webb's first novel, and she nails it.
A woman finds out after her father dies that her mother, whom she had thought was dead, was actually still alive until very recently. A very strange and mysterious trip follows, back to her childhood home on Lake Michigan. It's a wild, old place, and she finds ghosts there of al More...
A woman finds out after her father dies that her mother, whom she had thought was dead, was actually still alive until very recently. A very strange and mysterious trip follows, back to her childhood home on Lake Michigan. It's a wild, old place, and she finds ghosts there of al More...
Jul 17, 2010
Andrea
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This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers.
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Jun 24, 2010
Jennifer
rated it: 
Early Reviewer win
Halcyon Crane has grown up believing that her mother died in a horrible house fire. One day she receives a letter from a lawyer telling her that her mother has just died and she's the sole beneficiary. Her father is deep in the throes of Alzheimer's, so there's no one she can turn to for answers. She decides to make the trip to an island smack in the middle of the Great Lakes--an island steeped in the past. No cars, huge Victorian houses.
She discovers her m More...
Halcyon Crane has grown up believing that her mother died in a horrible house fire. One day she receives a letter from a lawyer telling her that her mother has just died and she's the sole beneficiary. Her father is deep in the throes of Alzheimer's, so there's no one she can turn to for answers. She decides to make the trip to an island smack in the middle of the Great Lakes--an island steeped in the past. No cars, huge Victorian houses.
She discovers her m More...
Jun 09, 2010
Jlaurenmc
rated it:
Hallie James lost both her father and her mother in just a few short days. Her father, she had counted on losing since his downward spiral into dementia forced her to seek help from a local assisted living home. Her mother, she thought she had lost long ago. In a letter from a far away law firm, Hallie learns of her mother's very recent death. Having been told her entire life that her mother perished in a house fire when she was five years old, Hallie is understandably shaken. With little left i
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May 24, 2010
John
rated it:
A good first effort at fiction, from a writer with a non-fiction background. Webb excels at setting scenes, as though literally painting the story with a watercolor brush ... and I'm not a particularly visual reader. Unfortunately, she let the plot get away from her.
The first half of the book was fairly good, with lots of opportunity for island description, introduction of characters, and setting up of plot lines. At that point, the book gradually, but persistently, proceeds deeper i More...
The first half of the book was fairly good, with lots of opportunity for island description, introduction of characters, and setting up of plot lines. At that point, the book gradually, but persistently, proceeds deeper i More...
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Apr 02, 2010
christa
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This is what reading is supposed to be like: A story that comes across so well, so seamlessly that it is like a brain movie, that reminds you of the first books that kidnapped your attention. The kind where the bookmark is still warm when you reopen it.
When Wendy Webb's debut novel "The Tale of Halcyon Crane" starts, Hallie James is learning that the circumstances of her life have been a lie. Her mother didn't die in a fire; her name wasn't even Hallie James. She receives More...
When Wendy Webb's debut novel "The Tale of Halcyon Crane" starts, Hallie James is learning that the circumstances of her life have been a lie. Her mother didn't die in a fire; her name wasn't even Hallie James. She receives More...
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Jan 11, 2010
Robin
rated it:
If you like a gothic story with ghosts, a wee bit of witchcraft, creepy graves, and an interesting setting, think about reading this when it is published (April 2010).
Having lived with her father in the Seattle area for all of her life, Hallie receives a letter from a lawyer saying her mother had just died and asks her to travel to Grand Manitou Island in Lake Superior (based on Mackinaw Island) to claim her legacy. Her father had told Hallie that her mother died in a fire but tu More...
Having lived with her father in the Seattle area for all of her life, Hallie receives a letter from a lawyer saying her mother had just died and asks her to travel to Grand Manitou Island in Lake Superior (based on Mackinaw Island) to claim her legacy. Her father had told Hallie that her mother died in a fire but tu More...
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Nov 22, 2011
Jody
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The Tale of Halcyon Crane wants to be Gothic and haunting, but it only achieves a chick-lit lite version, unfortunately. The most horrifying part was lines such as "His kiss tasted of wine and rain and possibility." (Go ahead, vomit. I'll be here when you get back.)
Also, Hallie is not the sharpest knife in the drawer. Several chapters or sections ended with big revelations, the kind that in movies would have the actress sit straight up in bed, a hand clasped over her mouth, More...
Also, Hallie is not the sharpest knife in the drawer. Several chapters or sections ended with big revelations, the kind that in movies would have the actress sit straight up in bed, a hand clasped over her mouth, More...
Dec 10, 2010
Angie
rated it:
I have to say Nanc, this is the first time I’ve been disappointed in one of your recommendations. Oh were to begin. Fist off I will admit I tend to read young adult books though a mother’s eyes. With that clarified, there are multiple very adult situations not appropriate for young readers, in my opinion. For example, consuming wine to chase troubles away on at least a dozen occasions, seriously these folks downed bottles of wine as if they were cans of pop. Others include husbands leaving
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Jun 07, 2011
Cheyenne
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Hallie, a recently divorced young woman caring for her ailing father, gets a mysterious letter in the mail one day from a woman claiming to be her mother. Soon thereafter, Hallie decides to travel to the remote island on which her mother lived to uncover the truth about her family's past and where she really came from. When she arrives on the strange island, curious things begin to happen and Hallie begins to wonder if she made a good decision by coming. But as she delves deeper and deeper into
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Dec 26, 2010
Linda
rated it:
Hallie James is living and working near Seattle, where she was raised by her single father, now in a nursing home. During the course of one fateful week, everything she thought she knew about her life turns out to be a fabrication. Hallie travels to the Lake Superior Island of Manitou, where she was born, and is greeted by the local attorney, and, very, very gradually, she learns the history of the family she never knew she had. There seems to be only one person on this quaint island, where no m
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May 01, 2010
Lauren
rated it:
Every once in a blue moon, I am reminded of one of the many reasons why I love to blog/read blogs/the Internet overall. What's the reason, per say? Well, it's the fact that if not for blogging, I would have never ever heard of some of the books that ended up being among my absolute favorites. The Tale of Halcyon Crane was one of those books, and had I not heard about it, well, it would have been a very, very tragic thing, because this book was drop-dead amazing; not only of the best adult novels
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Apr 18, 2010
Angela
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The Tale of Halcyon Crane by Wendy Webb is a modern ghost story filled with family secrets. Hallie James receives a mysterious letter which turns her life upside down as it reveals that her mother, who she believed died when she was a child, was actually alive and only recently passed away. Hallie discovers that her mother had believed that she and her father had died years before. Now with the loss of her father, Hallie travels to Grand Manitou Island to learn about her childhood and family
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May 29, 2010
Sandi
rated it:
When I was a kid, I ran across the word "halcyon" in the dictionary and fell in love with it. It means calm, peaceful and happy. Because of my love of a word, I had to take a look at The Tale of Halcyon Crane when I saw it at the library. It sounded intriguing enough for me to check out.
Now, I don't think there's really anything new or groundbreaking in this story. It's pretty ordinary and I could see where it was going most of the way. But, I was hooked from the first More...
Now, I don't think there's really anything new or groundbreaking in this story. It's pretty ordinary and I could see where it was going most of the way. But, I was hooked from the first More...
May 04, 2010
Anne
rated it:
"The Tale of Halcyon Crane" is a fast-paced, eerie ghost story in the spirit of Stephen King's "The Shining." Hallie James is shocked when she receives a letter in the mail - from the mother she never knew was still alive. When her newly-discovered mother and her father die within days of each other, she is devastated and decides to travel to the Great Lakes resort community of Grand Manitou Island to find out what happened to estrange her father and mother.
Halli More...
Halli More...
Aug 20, 2010
Christine
rated it:
On the heels of her father’s funeral Haille James discovers a letter in her mailbox that turns everything she has know to be true in her life upside-down. Her mother, thought dead for thirty years has, in fact, only just recently died. Haille travels to the somewhat remote island her mother called home, only to discover a large inheritance that comes with a few ghosts attached.
Overall, this was not a bad ghost story, filled with all the things one expects: victorian mansion, gravey More...
Overall, this was not a bad ghost story, filled with all the things one expects: victorian mansion, gravey More...
Jun 14, 2010
Amy
rated it:
“Was this nothing but a shadow of what never was, a memory deliberately implanted by years of storytelling? That’s how powerful stories are. They can actually create the past if told often enough.”
So it is with Hallie James, a young woman in Seattle, mourning the loss of her mother who died when she was just a child. Memories of her mother are vague, but she grasps upon any connection with her. Her father raises her alone, and shortly before his death she receives a shocking le More...
So it is with Hallie James, a young woman in Seattle, mourning the loss of her mother who died when she was just a child. Memories of her mother are vague, but she grasps upon any connection with her. Her father raises her alone, and shortly before his death she receives a shocking le More...
Aug 15, 2011
Blair
rated it:
This was hands down one of my more favorite reads of this year. The pacing, story and characters were excellent. The setting of a virtually-deserted tourist island in the Great Lakes was very chilling and eerie; it was reminiscent of the abandoned hotel in "The Shining". The dark and sinister visions and ghostly encounters were described with such detail that it made the hair on the back of my neck raise.
The tone of the book pulls you in right away and never lets up. I tore throug
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Mar 13, 2010
Mary
rated it:
Hallie James is not who she thinks she is! A letter arrives in the mail one day and changes her whole world. Hallie's father has told her that her mother perished in a fire when Hallie was 5. However, the letter, written by her mother, the famous photographer Madyln Crane before her recent death, explains that Hallie's father abducted her 30 years previously and staged their deaths. Travleing to a remote island in the Great Lakes, Hallie seeks out her family history and discovers that she is no
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Mar 18, 2010
Angel
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Halcyon Crane's mysterious family history is just spooky enough to weave its way into your dreams, and to make you jump at the smallest noise. The ghosts of Hallie's ancestors wheedled their way into my subconscious. I was fascinated by the idea that each generation of the Crane family had their own special power and their own unique form of protection against the devilish antics of the three P's, Persphone, Patience and Penelope.This is one of those books that you read and you can actually
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Jul 19, 2010
Linda
rated it:
Raggedy beginning which could have benefited from better editing - perhaps asking the reader questions is a way to snag attention but all it did was make me count questions, including one "Where did she get off?" The only answer I had was "why the hell you asking me?" No writer (or editor) wants their reader counting anything, unless it's dead bodies in a detective story, dimensions in science fiction. I like Webb's writing. I do not like Gothic stories generally, but this wa
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Mar 31, 2010
Laura
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This book is a high three for me and an unexpected surprise. It isn't the kind of book I am normally drawn to..ghostly gothic tales...but I was pulled in by the dramtic and isolated island setting and the mystery and, yes, the romance. It is clear the author loves the landscape of her setting and the Great Lakes. Here's a bit of a spoiler...I sort of expected that the "ghostly" aspect would be explained away as a hoax, one or more islanders playing the main character perhaps as a way t
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Feb 09, 2011
Rob
rated it:
This novel started out very strong. At first it was a solid gothic ghost story, well-paced with carefully measured tension mounting with each page. Unfortunately the climax of the story (where the protagonist faces the ancient evil that has menaced her family for generations) was resolved in less than two pages. The author seriously treated it like a minor plot point and resolved it as an afterthought. It makes me wonder if the real focus of the novel was supposed to be the boring-ass romanc
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Nov 05, 2010
Ruth
rated it:
I really enjoyed this book. It is a good easy read, yet very entertaining. Halcyon Crane discovers her mother was very much alive long after she had been told her mother was dead. The news came in a letter informing her she was now the heir of a very famous artist/writer and she was to go to Grand Island to meet with the attorney of her mother's estate. What she found there rivaled all she could imagine and more! Halcyon was raised in the city by her father and she believed he could do no w
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