The Girl Who Would Speak for the Dead

Jul 20, 2011 karen rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: my-biggest-fear, sshh-family-secrets

i seem to have a knack lately for choosing perfectly average books to read...

this is a book i failed to win as a firstreads giveaway (hhmph) but was still interested in. so i guess i'm not displeased that i didn't win, because i might have felt churlish giving a lukewarm review to something given to me for free, and had to live with the bad feeling that would have left in my soul. as it stands, i only have to feel a little bad. i can live with that.

so this is a historical novel centered around...more

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Jul 23, 2011 Staci rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2011-reads

First thoughts after finishing this book: Hmmm....that was interesting and creepy.

What I liked about the book:

the author really created a sinister, dark atmosphere. So if you're looking for that type of read this one is it.
I couldn't decide if I liked Michael or not. Part of me kept thinking he was an evil, twisted child!
Emily- she was born a wise, old soul. It was interesting to watch how she internalized and really thought about how her so-called "spiritual readings" were affecting the peop...more

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Jul 27, 2011 Lyndsey rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: firstreads

I've really been into the ghost books here lately for some reason. This one was...interesting. It didn't blow me away but I am definitely interested and hearing what else the author can come up with. I think the main problem I had was with the MC. I just never connected to the main character and that's something that turns me away from a book fairly quickly. The concept was great and the prose was beautiful, but I just felt so "out" of the story almost the entire time I was reading. But I ended...more

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Aug 06, 2012 Dark Faerie Tales rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: reviewed-by-sheila

Review courtesy of Dark Faerie Tales

Quick & Dirty: A slow and torturous journey into sibling boredom.

Opening Sentence: The girl who would speak for the dead stood alone on the cobblestone drive after the rain.

Excerpt: No

The Review:

There are very few books that I have a hard time reading; science manuals, anything recommended to me by my cousin, and this book. Why, you ask? Was it too long? Written in a foreign language? No, it was boring and too slow. I tried reading this book four times; it...more

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Jul 19, 2012 Erik rated it 3 of 5 stars

The first quarter of this novel did not hold me. I thought the prose at times wanted too badly to be southern gothic, and with the 1920's Philadelphia setting that just became cumbersome. At times the speech that he wrote for the children was too adult for 13 year olds. But once the plot moved from the exposition stage into the meat of the story, things started to pick up. His prose, which earlier seemed shaky and not connected with the characters or setting, improved and became less evident. Th...more

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Apr 25, 2012 fleegan rated it 2 of 5 stars

The description of the story and the cover of the book led me to believe that this novel was going to be kinda creepy, maybe spooky.
Maybe they start playing with Ouija boards and a bunch of demons take over? Maybe they really talk to a ghost? Perhaps they become possessed and kill all the adults?

No. Nothing. Nothing creepy, nothing spooky, nothing. Total letdown.

The book starts out strong. It's summer vacation, we all remember how boring it could be at times. Too old to play with toys, too young...more

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Apr 15, 2012 Christine Trensen rated it 2 of 5 stars

The cover of THE GIRL WHO WOULD SPEAK FOR THE DEAD promises a creepy, atmospheric, perhaps Gothic tale. It conjures up seances, spectral sightings, restless spirits - all those delicious things that a tale of the supernatural promises.

Until you realize that this is not a supernatural book at all. Rather, it is a slow-moving, not very interesting book about 13-year-old twins, Emily and Michael. Emily discovers a talent for cracking her ankle bone in a way that makes it difficult to detect the sou...more The cover of THE GIRL WHO WOULD SPEAK FOR THE DEAD promises a creepy, atmospheric, perhaps Gothic tale. It conjures up seances, spectral sightings, restless spirits - all those delicious things that a tale of the supernatural promises.

Until you realize that this is not a supernatural book at all. Rather, it is a slow-moving, not very interesting book about 13-year-old twins, Emily and Michael. Emily discovers a talent for cracking her ankle bone in a way that makes it difficult to detect the source of the sound. She and her brother set up a hoax among their friends that Emily is able to speak to the dead, including their dead ancestor who drowned tragically. Before you know it, word gets out and Emily is summoned by adults who are desperate to reach out to dead loved ones. Emily's trick is fairly simple: the marks ask the dead a question, and Emily cracks her ankle once for No, twice for Yes.

Meanwhile, the book goes back and forward in time, exploring the house's history and the family that built it (nothing too spectacularly interesting, there) and the twins' mother's interesting relationship with a man who was once the close friend of their dead father, a doctor who died in World War I.

This book's heart is in the right place; while one of the twin's motives is somewhat opaque, the other uses her "power" to try to help people in their grief, until her conscience won't allow her to trick people any longer. This leads to somewhat disastrous consequences in the book's contrived denouement. There is an interesting subplot about a professional charlatan who is trying to bring Emily under his wing (it's creepily unclear what his motive is), but not much is done with that. Overall, though, I left the book with the sense, "Oh, this is LITERARY FICTION, where nothing interesting happens, but there are lots and lots of pages of description and subtleties." Overall, I can't really recommend it, but it may be a good read for people who like to read about adolescents and their behaviors.

If the book had been about the twins' mother, Naomi - by far the most interesting character in the book - it would have been much better.(less)

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Jan 08, 2012 Nora W rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: mp2

"The Girl Who Would Speak for the Dead" by Paul Elwork was a very interesting historical fiction novel. This story takes place post World War I and ends in the beginning of World War II. The main character, Emily, whose father father was killed in World War I, discoveres a hidden talent, she can secretly crack her ankle so that it sounds like it is coming from another part of the room. Her twin brother, Michael, wants to use this talent to convince the neiborhood kids that they can communicate w...more "The Girl Who Would Speak for the Dead" by Paul Elwork was a very interesting historical fiction novel. This story takes place post World War I and ends in the beginning of World War II. The main character, Emily, whose father father was killed in World War I, discoveres a hidden talent, she can secretly crack her ankle so that it sounds like it is coming from another part of the room. Her twin brother, Michael, wants to use this talent to convince the neiborhood kids that they can communicate with ghosts. Emily wants the ghost to be their great-aunt Regina who died at 16 by falling into the river. Once they start the kids believe them and some even tell their parents. When the parents hear they want to see for themselves. One group of old women completely believe them and ask them to communicate with a deceased loved one. The twins do and they give the old women all the answers they want to hear. Emily also goes to her brother's friend, Albert's, house. Albert's father wants her to contact Albert's brother who died in the war. While she is there she learns the real reason the brother left for war. The father's attention to his deceased son leaves Albert feeling unloved and drives him to a breaking point.

The story also jumps to the time when Regina was a child and gives more insight on her and her family. Her father was always depressed and that her brother was always drunk. No one knows if her death was suicide or accidental.

There is also a weird relationship between Emily's mother and her father's best friend who has more than friendly intentions. As Emily explores the house she learns more about her family's past; she has more than just an employee relationship with their maid, Mary. Emily also finds a scrapbook that her mother made that has pictures and describes her family's history in great detail.

Overrall this book has many interesting twists in it which grab your attention. However, the author does not always keep your attention because he goes on to describe something different and loses your focus. Other historical fiction novels were more interesting to me because they involve the characters in the actual historical events. This book has less historical content than I would have liked.(less)

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Jun 30, 2011 Heather Stone rated it 4 of 5 stars

The Girl Who Would Speak for the Dead

This is not a ghost story; it's about lies and the living ...

Reviewed by Heather Stone

Author: Paul Elwork

Publisher: Murdoch Books

Published: April 2011

Price: AU$29.99

Format: Paperback 310 pp

Category: Fiction

Can you, or do you know anyone who can crack their knuckles, or perhaps their toes? I could once crack my big toe joints quite loudly. This question is relevant just in case you were expecting a good gothic horror, or a spiritualistic drama. The story is no...more

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Jun 10, 2011 Michelle rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This was a fun read for the start of summer. Elwork did a good job of keeping the mood eery and giving the reader a sense of isolation, but the plot was engaging enough that I wanted to keep reading while I simultaneously dreaded finding out what would happen. I also appreciated the reflection of how complicated life and all of its relationships can be. As Mary says in the book, "Life is never as simple as everyone thinks it is." This might have been reinforced, though, if the child characters h...more

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Apr 05, 2011 Rachel rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: fiction

One day in 1925, 13 year old Emily Stewart discovers that she has an unusual ability – she can secretly crack a joint in her ankle that sounds like a mysterious knocking sound. Emily and her twin brother Michael decide to put on little performances for the neighborhood children and convince them that these “spirit knockings” are coming from a teenage girl who drowned nearby several years before. Word of these spirit knockings spreads and soon adults wanting to connect with dead loved ones of the...more

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Apr 01, 2011 Jennifer rated it 4 of 5 stars

The Girl Who Would Speak for the Deadby Paul Elwork

This was a rather creative idea put into writing, and turned into a fun and entertaining read! The book is about a scheme two precocious thirteen year old’s concoct to entertain, and spook the neighborhood children, by convincing them that the main character, Emily, can contact the dead. Like most childhood schemes, adults eventually find out, and Emily finds herself in predicaments deceiving adults and learning some of their deepest secrets. I...more

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Mar 27, 2011 Felice rated it 3 of 5 stars

~~Sigh~~ The Girl Who Would Speak For The Dead. Love the title. Love the cover. Love the book? No. Deep like yes, but love? No. I would have loved it at 14 but not at 14 + a couple decades.

The genesis of the storyline is compelling. It's summertime 1925 and thirteen year old twins Michael and Emily are b-o-r-e-d. They have the luxury of boredom. Their family is well off and they have acres of freedom to enjoy. During the course of their idleness Emily figures out that by bending her ankle just...more ~~Sigh~~ The Girl Who Would Speak For The Dead. Love the title. Love the cover. Love the book? No. Deep like yes, but love? No. I would have loved it at 14 but not at 14 + a couple decades.

The genesis of the storyline is compelling. It's summertime 1925 and thirteen year old twins Michael and Emily are b-o-r-e-d. They have the luxury of boredom. Their family is well off and they have acres of freedom to enjoy. During the course of their idleness Emily figures out that by bending her ankle just so she can make a wonderfully fierce knocking sound. That's the kind of thing that can amuse a kid all day. Michael and Emily think they have found a way to make that amusement last the summer. Why not frighten the local children with conversations from beyond the grave? They could have a seance with Emily's ankle as ventriloquist for the dead. Their jump from bone cracking to the buried is a natural one. Their much loved Father was killed in The Great War and the shadow of that loss engulfs their household.

The twins enjoy scaring their friends but as their performances become more elaborate they attract the adults in the neighborhood. Soon their bilingual skills are taken out of the nursery and put into the drawing room. In a time when so many were still mourning loved ones lost in the War, Michael and Emily find themselves in demand by grieving grown-ups. Michael is thrilled by the attention and power it presents but Emily is uncomfortable and confounded by their new found importance, by the desperate needs of the adults. As the whole charade spins out of their control Emily becomes intrigued by the family secrets her "powers" are unearthing.

There is more than one strength in author Paul Elwork's writing. Emily's transformation from selfish child to sensitive teenager and coming to terms with her conflicting emotions regarding her and Michael's deceptions are mapped out in a believable and interesting fashion. Elwork's descriptions of the grief his characters are experiencing are realistic without being sentimental and contrived. The atmosphere that Elwork wraps around the novel from the lazy heat of a boring summer to the uncomfortable intensity generated by the twins' performances for the suffering is all beautifully rendered.

The Girl Who Would Speak for the Dead is a well written coming of age novel, but as I said before not for someone my age. I am going to pass it along to my 15 year old niece and I know that she will love it. The problem for me is the novel doesn't take that next step from telling the reader the story and telling the reader all about the characters to allowing the passion and precision of the writing to let the reader discover the those things.

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Apr 23, 2011 Julie H. rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: fiction

Broadly speaking, The Girl Who Would Speak for the Dead is a novel about wealth, social responsibility, privilege, family secrets, and guilt. But above all, it's about guilt--both the guilt we acknowledge and try to atone for and the guilt that is never owned. The bulk of the action spans the summer of 1925 into the following winter, but contains numerous forays into the Stewart family past--both through narrative flashbacks and through the results of 13-year old Emily's clandestine visits to he...more Broadly speaking, The Girl Who Would Speak for the Dead is a novel about wealth, social responsibility, privilege, family secrets, and guilt. But above all, it's about guilt--both the guilt we acknowledge and try to atone for and the guilt that is never owned. The bulk of the action spans the summer of 1925 into the following winter, but contains numerous forays into the Stewart family past--both through narrative flashbacks and through the results of 13-year old Emily's clandestine visits to her mother's family album which is kept locked in her bedroom. Elwork explains in an author's note that he was inspired to write this novel by the true story of the Fox sisters, who were but one chapter in the Spiritualist movement which had its origins in the mid-19th century.

On the one hand, the novel tells the story of a bored set of twins, Emily and Michael Stewart, who conspire to gather small groups of other children in one of their mansion's outbuildings (the teahouse) where they convince them that Emily is able to communicate with the dead. On the other hand, the novel is about the secrets, motivations, and failed aspirations of many of the people with whom they come in contact. The twins come to refer to their sessions as "spirit knocking"--named for Emily's recently-discovered ability to cause a cracking sound by manipulating a bone and ligament in her ankle. The twins begin with a relative named Regina Ward--about whom they initially know next to nothing but of whom they have a photograph. With time, Emily (and through her, the reader) gains a good many insights into the tangled Stewart family's web--all spinning outward from Regina's apparent suicide along the banks of the Delaware River on the same Ravenwood estate where the story unfolds.

With time, Emily and Michael take their "talents" outside the realm of their peers--most notably to a group of well-educated women who are believers in occult matters and keen to assuage their own guilt by contacting specific lost relations. Most heartbreaking, perhaps, is the series of sessions that Emily holds with Mr. Dunne--the father of her brother's friend Albert. The family story that unfolds there is equally tragic--both in the recent past and into the present of the novel.

Without spoiling any of the details, in exploiting their own interest in how to manipulate other people's emotional needs, we learn a good bit about the quite different personalities of both Michael and Emily--while also learning the backstory of their parents' marriage, ended when their father was killed during service as a surgeon in World War I. While interesting in concept, none of the characters--including Emily--seems to have learned anything from their experiences manipulating other peoples' emotions and vast senses of need, guilt, and desire. In fact, at novel's end she seems poised to pursue the very sort of numb existence followed by her mother. With that in mind, I found the novel to depict an interesting moment in time, but came to care very very little for any of the individuals involved--except perhaps Albert, Michael's much-abused friend. Also, the take-away message (if there is one) is a entirely muddled. Perhaps I'm still listening for an answer: one knock is "no" and two knocks is a "yes." (less)

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Jan 05, 2012 Ellen rated it 3 of 5 stars

This book is about a girl who can make a strange clicking sound with her ankle and pretends she is speaking to ghosts. While that is kind of the main story arc, it is also about her messed up family through the generations starting with her great-grandfather and down to her parents. Mostly they are a bunch of deeply unhappy people.

While I generally don't like to read about unhappy people, these ones didn't bother me too much. Maybe because we only check in with them and their lives in snippits...more

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May 23, 2011 Brittany rated it 2 of 5 stars

Michael and Emily are thirteen-year-old twins. When Emily shares with her brother that she can make a haunting knocking sound with her ankle without visibly moving it, he starts to think they could use this talent for something. So they start small "communing to the dead" in front of some of their friends; then to some older ladies who find them a complete delight. All too soon though, Emily sees that there may be repercussions for pretending to speak for the dead.

This books didn't really seem t...more Michael and Emily are thirteen-year-old twins. When Emily shares with her brother that she can make a haunting knocking sound with her ankle without visibly moving it, he starts to think they could use this talent for something. So they start small "communing to the dead" in front of some of their friends; then to some older ladies who find them a complete delight. All too soon though, Emily sees that there may be repercussions for pretending to speak for the dead.

This books didn't really seem to be about a whole lot. Maybe I just didn't get it, I don't know. I mean it was fascinating that Michael and Emily did this whole spiritualist thing and all. I feel like this book was pretty much just about dead people being dead and some of the terrible ways they died. I mean no one ever actually sees any ghosts throughout the whole book and no one talks to them. It was very disappointing. I just expected it to be a lot creepier and ghosty. I know that it's based loosely on the Fox sisters, and they never saw any actual ghost, but still. I did like the twins and how odd they were. Emily's internal dialog and curiosity were fascinating at times. I wish there was something more shocking in their family history or anything at all. It was interesting learning about the little snippets, but ultimately lackluster. Mostly the whole time I was reading this I was waiting for something to happen. Some things did happen, but none worthy of my intrigue. All in all this book was a huge disappointment for me.

First Line:
"The girl who would speak for the dead stood alone on the cobblestone drive after the rain."

Favorite Line:
"For all she could see, the trees may as well have sprawled away from the Delaware in a vast and continuous forest out to the Atlantic Ocean, a forest full of all the stories told by people leaving broken arrowheads along the river; living stories that clung to the trees in the same way things waited in the earth; stories upon stories falling backward in time to the sea."(less)

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Aug 09, 2012 Ann Sloan rated it 2 of 5 stars

I kept waiting for something to happen. It never did. The book description concludes with the promise that “their game spins wildly out of control”. Never happened. The story wasn’t a ghost story or a study of the spiritualist mania that was so popular in the beginning of the 20th century, it was about the summer adventures of a brother, a genius marketer, and his sister, who could crack her ankle.
I hoped, at least, to learn about the effect these escapades had on their adult lives. No on that,...more

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Mar 31, 2011 Jessica at Book Sake rated it 3 of 5 stars

This story focuses more on Emily than Michael, following her around most of the time. She is a charming character who wants to do the “nice” thing while aware that she is doing the wrong thing. Other characters in the book, the ladies that they show Emily’s “spirit knockings” to and their tutor to name a few, were featured and made bright spots to what could have been an overly dark story. I would have liked to have seen more of these characters as they seemed to have a lot of stories to tell.

Th...more

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Mar 28, 2011 Michelle added it

Grief is a tricky thing. It can cause someone to give up, to barricade oneself behind closed doors and remove oneself from the world as a way to compensate. Conversely, it can cause one to romanticize the past, to view a relationship through rose-colored glasses and consider past situations as better than they actually were. Yet, no matter how one reacts to grief, the one overarching issue that everyone has is the lack of closure. It is this need for closure in which the Stewart twins find thems...more Grief is a tricky thing. It can cause someone to give up, to barricade oneself behind closed doors and remove oneself from the world as a way to compensate. Conversely, it can cause one to romanticize the past, to view a relationship through rose-colored glasses and consider past situations as better than they actually were. Yet, no matter how one reacts to grief, the one overarching issue that everyone has is the lack of closure. It is this need for closure in which the Stewart twins find themselves ensnared.

The Girl Who Would Speak for the Dead explores this world of grief through the eyes of Emily, as she deals with the repercussions of her actions and understands just how far one is willing to go to obtain closure with a dearly departed. The story ultimately crosses generations, with Emily uncovering family secrets and the impact of grief on her own ancestors. These secrets are intriguing, but Emily's reactions to them are what make the story. Emily is an interesting character, seemingly heartless and yet filled with guilt. Watching Emily uncover the power she has over people and struggling with this guilt is at once horrifying and yet hopeful. She understands that she is fulfilling a need within people's lives, and her discovery of just how tenuous the line is between helping and hurting is fascinating.

For those who are have read about the Fox sisters in previous novels, like Deborah Noyes' Captivity, it would be easy to dismiss The Girl Who Would Speak for the Dead. Yet, unlike these other novels, Mr. Elwork explores the deception behind the Spiritualism movement and how easy it would be to take advantage of grieving people with minimal effort. This approach is refreshing in its honesty, and yet, he writes in such a way that the line between fact and fiction is blurred, and what seems like deception becomes a form of therapy.

The Girl Who Would Speak for the Dead is one of those novels that sounds simple in its concept but ends up being so much more detailed in its execution. To describe it as a novel about grief is too simplistic, as is the idea that it is about deception. It is about that and so much more. When done poorly, something this complicated could be confusing and distracting. However, Mr. Elwork is able to bring together all the of the elements in a most effective manner, creating a story that is creepy and yet heart wrenching. Amy Einhorn Books has done it again with a novel that is fresh and immensely enjoyable in a psychologically uncomfortable way.(less)

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Mar 16, 2011 Kelly Hager rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shortly after their thirteenth birthday (in 1925), Emily and Michael start holding seances (for lack of a better word) with the neighborhood children. Emily's found that she can crack her ankle in such a way that nobody can see it move and it sounds like a knock. They call them "spirit knockings" and the children all agree to not tell their respective parents or family members. But, of course, that ends up not being true.

I really enjoyed this story, which is a combination of a family saga (there...more

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Apr 01, 2011 Rain Misoa rated it 3 of 5 stars Recommends it for: History buffs and people into spirit summonings.

Recommended to Rain by: Won

Shelves: first-reads

Sometimes with little knowledge in a book can go a long way. I won this book off of GoodReads FirstReads and I was so excited and super pumped up because this was the first book I ever won off of GoodReads. When I read the synopsis, I knew that this book was going to be some ride. The premise of a girl who can make a cracking sound with her ankle and then start using that to fool other people into thinking that she can contact the dead was just a unique concept. I just had to read it. (I tried t...more Sometimes with little knowledge in a book can go a long way. I won this book off of GoodReads FirstReads and I was so excited and super pumped up because this was the first book I ever won off of GoodReads. When I read the synopsis, I knew that this book was going to be some ride. The premise of a girl who can make a cracking sound with her ankle and then start using that to fool other people into thinking that she can contact the dead was just a unique concept. I just had to read it. (I tried to get this review up in time of the publication but I think I may be a day late so... bare with me.)

Let me start off by saying that the writing in this book is amazing. Paul Elwork has a way with language and it just amazes me how well he can write a female perspective. That's another thing I want to mention. This book is written in third person (with the exception of the last chapter) which I find to be a great relief! So many books today are written in first person that it drives me insane! Not to say I don't like them; I just like seeing diversity. Anyway, the writing was very good. Elwork knew how to get his point across without much effort. One thing negative I feel I must point out about his writing style has to be the way he moves from one subject to the next. He has this habit of starting one thing then completely changing it to something entirely different without much transition. This happens quite a few times in the book which it made it hard for me to get through. But I feel this is just something very minor to how the majoroty of his writing style is.

His characters are what I feel made the book. Emily, female lead and twin sister of Michael, was very strong and intelligent. At the beginning of the story she starts off gullible and willing to please everyone but I feel she grows from that throughout the remainder of the book. Michael, male lead and twin brother of Emily, was a bit more introverted. He was reserved throughtout the story and cynical. I found I connected more to him because his views on life and people in general are much like my own. I really appreciated him. He was my favorite out of the twins. However, I enjoyed the side characters a whole lot more than I did the main. The side characters felt more troubled, more passionate, more real to me. They have this drive to do things that is so rare to see in books. My favorite being Stan and Donald because of the relationship they had with Naomi. They were so involved with her and did what they felt was right in order to make things continue to flow. Man, I love those two... but I'll stop there because I don't want to say any spoilers.

Now, even though I love the characters and I felt the writing style was good, I did find this book to be slow at times. At the beginning of the book, I found it really hard to pay attention to what was going on only because it seemed to have nothing to do with the story. I did mangae to stay focus and I understand why it had to be there but it still felt flat to me. I feel that Elwork wanted us to fully undertsand everything and put those slow parts in for a reason but I think the way it was executed to be a bit poor. It was just too many things far and in between for the story to really take effect on the reader. The premise is amazing! However, the execution needs a bit more work.

But don't let this setback dissuade you from picking up this book and reading it. Yeah, it has a lot of slow parts and the transitions are a bit choppy but it's still a fantastic and unique read! I truly do think that because a story like this is so rare that it is worth the read. Besides, just because I found some parts not to my liking doesn't mean that you will. Others will love this story for it's richness in language and interesting backstory! Go ahead and pick it up. You may just fine it to be one of your favorites.(less)

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Mar 31, 2011 Carol rated it 3 of 5 stars Recommends it for: fans of debut fiction, afterlife and ghosts

Recommended to Carol by: ARC supplied by publisher

Shelves: fiction

I love the opportunity to read debut fiction. I love the thrill of discovering a new and up and coming author ahead of the pack. When I was offered an ARC of The Girl Who Would Speak for the Dead by Paul Elwork, I jumped at the chance. That it was published by Amy Einhorn Books/Putnam, a publisher I respect, was the icing on the cake.

Do you believe in ghosts? At the heart of this book, there are certainly those that do. Emily Stewart and her brother, Michael, thirteen year old twins, are the pr...more

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Nov 09, 2011 Amanda Kimball rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: fiction

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. I give this novel 3 1/2 stars. I was lucky enough to go to a book talk that showcased Paul at Arcadia University (where we both attended school). It was wonderful to hear Paul read excerpts from the novel, and talk about his struggles/inspiration for the novel.

I read the book on and off for about three weeks. I was intrigued by Emily and Michaels story, and found it very interesting how trusting and open the adults were in their community. Even after the truth came out, many of their followers b...more I give this novel 3 1/2 stars. I was lucky enough to go to a book talk that showcased Paul at Arcadia University (where we both attended school). It was wonderful to hear Paul read excerpts from the novel, and talk about his struggles/inspiration for the novel.

I read the book on and off for about three weeks. I was intrigued by Emily and Michaels story, and found it very interesting how trusting and open the adults were in their community. Even after the truth came out, many of their followers believed that they had the "talent" and we're just trying to live a "normal" life.

I truly had hoped that Emily did have a gift, and a few scenes in the novel had me believing that Emily did have some sort of sight. I am not sure if the author did this intentionally, or if her intuition was a culmination of her subconscious after performing. I'd like to believe that in a way she could communicate with the dead, just not as clearly as she pretended.

I was aggravated while reading with their mother Naomi and her place in the story. She was not a very nurturing or present mother; she seemed as though she was placed to give us a bridge to the twins ancestry, but not as a motherly type. I have to wonder how she wasn't even the least bit interested in the comings and goings of her own children or the sudden influx of guests (so secretly) to see her twins. I felt as if her love story with Stan was wasted because it never led to them actually being together after finding one another again. I was very disappointed in this and the fact that Emily sifted through their background (and her extended families) but never did anything with the information.

Another thing I felt was not developed enough was our travels to the past. We read about the twins' grandfather Robert, but we seem to be left in the cold. We see about two excerpts that being us into his life and his wife's, and then we abruptly leave and never return to finish out anything that had been established. I was very disappointed with this because it would have made Emilys discoveries more enticing.

Overall, i enjoyed reading this book and thinking about the concept of spirit knocking. I felt that the children's ages and time period were perfect setups to the theme and direction the author started to take. But I just felt that many of the side story lines could have used a little more development to give a more cohesive story. Readers are led to believe they are diving into a ghost story, and we are half led through a family history/ should have been romance.
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Jun 30, 2011 Imogen Moore rated it 2 of 5 stars

I really liked the concept for 'The Girl Who Would Speak For The Dead', and I enjoyed the era in which it was set. While mainly taking place in 1925, the novel did backtrack a bit to include stories from the early 1900's and well as the late 1890s. I did not however, enjoy Paul Elwork's novel as much as I thought I would. After all the hype that surrounded the book on it's release I was excited to see how the novel would turn out, but I was quite disappointed. The ending I found extremely unfini...more

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May 04, 2011 Jan rated it 3 of 5 stars

This novel, based upon the Fox sisters of Upstate New York, who were instrumental to the spiritualism movement of the late 19th century. Thirteen-year-old Emily discovers that she can make a loud rapping noise with her ankle that appears to come from nowhere. Her brother Michael comes up with the idea to use that talent to as a trick to persuade others that she can communicate with the dead. Their plan, at first, amuses them, but when grief stricken neighbors start asking Emily for help in conta...more

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Aug 28, 2012 Mollie rated it 1 of 5 stars

Shelves: fiction, book-club

First Library Book Club book. The story had no real conflict/resolution, tension, or moral and it was convoluted and confusing to follow for the following reasons.
1. Complex character naming. For example 'mother', 'Naomi', Mrs. Stewart all the same person would mislead you into thinking that a new character had entered the scene. Note: If you're going to name someone after any other character (not the father) and refer to both you should mention it up front; not in the middle of the book and th...more

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Jul 15, 2012 Alejandra rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Well this one was a bust. The blurbs were what sold it to me and after finishing the book I still can't figure out why it got such good blurbs from good writers. Anyway, here it goes: this is the story of 13 year old twins Emily and Michael who one day decide to start scamming people into making them believe that they can contact the dead. As imagined, this scam runs out of control and there are awful consequences as an aftermath. Entertwined is the story of their family heritage and the love tr...more

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Aug 26, 2011 Kandes rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: library

Eh.. I'm not quite sure how I rate this. I'd say maybe 3 and a half. I thought it was an interesting story but the author kinda built up to this amazing ending and kind of left all these loose ends. That's how I felt anyways. I definetly fell in love with some of the characters though. I loved Emily & Mr. Holt & Mary. I thought Mrs. Stewart was a little annoying and Michael was a bit of an ass. And another thing I didn't like was the title and the synopsis were a bit misleading. It sort...more

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Aug 25, 2011 Sara rated it 1 of 5 stars

Shelves: fiction

It sounded really great. But it put me off almost immediately. In a foreword, the author explains that he ripped the whole story off of a pair of sisters in upstate New York in the 1920s and apologizes that the story inspired him, but that he didn't quite do it justice and he begs the reader to forgive him. I really can't appreciate an author with no confidence.

The story is weak, and it is VERY based on the Fox sisters and relies on boredom and unexplained coincidence (a ridiculous ankle bone tr...more

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Sep 08, 2011 iubookgirl rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: reviewed

So I think I'm hooked on Amy Einhorn Books. This is the third book from the imprint I've read, and I've yet to be disappointed. What I like most is that these book's aren't my typical fare. I like them not because of genre - and all three are very different on that count - but because they are so well-written and so personal. The stories they tell strike a chord with me. But enough about the imprint, let's get to The Girl Who Would Speak for the Dead.

The Girl Who Would Speak for the Dead is the...more

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BBCode	[url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/9521085-the-girl-who-would-speak-for-the-dead?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book][img]http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1295546508l/9521085.jpg[/img][/url] [url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/9521085-the-girl-who-would-speak-for-the-dead?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book]The Girl Who Would Speak for the Dead by Paul Elwork[/url]

The Girl Who Would Speak for the Dead

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