I've finally gotten around to posting my review of Haunted Lily (it's a favorable one, overall). If anyone's interested in it, it'll be posted under the book description when you click on the book link (which is right at eye level on our group home page right now) --I don't know how close to the top of the review pile it'll be, but it's there. :-) As I mention there, I'm "hooked good and proper" for the sequel, so I trust that Sidney will keep up the good work!

Welcome to the group, Natalee! We're glad to have you with us.

Oh, and I am new to the group... haven't had a chance to poke around but I am getting there! :)

I read this last year and it is easily one of my faves! And a perfect read for this time of year! Spooky and haunting...

I loved how descriptive Sidney is... I envisioned the party as something out of a Tim Burton movie. I've passed the book onto many people that have enjoyed it as much as I have. I can't wait to get my hands on her second book!

Hi All,

I read this ages ago and have been on contact with Sidney - she has asked me loads of questions re the UK as that is where I am..

She is a lovely lady and it is great to count her as a friend.

She is even sending me a new copy of the book!! How great is that.

I loved this story and I loved the writing - as Werner said earlier really discriptive (in a brilliant way) and you can see and feel the house and the parties.

Enjoy! everyone who is reading this for the 1st time - it is a definate on my keeper and to re-read pile.

I have both editions and there isn't much of a difference, you wont really notice, I think it was mostly grammatical. I know the next one is going to be really interesting, her website gives a synopsis if you want to check it out. :)

Cassidy, thanks for sharing that review! I finished the book myself today. I'm going to wait on posting a rating or review --I want to compare the old and new editions first. But on the positive side, I'd certainly echo the points about this being a quick, brisk read, consistently interesting from start to finish, and genuinely scary in several places. (I'm definitely hooked for the sequel, too!)

I have already read this book twice and love it! I'm so excited it's this months group read, it's perfect for Halloween! :) Below I've included my Goodreads review for anyone that may want to read it. I hope everyone loves it! :)

I was introduced to this book my a fellow goodreads member, he promised it to be a great Halloween read. It did NOT disappoint! I adored it thoroughly; made me cry a little, laugh out loud and actually had my heart racing at times.
Anyone that is fascinated by ghosts or ghost hunting or just loves the spirit of Halloween will love this book. It's spooky and does get scary at times, things nightmares are made of. Sidney doesn't a fantastic job of describing and creating a freaky moments. I read it at night and every time I head some odd noise and was spooked!
I wont give a run down about the story line, you have to read that yourself and discover all the delights Sidney Fox as twisted and creatively hidden through the story.
I will say that it moves very quickly and is extremely hard to put down as sooo much goes on. Not ONE dull chapter or filler chapter about useless information you don't care about!
The cover does say there is another book called Enchanted Shadow that actually hasn't been released yet...and I can not wait! This a great new author I'm excited to follow.

Oh! Yes, exactly. Whitemarsh Hall or Stotesbury Manor is the place described in Haunted Lily. Sorry I didn't make that clear.

Jim, thanks for these links! I'm guessing that the real-life Whitemarsh Hall provided the inspiration for Lily's house in the book?

From Sidney, who will stop by soon:

There is a site for Whitemarsh Hall...it is amazing to me to see the original pics of this amazing house and then how it fell into ruin.
http://www.serianni.com/wh0.htm

And I found this on you tube - it gives a great overview of the destruction of the house.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JdoB9xpB4...

A fan of the story made a tribute film to the book and put it on you tube. I think it is so cool that someone took the time to do this. It was a true honor.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TDKG09DQx...

By now, some big questions have emerged in my mind as to the relationship of the opening part (the prologue, though it's not called that) to what follows. Clearly, Lily's country estate where her Halloween party takes place is the ruined house we see at the beginning (now restored); presumably "the girl" who explores the latter is Lily herself. And her apparent unfamiliarity with the layout of the house, apart from reading about it, is explicable if she hasn't seen it since she was a small child.

But this still doesn't explain why the room at the top of the tower, in the opening section, seems to be the one particularly associated with Lily, when her "childhood bedroom" that Darby slept in is an entirely different room. Also, much of the "loving graffiti" in the tower room implies --and in one case explicitly states-- that Lily is dead. Even though the lady whom Darby meets deals with ghosts, however, she doesn't appear to be one. :-) Maybe Jim or someone else who's read the whole book can tell us --is that seeming contradiction resolved later in the book? (Don't write any spoilers --just tell us yes or no!)

I did detect a factual slip that might be corrected in the new edition. Commenting on Chloe's general boy-craziness, Nadine remarks, "If it has an X chromosome, she's interested." Actually, though, all of us have at least one X chromosome --women have two. What Sidney meant to have Nadine refer to was a Y chromosome. :-)

I should have my new edition of the book soon, I hope!

As I recall, from what Sidney told me a year ago, it wasn't a major change. A slight re-write to clarify a bit & change dialog a little to fit better. Not a big deal.

It might be worthwhile to mention one fact that I've been told --the second printing of this book has some slight changes to the ending as written in the first one. When more of us have read the ending(s) --I'm nowhere near there yet!-- I'll set up a spoiler thread (unless someone beats me to it), and we can compare the two.

By now, I'm a ways into the book, so I'm in a position to make some comments. I'd definitely say that Sidney does a good job drawing the reader in with the opening section. She has a lot of description, but it's good, atmospheric description that makes you really see, and feel, the creepiness of that ruin. And she artfully leaves unanswered the big questions that whet your interest: who is "the girl?" And just what is her connection to this place? And what went on in it?

She also does a good job with her characters in the main section. Darby is a person who's very dissimilar to me in many ways: personality, social and economic background, lifestyle, life experiences, etc.; he's someone I wouldn't normally relate to well or identify with easily. But Sidney makes his love for Angela seem very real, and the horrible tragedy of her death and the depth of his grief is really forceful and believable. Compassion for him comes naturally, and makes him come to life as a fellow human. (And when literature engages our compassion for fictional characters, I think it helps us learn to be compassionate towards real-life people, too.)

The descriptions of the ghostly apparitions at St. Michael's are well-done, IMO. If you've read many ghost stories, the usual elements of hauntings can come to seem hackneyed; but Sidney made these come across as genuinely scary and menacing --especially the first one, before he could actually see the specter.

I do have one question so far. How did Darby know Lillian Dufrene's name? That part was never clearly explained.

I hope Sidney can join us. I sent her a PM a couple of weeks ago & just sent her an email now.

Goodreads author and SFR group member Sidney Fox brings a "lifelong" interest in the paranormal to the writing of this first novel. (She's had real-life paranormal experiences of her own, and has lived in reputedly "haunted" houses.) Her experience also includes screenplay writing --which may contribute to the "visual" quality of her writing, with strong use of description that helps you "see" a person or place.

At this early stage, most of us haven't had a chance to read very far into the book, and so probably won't be in a rush to comment on it. But I thought I'd get this thread going, so it will be ready when you are! Of course, those who've read the book already are in a good position to offer some thoughts and assessments now, if they want to. And Sidney --if you're getting these updates-- an authorial perspective on the book would be really welcome, too!