Ghosts of the Heart

by Barbara Stoner

Sophie Fletcher is taking her dream vacation in the Land of Story, as she and her late father had called the island of Britain. She doesn’t know why she’s suddenly able to see ghosts, but there they are: her mother, also dead these past two years, who wants help finding her husband’s spirit, and a 16th century soldier, who can’t resist following her. It seems Sophie is the spitting image of the woman he had loved and left, some 400 years before. How is she going to explain them to her two suitors, both very much alive? Doors that Sophie never knew existed are opening for her, doors that lead not only to the past but to possibilities she is only now beginning to comprehend. Ghosts of the Heart is a novel of hauntings, of myths old and new, of regrets past and present, and of love lost and found.

252 pages, Paperback

First published August 22, 2013

About the author

I live in a little blue house in Seattle and write at a computer with a view of birds and squirrels, trees and overcast skies. I write every day in Barbara's Bookhouse, write or edit a current novel, and post bits of this and that on Facebook when something interesting occurs to me or flies over the transom.

I have two grown children of whom I am inordinately fond, no grandchildren, which means more of my time is my own, and a stack of unread books which makes me wish for immortality potions.

I like jigsaw puzzles, TV, chocolate, and too many other things to mention. The 6-CD-changer in my car has one Grateful Dead show, two collections of operatic operas, and three lectures on the Western Literary Canon from the Great Courses.

I've driven around England twice, and after walking for six hours in the rain fell hopelessly in love with Venice. Still hope to get back there - or Africa. Whichever comes first. I've attended a Latin Mass in Chartres Cathedral and read Wordworth in Tintern Abbey, Aristotle in Assos, and Homer on the site of Troy.

I do yoga every morning and read one poem a day. Out loud. As we all should.

Reviews

[Streator Johnson · Rating 5 out of 5]

A lot of people read book series because they like the comfort that comes with revisiting characters and situations that were fun and/or interesting in past books. That is kind of how I felt while reading Ghosts of the Heart; like I was returning to visit with some old literary friends. Only I wasn't. The book stands alone as a piece of fiction. But once started, you almost immediately feel like you personally know the folks that people this work. That is not to say they are stereotypes, or cardboard representations of a personality type, but rather, they are folks you COULD know. And I liked that.

The story moves at leasurely pace and the plot is not too outrageous (but it does include ghosts so....). And the histroical references are a nice touch. All told, I enjoyed the book quite more than I was expecting to. However, I still want to know what happens to Jack!......

[Jennifer-Eve Workman · Rating 5 out of 5]

I won this through Goodreads First Reads Giveaway.