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Hettie and the Ghost
The factory explosion leaves Hettie Sharpe with very little. No father. No mother. No home. Only new injuries, new scars, and a ghost.
Already Hettie is an oddity. Too clever, too Irish, too much like her father, the eccentric inventor of machinery, peculiar and particular in her own right. Now, thrown into the hysteria of Fin de Siècle Spiritualism, Hettie finds herself questioning her own nature, the true articulation of her own self, just as she questions the ghost who appeared like a shadow from the horror of catastrophe. Where does it come from? What does it want?
What is the kingdom of death, a place that seems to grow like a tree beneath the known surface of the world?
What is the structure of time? Is it a Prime Meridian, or is it a ribbon, always unravelling?
Who is Hettie Sharpe?
Already Hettie is an oddity. Too clever, too Irish, too much like her father, the eccentric inventor of machinery, peculiar and particular in her own right. Now, thrown into the hysteria of Fin de Siècle Spiritualism, Hettie finds herself questioning her own nature, the true articulation of her own self, just as she questions the ghost who appeared like a shadow from the horror of catastrophe. Where does it come from? What does it want?
What is the kingdom of death, a place that seems to grow like a tree beneath the known surface of the world?
What is the structure of time? Is it a Prime Meridian, or is it a ribbon, always unravelling?
Who is Hettie Sharpe?
- GenresHistorical
414 pages, ebook
Published December 4, 2021
4 people are currently reading
60 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
December 24, 2021
In this richly descriptive and atmospheric novel, I was pleased to find intricate sentence structure and mature characters. Many of its descriptions have an old-fashioned elegance. It is a nuanced ghost story with an intriguing premise, tackling central concepts of spiritualism, the afterlife, and growth. The language is always surprising and contributes to the cinematic scenes, which are ensconced in a setting of baroque splendor.
By and by, I found it to be book that exceeds expectations on multiple fronts, delivering realistic dialogue and fantastic descriptions, while incorporating much magical realism into a satisfying plot. The little details pile up, contributing to a sense of dread. The reader picks up cues from characters' actions and speech, since the author does not rely on info dumps or long interior monologs. I was reminded time and again of Shirley Jackson, who masterfully weaved tales in a similar vein, capturing subtle changes in character and dark turns of fate without sacrificing the abundant dreamy texture of the prose. It is as much an exploration of the speculative world of spirits as it is an interior examination of the self. Our main characters' scars run deep, and her world is fraught with unrelenting tension. The storytelling elements are impressive, working with the world building to construct a convincing ambiance. Words like reticule, crinoline, and laudanum crop up frequently. Make sure you are prepared for a slower pace, akin to twentieth century fiction, with an emphasis on eerie locales and creeping dread. I would not be surprised if the author went on to publish many excellent novels revolving around the supernatural, since she knows how to handle historical subjects and language with undeniable ease.
By and by, I found it to be book that exceeds expectations on multiple fronts, delivering realistic dialogue and fantastic descriptions, while incorporating much magical realism into a satisfying plot. The little details pile up, contributing to a sense of dread. The reader picks up cues from characters' actions and speech, since the author does not rely on info dumps or long interior monologs. I was reminded time and again of Shirley Jackson, who masterfully weaved tales in a similar vein, capturing subtle changes in character and dark turns of fate without sacrificing the abundant dreamy texture of the prose. It is as much an exploration of the speculative world of spirits as it is an interior examination of the self. Our main characters' scars run deep, and her world is fraught with unrelenting tension. The storytelling elements are impressive, working with the world building to construct a convincing ambiance. Words like reticule, crinoline, and laudanum crop up frequently. Make sure you are prepared for a slower pace, akin to twentieth century fiction, with an emphasis on eerie locales and creeping dread. I would not be surprised if the author went on to publish many excellent novels revolving around the supernatural, since she knows how to handle historical subjects and language with undeniable ease.
August 29, 2025
The rather minimal title of this book gives the impression that it will be a straightforward Victorian ghost story, which it isn't at all. This is a tale set in the world of late 19th century spiritualism, with fake mediums passing off conjuring tricks as supernatural phenomena. Except that Hettie actually does have a strange supernatural companion. The world the book creates is vivid and the characters live in convincing social and emotional lives in it, never adopting 21st century perspectives. The writing is often beautiful, with rhythmic prose and imagery that resonates rather than feeling stuck on.
There are some faults. A character called Sir Frederick Lyons is referred to as Sir Lyons (rather than Sir Frederick), we have bluebirds in London (?) and once or twice people use expressions wrong for the time and place ("I don't know how to act around you"). But overall, there are incredibly few errors. In a book that's really self-published, I didn't find any typos.
The Cantrap press website proclaims its manifesto, which is to publish "metamorphic fiction", which apparently combines esoteric ritual with postmodernist deconstruction. If that sounds both contradictory and pretentious, this book shows how it can succeed and presumably stands as an example for future work. I very much hope to be able to read more in this genre.
You can download an e-book from the website, so no need to scour the web looking for high-priced limited editions.
There are some faults. A character called Sir Frederick Lyons is referred to as Sir Lyons (rather than Sir Frederick), we have bluebirds in London (?) and once or twice people use expressions wrong for the time and place ("I don't know how to act around you"). But overall, there are incredibly few errors. In a book that's really self-published, I didn't find any typos.
The Cantrap press website proclaims its manifesto, which is to publish "metamorphic fiction", which apparently combines esoteric ritual with postmodernist deconstruction. If that sounds both contradictory and pretentious, this book shows how it can succeed and presumably stands as an example for future work. I very much hope to be able to read more in this genre.
You can download an e-book from the website, so no need to scour the web looking for high-priced limited editions.
March 2, 2022
This novel was bought entirely on a whim because the premise sounded intriguing and that at least part of it was set in the milieu Fin de Siècle Spiritualism.
Although, as the title suggests there is a ‘ghost’ involved, very much so as it turns out - it is an extremely peculiar beast. For example, it does not ‘speak’ as such, instead communicating by sending disturbing semi-cryptic telepathic(?) images to Hettie which she must decode and construct into a language: “in her head, a boot meeting a bare ribcage. In her head, a skeleton decked with moss. In her head a child with its arms raised, yellow and gaunt, hollow mouthed”. It also appears to have little memory of ‘itself’ which may have analogies to Hettie's life prior to the accident that almost killed her.
I am not spoiling the story for you here because, as I have hopefully implied, it is the interaction between Hettie and her ‘ghost’(?), an angel(?), daemon(?), succubus(?) or other that lifts this books from the realms of the conventional into something quite wonderful. Yes, there is a spiritualistic element and a psychic research element (the latter perhaps based on the Albert von Schrenck-Notzing) and a mysterious group (the Theoryssein Society) that I thought might have been based on the Golden Dawn but at heart, it is perhaps a love story, an ‘entwining’ between Hettie and her new companion and a coming of age novel as Hettie is an explorer of the material and psychic worlds which may (or may not) be what they seem.
The style is akin to that of magic realism, and a thread of the poetic runs through the novel in terms of descriptions and various characters' thoughts but this book defies easy categorization (in a good way), and that is quite something to this reader at least.
I really liked this book and, if I could have understood the ending- this is surely ‘reader error’ on my part, it would have been a solid five stars. But as I didn’t, I had to dock it one.
This is a very strong debut novel indeed and I look forward to reading more of her work very much.
Although, as the title suggests there is a ‘ghost’ involved, very much so as it turns out - it is an extremely peculiar beast. For example, it does not ‘speak’ as such, instead communicating by sending disturbing semi-cryptic telepathic(?) images to Hettie which she must decode and construct into a language: “in her head, a boot meeting a bare ribcage. In her head, a skeleton decked with moss. In her head a child with its arms raised, yellow and gaunt, hollow mouthed”. It also appears to have little memory of ‘itself’ which may have analogies to Hettie's life prior to the accident that almost killed her.
I am not spoiling the story for you here because, as I have hopefully implied, it is the interaction between Hettie and her ‘ghost’(?), an angel(?), daemon(?), succubus(?) or other that lifts this books from the realms of the conventional into something quite wonderful. Yes, there is a spiritualistic element and a psychic research element (the latter perhaps based on the Albert von Schrenck-Notzing) and a mysterious group (the Theoryssein Society) that I thought might have been based on the Golden Dawn but at heart, it is perhaps a love story, an ‘entwining’ between Hettie and her new companion and a coming of age novel as Hettie is an explorer of the material and psychic worlds which may (or may not) be what they seem.
The style is akin to that of magic realism, and a thread of the poetic runs through the novel in terms of descriptions and various characters' thoughts but this book defies easy categorization (in a good way), and that is quite something to this reader at least.
I really liked this book and, if I could have understood the ending- this is surely ‘reader error’ on my part, it would have been a solid five stars. But as I didn’t, I had to dock it one.
This is a very strong debut novel indeed and I look forward to reading more of her work very much.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews