Bellewether: 02/19/19

Bellewether by Susanna Kearsley is set on Long Island in two different eras at the Wilde House. In the present, there's Charley, a Canadian archivist who has been hired during the restoration of the house, now a museum. Then there are two points of view in the past: Lydia and Jean-Philippe, a French Canadian soldier.

In the modern day story, Charley is a skeptic who comes to understand that Wilde House is haunted. The haunting is related to her research into the history of the and especially her curiosity over Lydia's apparently short life.

Everything we need to know to about Lydia and Jean-Philippe and the other secrets of the house is revealed through Charley's work and what she learns about local legends from other people she interacts with.

If it were just Charley's point of view, Bellewether would be a tight two hundred fifty page magical realism tale. It would sit on the road narrative spectrum at orphan uhoria blue highway (FFCC33).

But no. This modern day tale is saddled with all the historical leg work the author did. I guess she really wanted the reader to know she had done her homework (even though that fact shows through loud and clear with Charley's story).

Two stars

Comments (2)

Comment #1: Monday, February 25, 2019 at 22:00:04

Laura @ Library of Clean Reads

I guess this one didn't do it for you. I really enjoyed the story, mostly because the history is set in my home province and I loved the historical part of it.

Comment #2: Tuesday, February 26, 2019 at 20:18:00

Pussreboots

The modern day story was a good depiction of Long Island. I just wasn't at all emotionally invested in the historical parts. I felt the modern day story did a perfectly good job of telling their story too.