Paper Ghosts
By: Sarah Addison Allen
Summary:
For decades, the women of Wester House have unsettled and fascinated their small, timeless North Carolina town. Their home is full of whispers, old griefs, and uncanny knowing. But when Willamena Wester reaches out to the granddaughter she once pushed away, long-buried truths begin to stir.
1976: Restless young Willamena falls for a stranded musician who brings freedom and the promise of another life to her carefully controlled world. Their brief, incandescent love story promises to escape the pull of the Wester legacy until Willamena makes a fateful choice that changes her life forever.
Present day: Returning home is the last thing Bailey Wester wants. Yet as she reconnects with Willamena, the grandmother she feared, Bailey begins to understand the love, heartbreak, and impossible choices that shaped the women in her family and realizes the past may not have been trying to haunt them after all. A luminous novel filled with Sarah Addison Allen’s stunning prose and signature blend of romance, Southern charm, and wonder, Paper Ghosts reminds us that in order to have the future we really want, sometimes we need to live with the past, and not let go of it. ----bn.com
1976: Restless young Willamena falls for a stranded musician who brings freedom and the promise of another life to her carefully controlled world. Their brief, incandescent love story promises to escape the pull of the Wester legacy until Willamena makes a fateful choice that changes her life forever.
Present day: Returning home is the last thing Bailey Wester wants. Yet as she reconnects with Willamena, the grandmother she feared, Bailey begins to understand the love, heartbreak, and impossible choices that shaped the women in her family and realizes the past may not have been trying to haunt them after all. A luminous novel filled with Sarah Addison Allen’s stunning prose and signature blend of romance, Southern charm, and wonder, Paper Ghosts reminds us that in order to have the future we really want, sometimes we need to live with the past, and not let go of it. ----bn.com
Get ready for another whimsical, mystical book from one of my favorite authors!! I've been a fan since her debut book, Garden Spells, came out so I was ecstatic to read her newest novel. I was all set to get cozy and be putty in Miss Allen's creative hands. And I wasn't disappointed. I will say, Paper Ghosts, was a little different from her previous works, but I enjoyed it still. Elements and characteristics I've loved from each book is found in Paper Ghosts.
WIllamena was from a wealthy family. Her grandmother had her entire life planned out for her- right down to the wedding dress to be worn whenever the wedding was to be had. And though Grandma is known around town for knowing things she shouldn't, she was the last to know about Willamena's love for Jack. When the young couple don't get grandma's approval, they decide to run away one night. But tragedy comes knocking when grandma confronts them. Willamena's life is forever changed that night.
So, when Willamena's own granddaughter, Bailey, moves into the same house she quickly meets a stranger from the past. As Bailey struggles with events in her own life, her stand-offish grandma starts to open up. By the time the book ends, you learn grandma was a force to be reckoned with in more ways than one.
I loved this book. I love how seamlessly Sarah Addison Allen tells the story of two women from different generations. The way she does it with a handful of whimsy, a dash of mystery I never get tired of. This book is the perfect book to start your fall reading with.
I listened to this book on audio. The narrator did a great job of bringing the story to life. I enjoyed it. I was able to listen to the whole book in a day and I didn't get confused as to which character was which. So, if you're an auditory reader, you're going to enjoy Paper Ghosts.
And now... the countdown for her next book has begun.
