★★★★★ 5
A HAUNTINGLY BEAUTIFUL TAPESTRY OF EMOTIONS
Format: Paperback
“𝘓𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘯’𝘵 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩, 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘪𝘵, 𝘑𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘩? 𝘌𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘪𝘧 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘣𝘰𝘥𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘶𝘴𝘵, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘸𝘦 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭 𝘮𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘨𝘰 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦.”
What a rare gem of a story! With an almost dreamlike, fairy-tale quality to her every word, Mia Sheridan weaves a hauntingly beautiful tapestry of darkness and light, love and loss, pain and atonement, with a tale that transports the reader to a place where true love never dies, and where a spark of hope can find its way through even the smallest of cracks in an old, stone wall. Set against the vivid background of the mystical city of New Orleans, this is the story of two lonely hearts who find safe harbour in each other’s arms, but as they work together to unlock a mystery from the past, they begin to discover that the greatest battles sometimes lie within us, and that is where they must be fought. As always, Mia Sheridan’s storytelling is exquisite, transcendent, soulful, and just stunning.
𝘊𝘭𝘢𝘳𝘢 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘱𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥—𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘴 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘢 𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦 𝘰𝘣𝘴𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘥—𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘣𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘬 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘰𝘤𝘤𝘶𝘳𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘢 𝘩𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘧𝘪𝘧𝘵𝘺 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦.
Shortly after moving to New Orleans to pursue a career in ballet, Clara Campbell finds herself awash in loneliness and uncertainty, the company of an elderly neighbour becoming her only respite from the melancholy that threatens to overwhelm her daily. And it is during one of her visits to her elderly friend that Clara learns of a century-and-a-half-old legend held within the beautiful, broken structures of Windisle Plantation. From the moment Clara hears the story of a beautiful young slave who fell for a handsome southern soldier, and whose spirits are said to be still trapped in the very place where their love affair ended so tragically, she begins to feel a strange pull to Windisle, beckoning her to explore the secrets held within its shadows. But instead of finding ghosts there, Clara meets a mysterious stranger hiding behind its walls.
𝘍𝘰𝘳 𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘢 𝘣𝘰𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢 𝘨𝘪𝘳𝘭, 𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘦 𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘢 𝘸𝘢𝘭𝘭, 𝘢 𝘭𝘢𝘺𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘬 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘯𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘯𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴. 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘯𝘰𝘸, 𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘦𝘯𝘫𝘰𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘩𝘢𝘥.
Jonah Chamberlain hasn’t stepped outside his old, crumbling family estate in eight long, grief-filled years. Holding himself responsible for the tragic events that led to his own scarred appearance, Jonah spends his days drowning in sorrow and loneliness, but from the moment he hears a young woman’s selfless wish whispered through the cracks in an old, stone wall, he becomes bewitched by her. They continue to meet week after week, spending time just talking, and sharing their innermost thoughts and fears with one another, even though that stone wall continues to stand between them.
“𝘐 𝘳𝘦𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘵. 𝘐 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘵. 𝘐’𝘷𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘢 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘧 𝘪𝘵, 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦, 𝘣𝘦𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘢𝘭𝘭.”
As they slowly begin to piece the past together, getting closer and closer to setting the star-crossed lovers free from the curse trapping them at Windisle, Clara and Jonah also begin to fall in love. But it soon becomes clear to Clara that her velvet-voiced ‘wish collector’ might be living in a cage of his own making—never too far, but always far enough to be out of reach to her, their reality in so many ways echoing the very curse they are trying to break.
𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘸𝘧𝘶𝘭, 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘰𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘵𝘰 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘮𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘴𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘣𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦, 𝘴𝘰 𝘤𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘦, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘺𝘦𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘶𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘭𝘺 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩. 𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘸𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘧 𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘣𝘦 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘰𝘰.
The depth of emotion that Mia Sheridan is able to conjure on the page is breathtaking, her nuanced prose brimming with symbolism and sensuality, but her true gift lies in creating complex, fractured characters that have been bruised by life, but who find unexpected glimmers of hope and grace when they least expect it. The novel builds slowly with absolutely gorgeous language and setting, and with a dual timeline structure that sways gently from past to present, braiding the narratives together little by little, we unravel the past at the same time as the future unfolds before us. Both beautiful and tragic, this is the kind of story that sticks with you long after the final page.
“𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦’𝘴 𝘢 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘶𝘴, 𝘈𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘢. 𝘚𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘥𝘦, 𝘸𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥. 𝘋𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘮𝘦?”
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Reviewed in the United States on December 12, 2018
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