Last November, I promised another post about the supernatural elements in popular fiction, and since then, a ton of new books have been published, featuring ghosts, inexplicable phenomena, and more. These are not, in general, scary ghosts, but generally benevolent, confused, or searching for something. In doing my research, I wasn’t surprised to find that many of these books take place in the American South. After all, there’s a legendarily mysterious vibe there, one that adds to the atmosphere of cities like Savannah and New Orleans.
Florida and Georgia feature too, and Nina Lee is Seeing Things by Sheila Athens starts with a travel writer from Florida who needs to resuscitate her career. She travels to Cumberland Island in Georgia, where she comes across the ghost of John F Kennedy Jr, who asks her for help in finding his wife, Carolyn Bessette–they married there more than a quarter century before. This is the only novel I found that features the ghost of a real person, which makes it unique and fascinating.
In the second novel of Karen White’s Royal Street series, House on Prytania, Nola Trenholm is haunted—both literally and figuratively—by ghosts of the past. Though not psychic herself, she’s spent enough time around people who are to know when ghosts are present, and there are definitely a few lingering spirits in her recently purchased Creole cottage in New Orleans. Something, or someone, is keeping them tethered to this world. And not all of them are benign. With that teaser, what can you do but read it?
The Dead Romantics, by Ashley Poston, is another that takes place in the South. For ten years, ghostwriter Florence Day has run from the Southern town that never understood her. Even with her father gone, it feels like nothing in this town has changed, which she hates. Until she finds the ghost of someone she knows standing at the front door of the family’s funeral parlor—as infuriatingly handsome as ever. He’s as confused about why he’s there as she is. Is romance really dead?
Meredith Stoddard’s latest book, The River Maiden, takes place in the Appalachian Mountains and features a different take on all spooky happenings. It has more of a thriller vibe. An old Gaelic song Sarah MacAlpin learned from her grandmother leads our heroine to research it for her thesis. Soon, there is something more sinister than a mysterious Scot lurking around Sarah’s life. A series of near accidents and strained relationships have her on edge. She begins to worry for her mental health as her research progresses, and her life begins to unravel. Can she keep it together long enough to find the source of the song? Let’s hope so!
Moving North, Up There, by Sherry Roberts, is closer to magical realism, but one might easily argue that magical realism is a form of supernatural activity. Ariel Lee comes from a long line of women with the gift of flight. The wind speaks to her and helps her secretly ride the skies above the family farm in Cosette, Minnesota, but it also causes her trouble. When she decides to reject the call of the wind, she loses her connection not only with the skies but with herself. Years later, Ariel is drawn back to Cosette, and finds she needs to rediscover her place in this world of wind and sky in time to save herself and the man she loves.
Jenn Chapman’s Dying for a Second Chance is billed as a twisty psychological thriller. Marie Harper is a young mother of six-month-old Heather who was conceived during a brutal rape. Living in the Pacific Northwest near the ocean, working for a local tribal doctor’s office, Marie has created a safe life for the two of them. One rainy night a car crash changes that. Marie is killed in the crash. She wakes in hospital as Jessica, the woman from the other vehicle, but with none of her memories. Standing at the foot of her bed is Jessica’s husband… a man Marie recognizes, and not in a good way. Spine-chilling stuff.
Moving east, Heidi McIntyre ‘s book Sea Magic takes place on the coast of New England where a salty sailor gives sage advice, and a legendary mermaid appears at least once a century. Madeline owns an antique store in this charming town and knows everyone by name. But she keeps a secret buried deep inside–her ability to touch an object and feel the essence of the previous owner.
I discovered this gift is called psychometry as I was researching the supernatural for the sequel to my own book, A Beginner’s Guide to Starting Over, of course (shameless plug), which features a slightly smug but endearing ghost, who’s turned up to help find a replacement for himself. Someone not quite as good as him, but who will do as a second husband for his widow. As ghosts go, he’s pretty lightweight, with nothing scary about him, but he’s a reflection of my belief that we’re always accompanied by the people we’ve loved, so why wouldn’t they show up every so often?
I may write one more update on books with friendly ghosts, since I know there are more waiting in the wings. But until then, don’t be afraid to say hello to the next ghost that crosses your path!
