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A review by rachel_abby_reads
The Girl Who Would Speak for the Dead by Paul Elwork
3.0
13 year old, well-to-do and precocious twins Emily and Michael are bored in the summer of 1926(ish). When Emily learns that she can crack the joints in her foot to make an eerie knocking sound, Michael decides it's time to start having seances to commune with the dead. It begins with their friends in the neighborhood, but it quickly expands to adults, grieving over their dead lost to age, disease, and war. Then, it isn't quite such a game any more.
Add to that the history of the family mansion, the mysterious relationship between their widowed mother and the old "family friend," and a few other characters who skitter across their lives, and it's a pretty good read. It certainly got me thinking about what would my reactions be if someone offered me the chance to communicate (however superficially) with any of my dear departed. Would I be tempted? Would the temptation be greater if I felt that there were unresolved issues between us? I'd ask if anyone in this modern age really had interest in communication with the spirit world, but ouija boards and psychics continue to do brisk business, so maybe.
Still: what was the point of Mr. Holt? Why introduce so many neighborhood children, just to have them fade out without ever making a mark? Emily and Michael seem to have a family history of depression a mile wide; what does the future hold for them?
And is the tunnel between the house and the garden shed/tea house significant in any real way, or just a narrative convenience.
Ultimately, I found the story more interesting than satisfying.
Add to that the history of the family mansion, the mysterious relationship between their widowed mother and the old "family friend," and a few other characters who skitter across their lives, and it's a pretty good read. It certainly got me thinking about what would my reactions be if someone offered me the chance to communicate (however superficially) with any of my dear departed. Would I be tempted? Would the temptation be greater if I felt that there were unresolved issues between us? I'd ask if anyone in this modern age really had interest in communication with the spirit world, but ouija boards and psychics continue to do brisk business, so maybe.
Still: what was the point of Mr. Holt? Why introduce so many neighborhood children, just to have them fade out without ever making a mark? Emily and Michael seem to have a family history of depression a mile wide; what does the future hold for them?
And is the tunnel between the house and the garden shed/tea house significant in any real way, or just a narrative convenience.
Ultimately, I found the story more interesting than satisfying.