Here is an intelligent and thought provoking ghost story, that will haunt you long and long. Simone, sophisticated, modern, a journalist, has the gift of contact with her long ago relatives. It’s not a welcome gift: her predecessors, poor, black women from the deep south in New Orleans, have no happy messages to bring her from the past. But they want to be heard. They need to be heard. There are old injustices to uncover. They have waited long enough.
So they press their way into Simone’s modern life whether she wills it or not. And one of them, Bleu, will not let go until her wrongs are righted, even if that means taking possession of one of Simone’s friends, wearing her like a garment, leading Simone to the terrible truth of her story. The premise, worked out against the deeply atmospheric backdrop of New Orleans at Mardi Gras, is terrifying, but there is a curious innocence about the ghost, in its directness and its neediness, that takes away the possibility of horror in this story and insists upon sympathy.
The story is told simply, with the lightness of touch that I have seen before in this author. There is nothing weighty or pretentious in the writing. None the less, it raises profound questions about the persistence of the past. In truth, the ghosts of the past never leave us: they are inscribed not only in our blood, our DNA, but also in the lives that we lead now, that our parents lived, that our children will live. The lives of black people in America, even now, even those like Simone, who have achieved success, equality, privilege, are inscribed with the wrongs of the slave trade. Privilege, entitlement, abuse – these also wind back through the generations. The men who abused poor black women in the brothels of New Orleans at the turn of the last century have not gone away. Injustice has changed, moved, morphed, but it hasn’t gone away either. Lives are still destroyed by poverty, prostitution, violence, abuse.
The story has the pace and suspense of a detective novel, but also allows us time to get to know the characters and care about them. Its conclusion is satisfying and neat. Billups is a master of her art, and at home in her material. A captivating book.
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There are 3 books in this series.
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- Reviewed in the United States on November 10, 2022Format: Kindle
Top reviews from other countries
- Kathleen FoxxReviewed in Canada on October 13, 2022
A deliciously descriptive read!
Format: KindleVerified Purchase
What a deliciously descriptive read! I've been a fan of E. Denise Billups for a while now, and I love her scene and setting descriptions! She captures the eerieness of her characters' supernatural encounters very well. I love stories with ghosts and the strange ability to interact with them on some level. I enjoy books that have some sort of ancestral element as well as different time periods, so this book and Denise's writing really draw me in and have everything I look for in this genre. This second book in the series can be read alone but also has some references to the first book, which is equally evocative.Kathleen FoxxA deliciously descriptive read!
Reviewed in Canada on October 13, 2022
In this story, the reader gets to experience New Orleans both present-day and historically. The main character, Simone, has ghostly encounters and must figure out why she's being haunted, how she's connected, and what she can do to help them rest peacefully. She's inhabited by these spectres, so she experiences life as it was back then through their eyes. Fascinating! The story fills you with the dream of what once was, evoking powerful visions in your mind as you read.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book!
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