Compelling Historical Fiction: Bellewether

I normally don't read historical fiction of American history or anything related to the subject matters that I teach during the day, but something about the back copy of Bellewether drew me in. Must have been the ghost story (always)- that was very poignantly done, and the present sense of the haunting was visceral even as we went back in time to learn the story behind the legend of Jean-Philippe and Lydia's ill-fated love. Oh, and he's French (French-Canadian, but that def counts in my book).

Normally, I also don't like stories that switch between the past and the present, because those stories never seem to tie up as well as they should. Again on that front, I was pleasantly surprised - the story was cohesive, and organic, and I never minded switching between several extremely compelling characters and well-laid plots. Charley, the new curator of a historical preservation museum, could have been a drag, but she's so compelling as a character, as well as all the cliquey drama that she has to put up with, and the author's experience in museum work made this just as authentic, just as much compulsive reading as the historical sections.

So really, I was surprised on all fronts, and I'm very glad that I found this book, and this author. Her prose was beautiful, the story was excellent, and although I was wanting more satisfaction in the multiple romance plots, I will absolutely be picking up Susanna Kearsley again. Soon.