Ghost

Author of Witch, a Branford Boase shortlisted book, Finbar Hawkins returns to the world of the supernatural for his latest story Ghost, perfect for chilly nights. Inspired by the haunted forest near his home in Wiltshire, nicknamed ‘Sally in the Wood’, he has delivered on the history of Ancient Britain, Celtic mythology and symbology, exploring the themes of second sight, fate and how nature can heal.

Breathing through the book are the intertwined first-person narratives of girls from different times, Aine, a runaway slave from 60 AD, Sarah, a persecuted white witch herbalist from the 18^th century and Marie, overshadowed by her twin and in search of her identity, in contemporary Britain. Each touched by death in December, they are haunted and pursued by a malign horned spirit that stalks the woods in each of their existences until they realise that only their connection can set them free.

Focusing on resistance, survival, courage in the face of adversity and how the echoes of the past can be mirrored in a landscape redolent with memories, Ghost imagines the lives of young women in worlds past and present.

This is a slow burner of a novella, as the reader becomes acquainted with each protagonist in short scenes. Hawkins crafts connections throughout as the girls glimpse other worlds, attempt to communicate and encounter meeting places. Just as with Mary in Burnett’s The Secret Garden, referenced at the start of the book, a bird shows them the way. Arts and crafts feature as they become aware of each other through charcoal drawings and wood craft. With punchy, short sentences to ramp up the tension, the book reaches its climax.

There are shades of C.J Cooke’s witchcraft fiction reflected in the use of a cave as a portal and the triple interlocking spirals of the Celtic triskele. Ghost will appeal to young people fascinated by myths and legends who like a touch of the uncanny. It is emotive with evocative imagery and a strong, feminist voice.