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Beautiful Ghost by Milana Marsenich
Sequel to the bestselling novel Copper Sky.
During the fall of 1918, the influenza pandemic crosses the nation and reaches the mining town of Butte, Montana.
Marika Jovich, who wants to go to school to become a physician, works menial tasks for Dr. Fletcher. She feels useless as she tries to save friends and neighbors from the ravages of the flu. In the midst of the pandemic, she watches the town shut down, young and old perish, and her medical dreams all but evaporate.
Kaly Monroe used to be a half-good woman of the night. She left that life to raise her daughter, Annie, and live and work with her long-lost mother, Tara McClane. Kaly waits for her husband, Tommy, to return from the war. Word from the east is that soldiers are dying of influenza, and she prays that Tommy is not one of them.
When an out-of-town woman named Amelia suddenly dies in Dr. Fletcher’s office, both women try to learn more about the mysterious woman and the circumstances regarding her death. Is she another casualty of the pandemic, or the victim of manmade foul play? Who is this stranger, and is her demise a portent of the fate that awaits the residents of Butte?
Book Review
Beautiful Ghost by Milana Marsenich is an engrossing historical account of life in Montana in 1918 during the flu pandemic. The story centers around two cousins who are as different as chalk and cheese and yet both are tough survivors. Life’s hardships fall regardless of if you are from the right or wrong side of town. Marika Jovich wants nothing more than to become a doctor and struggles to accept her life as a wife and odd-job assistant for Dr. Fletcher. Compared to her cousin, Marika’s life has been good, yet she struggles against the injustice of being female and not being able to follow her dreams. Kaly Monroe has had a grueling life, but despite her efforts to remain hardened love has blossomed inside her. Just when it seems fate has begun to smile on Kaly a dire sickness begins to spread. The first victim of the influenza dies as Marika comforts her. But before she dies, the patient tells Marika some strange things. Was it just the ranting of a fevered woman, or has an evil more portentous than influenza come to the small town of Butte, Montana?
Milana Marsenich is a consummate storyteller; her writing is smooth and her style almost lyrical and totally compelling. She is an incredible writer and has done an exhaustive amount of research. She has brought history to life in this superb story about the pandemic in Butte, Montana. Her descriptions of people and places are vivid, and I was immersed in the lives of these very different women. There is a macabre almost gothic feel to the writing which is softened by the poetical and picturesque. One such example is this: Kaly still felt the primal sting of rejection, a cold moss growing on the wrong side of her heart. Simply beautiful writing. Beautiful Ghost by Milana Marsenich is an excellent novel and comes very highly recommended by Chick Lit Café. Book reviewed by Emma Christy for CLC Book Reviews & Recommendations.
Buy Beautiful Ghost by Milana Marsenich today! You will be so glad you did!
Chick Lit Book Café
Awards First Place to
Beautiful Ghost by Milana Marsenich
for best
Historical Fiction
CLC Book Excellence Award
