I’ve been looking forward to reading this book as I love stories with a supernatural theme and often find it difficult to find a really good ghost story, especially one that sets my heart racing and goose bumps leaping. But, “The Ghost of Edmund Winter” isn’t one of those stories that I felt intended to scare, and takes a different journey. Instead, the haunting leads to the female protagonist Joanne finding a new love and life for herself, when her old life falls apart as a result of her fixation with the Old All Saints Church, and she later discovers her family history and heritage, connecting her to the resident spooks and local area.
There are tense moments in the book where the ghostly activity takes on a more sinister theme, and things do go drastically wrong when an exorcism is performed prior to her god-daughter’s planned wedding ceremony taking place. However, this does feel out of kilter with the way in which the spirits are portrayed, as Joanne later in the story uncovers that although they haunt the Old All Saints Church, it is not with any real evil intention to maim or cause deliberate harm. An exorcism that would normally require Vatican approval, and a thorough church investigation before authorising, does seem somewhat out of place, and the story would have benefitted from the introduction of a medium or the secondary character of Ma Barrington, as the resident psychic, to play a much more integral role, with more detail and emphasis on the spirit activity taking place.
It would seem these spirits have been misjudged by the local residents for quite some time and following the doomed exorcism, with the help of the local priest, the truth of their demise is finally revealed. Could Ma Barrington’s reluctance to become involved be as a result of the rumours surrounding Edmund Winter’s death?
This is a different spin on a ghost story and I did enjoy reading it, although I would describe it is a slow burner, and for me, in parts, I felt the the story was a little disjointed and confusing, particularly around the time frame that passes between the events and the characters interaction. Maggie, does clarify some of the points of confusion, but this is much later on in the book and I felt that some of the explanations could have been offered sooner in the story, and for the reader’s benefit.
I enjoyed the developing relationship between Joanne and Greg, and especially the link back to their first childhood meeting. Although there was something missing for me in the leap of Joanne’s feelings from her growing attraction to Greg to a sudden declaration of her being in love with him. This may be as a result of the confusion around the time of passage between events that take place and Joanne’s travels between the North, where the Old All Saints church is situated, and her home town of London.
Maggie, through her writing implies of an intimacy between the Ghost of Edmund Winter and Joanne, the account of the spirit’s touch atmospheric and an interesting touch. Whilst she does go on to explain Joanne’s connection to the spirits of the Old All Saints Church, and that Edmund is reputed to be somewhat of a ladies man, I felt that his attraction to Joanne could have been more deeply explored and would heighten the drama of the haunting and their relationship greatly.
Joanne’s break down from reality and her journal accounts, I found interesting and well written. The reader is deliberately confused through the accounts as to whether the spirit is actually present and still haunting her, or the trauma of the exorcism has created a break in reality and fuelled the hallucinations and her own paranoia.
I was intrigued by the character of Ma Barrington, and I wanted to know more about her, especially her psychic ability and what she was capable of. Although she is a secondary character I did feel that she could have played more to her role, certainly in building some of the suspense and drama further of the spirit activity and hauntings. Maggie, does introduce a personal connection to the spirit of Edmund Winter, which was an interesting spin and introduced much later in the book.
The cover of the book is consistent with a spooky theme, with its grey and black colouring and is a typical dark silhouette of a church with birds flying over. However, had this not been recommended to me, the cover alone would not necessarily have enticed me to pick this off the shelf. I therefore felt that it didn’t quite do the story credit and so encourage readers to remember the old saying of “never judge a book by its cover.”
I award, The Ghost of Edmund Winter, 3.5 Stars.
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