Ghost Story by Elisa Lodato #GhostStory #ElisaLodato @bonnierbooks_uk #ManillaPress @ElStammeijer #BookReview

 

She came to write, but the island has its own story . . .

Off the windswept coast of Scotland lies Finish Island, rugged and remote. Once a home, it now stands abandoned, a place of dark history and deep memory, a place that holds its stories close. Unable to write since her daughter's death, it's here that Seren comes to work, hoping that the solitude and silence will inspire her next novel.

But the island holds memories of its own, restless and unwilling to stay buried. As unsettling occurrences become even more bizarre and frightening, Seren starts seeing uncanny resonances between her past and the island's history. There is something on this island, something ancient and unforgiving. Will Seren discover its secrets, before it's too late?

Ghost Story by Elisa Lodato is published by Manilla Press on 26 September 2024. My thanks to the publisher who sent my copy for review. 

I read and reviewed Elisa Lodato's two previous novels back in 2018; An Unremarkable Body and The Necessary Marriage. Both of those books made it into my Top Books of the Year list and I've been waiting for years for more from this incredible author. When I heard that Manilla Press were to publish Ghost Story, I was delighted and so keen to read it. 

This is an utterly captivating read. Once again, Lodato has created characters that are brilliantly human, realistic and incredibly flawed. She has set her story on the fictional island of Finish in the Outer Hebrides, a place that is lonely, with no people, yet is fully populated by the myths and history of the place.

Seren Doughty is a woman facing impossible losses. A mother without a child, a writer without a story. Her marriage has broken down, and her husband has moved on to a new wife and family. Seren's success as an author has always been judged on her first novel, she didn't want to write the second, yet she did. When her publisher urges her to go away, and write another book, she is frightened, unsure of if she can. Whilst researching in Edinburgh library, she is helped by Alex, a man far younger than her but who shows such an interest in her and her planned work. A man who will shape her future in many ways. 

Seren arrives on Finish, she will stay in the bothy, a small structure with little comfort. No running water, no toilet facilities. It would appear to be the perfect place for her to find inspiration for her work. Yet as soon as she arrives, and even before she lands, when she stays on the mainland at the home of people who know the island well, Seren feels unsettled. Terrible tragedies have taken place on Finish, and Seren experiences things that are unexplainable, and so unsettling. 

This really is a beautifully written story that encompasses the fragility of the bereaved mother, along with the vulnerability of her state of mind. Seren often makes decisions that are questionable, yet underneath, she is a strong woman who knows her mind, yet is dealing with the horrors that have consumed her life over the past years. 

The isolated setting of Finish adds such depth to the story, the island almost becomes a character in itself, with the whistling wind, the freezing streams, the treacherous landscape, and the constant reminders of what has happened there in the past. 

I don't want to give away any of the plot, but it is safe to say that Seren faces more danger from fellow humans than she ever does from the unsettled spirits that inhabit the island. Towards the end of the novel, the author exposes the madness that can turn people into monsters, it is tense and so emotionally challenging. 

This is another wonderful book from an incredibly talented author. Her ability to conjure up people and places, along with otherworldly aspects without veering into the ridiculous is sublime. Highly recommended. 

Elisa Lodato grew up in London and read English at Pembroke College, Cambridge. 

After graduating she went to live in Japan where she spent a year teaching, travelling and developing a love for cherry blossom and tempura. 

On returning to the UK, she spent many happy years working for Google before training to become an English teacher. 

Helping pupils to search for meaning in a text inspired Elisa to take up the pen and write her own. 

Her first novel, An Unremarkable Body, was longlisted for the Bath Novel Award 2016 and shortlisted for the 2018 Costa First Novel Award. 

Her second novel, The Necessary Marriage was published in August 2018. 

Elisa lives in Gloucestershire with her husband and two children.