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Book Review: Beautiful Ghost

Rating:

☆☆☆☆☆ 5/5

Title: Beautiful Ghost

Author: Milana Marsenich

Publication Date: November 8, 2022

Genre: Historical Fiction, Mystery

Cover:

I like the color combination featured on Beautiful Ghost with shades of blue and the orange-red sun. The concept fits well with one of Marsenich’s other books, Copper Sky. My two recommendations are to include a stronger tagline and to center the typography. If the cover is the first impression, it should be flawless. (This applies to the printed book and not the digital cover.)

Premise

The stories of three women in Butte, Montana, collide during the fall of 1918 when the influenza pandemic grips the country. Marika Jovich dreams of becoming a physician, but instead, she works for the town doctor as they struggle to fight the unseen monster. Kaly Monroe is a former prostitute who has found a new life as the wife of a soldier stationed overseas and the mother of her young daughter and a boy she has vowed to raise as her own. Amelia is a single mother from the east who dies in the doctor’s office, but not before raising the suspicion of Marika and Kaly. Was she just another fatality of the flu, or was something more sinister at play?

Why I chose this book:

Author Milana Marsenich requested this review. My husband and I have vacationed in Wyoming for the past two years, which has led to a love for that area of the country. Montana is next on our list of places to visit, so I jumped at the chance to read a book set in this beautiful state.

First Impression:

The book opens with a chapter entitled “The Wolf Dog,” in which Marsenich sets the stage through the eyes of a wolf-dog, the loyal companion of an orphaned boy named George. The reader is offered a primal view of the pandemic that could only come from the perspective of an animal who operates on his senses and instincts. The wolf-dog reappears throughout the book to reveal aspects of the backstory relating to Amelia and her journey to Butte. I loved Marsenich’s creative use of the animal’s thoughts to offer additional insight into the story.

What I loved:

Marsenich has one of the most distinctive writing styles I have encountered. Her sentences contain one detail after another, linked with an almost poetic touch. Not once did I feel burdened by these details, however. Her word choices are often unexpected yet perfect in describing the environment and characters and setting the tone. I reread sentences and even entire passages in appreciation for her creative way of telling the story. She left me with many sentences and passages to be considered for the Quotable Quotes section of this review.

One theme that I kept coming back to is how big and small decisions can dramatically alter the course of a person’s life while also creating a trickle effect on the lives of others. This is especially evident in the relationship between Kaly and her mother, Tara. Tara altered Kaly’s life forever when she gave her and her sister up to an orphanage, but she changed it again when she reentered her life as an adult. And then there was Amelia, whose fate was sealed the moment she decided to board the train for Montana.

Additional Thoughts:

Being on this side of the COVID-19 pandemic allows the reader to appreciate the characters and their stories better since we recently experienced a virus that devastated so many. Despite occurring nearly 100 years apart, the social impact was eerily similar as people struggled with many of the same emotions: fear, sadness, grief, and anger. The same challenges were experienced as people struggled to live in isolation and survive without work and income.

When I started Beautiful Ghost, I didn’t realize that Copper Sky existed. While Beautiful Ghost can stand on its own, Copper Sky tells the backstories of Marika and Kaly in more detail. Readers may wish to reach Copper Sky first to appreciate the entire story better.

Quotable Quotes:

• Marika wished she could imbibe in some temporary relief; take off this edge of pain, if only for a little while. The year had taught her so much. Sometimes she longed to pull her innocence out of her wedding night trunk and try it on again, if only for a night, knowing it would soon slip through her fingers and be gone.
• This demon devil, so small she couldn’t see it, plagued her. She was starting to understand evil, to believe in evil. It could come out of nowhere and permeate a town. Or it could just sit down hard on one person. No good luck or good heart could fend it off. Nothing bad could fend it off. The flu cared nothing for good or bad or anything in between. Influenza had not one ounce of caring or discrimination.
• Even with this violent illness, the world would go on. Those who struggled to survive might succeed or they might not. Just a simple action, such as following a man west, or drinking on a train, could make that difference. An impulse, or a fraction of a second, decided who lived and who died.

Who might enjoy this book:

Beautiful Ghost is ideal for readers who enjoy historical fiction highlighting the plight of women in the early 1900s.

Overall Impression:

Five stars. As I’ve sat here attempting to collect my thoughts on this book, I can’t help but come back to the title: Beautiful Ghost. After reading the book, the reader will quickly identify the obvious “beautiful ghost,” but I would argue that each of the main characters also left behind beautiful ghosts from their pasts: the people they once were to embrace the people they had become. Marsenich has won me over with her creative and unique writing style and ability to share a story that captures a devastating time in our history while focusing on the strength of the human spirit. I am quite sure that more of her books will find their way to my bookshelves.

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