To her imagination this was a place haunted by ghosts dating back to the original residents of the house and then some. Bashaw tells the story between flashbacks to the original inhabitants a century ago alongside experiences of the current owner, a woman named Emma MacLaine, who moves to Riverton and acquires the moldering wreck of this once majestic residence.
Emma’s purchase of the structure spared it from demolition, now she is restoring it to its former grandeur. She hires a firm specializing in refurbishing Victorian buildings to undertake the project. In 1890 a man named Edward Byrne commissioned the construction of the family mansion.
Bashaw regales us with extended flashbacks to life in the house with the Byrnes. Mr. Byrne had a thriving commercial concern, a factory making sewing machines. Mrs. Byrne was the compliant spouse, there to serve her husband, raising their children, being seen and rarely heard. That was the way things were in those days.
Like many families the Byrnes had their share of dysfunctionality. We meet their offspring, three daughters and the son who behaves like a pampered prince. We encounter their servants, a handyman who lives above the carriage house, and the live-in maid. We witness dreadful things.
I’m being cautious about revealing too much, suffice it to say, the house is haunted by the noisy ghosts of former occupants-their troubled spirits wreak havoc, with sudden disturbances taking place. Then there are all the ravens congregating around the house.
Emma discovers a majestic stairway mysteriously concealed behind drywall. Workers refurbishing the place witness freakish things. The Byrne place definitely has a Halloweenish vibe going.
Emma teams with a work colleague, Maggie, to find ways to assist those unquiet spirits in finding some peace then hopefully vacating the house. The author takes readers through expanding layers of the paranormal to accomplish this feat.
Romance fans will find plenty in this novel. There’s a forbidden relationship going on between two women a century ago. There’s another forbidden romance taking place between one of the Byrne daughters and, gasp, a librarian! Then there’s Emma’s slowly smoldering passion for someone who I’ll leave it to readers to discover. Horror, then romance, more horror, then more romance, what a formula we have here.
“Sight Unseen: Emma’s House” is many things; fantasy, horror, romance, historical mystery, feminist thriller, and domestic suspense. The author is currently writing a sequel to be set in Greenwich Village during the period just prior to WWI.
Vick Mickunas of Yellow Springs interviews authors every Saturday at 7 a.m. and on Sundays at 10:30 a.m. on WYSO-FM (91.3). For more information, visit www.wyso.org/programs/book-nook. Contact him at vick@vickmickunas.com.
Credit: Contributed
Credit: Contributed
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