In the Shadow of Blackbirds
Ratings7
Average rating3.4
15
Ratings7
Average rating3.4
In 1918, the world seems on the verge of apocalypse. Americans roam the streets in gauze masks to ward off the deadly Spanish influenza, and the government ships young men to the front lines of a brutal war, creating an atmosphere of fear and confusion. Sixteen-year-old Mary Shelley Black watches as desperate mourners flock to séances and spirit photographers for comfort, but she herself has never believed in ghosts. During her bleakest moment, however, she’s forced to rethink her entire way of looking at life and death, for her first love—a boy who died in battle—returns in spirit form. But what does he want from her?
Featuring haunting archival early-twentieth-century photographs, this is a tense, romantic story set in a past that is eerily like our own time.
Books
7 booksIf you enjoyed this book, then our algorithm says you may also enjoy these.
Reviews with the most likes.
I was pretty stoked to read this because I love reading about ghosts and I'm interested in the Spanish Flu epidemic (because I'm very well-adjusted, that's why.)
Unfortch, this kind of felt like the author was just like “I did so much research on Spiritualism and spirit photography and WWI and the flu and I MUST USE EVERY PIECE OF DETAIL I LEARNED OR IT WILL BE WASTED.” It also felt a bit heavy handed with its themes of equality for women and opposition to war propaganda. Like... we get it. But perhaps as a teen reader I would not mind as much. As an adult reader it was like, OK, Mary Shelley, we get it, girl power, girls can do photography too.
I liked the romance & mystery aspect more, although I was kind of disappointed that the solution to the mystery turned out to be that ghosts are real?? seemed like kind of a cop-out after all the build up about debunking fake spiritualists. Whatevs
I have to admit that what drew me to this title was the cover. In the Shadow is a great read. It is a historical novel with a touch of paranormal that is devoid of zombies, but imagines an end of the world situation that was very real. In 1918 a flu was killing by the thousands all over the US at the same time our boys were dying in trenches in the European theater of WWI. It examines the spiritualistic activities of the society: seances, spirit photography, and experiments to weight the soul at death. What I loved most about the writing in this story was the real sense of fear that paraded the empty streets of San Diego as people cowered under the fear of the flu as they had no resources except homemade folk remedies. There was a real sense that this might be the end of the world, and Winters brings the reader right into the middle of it.
My only problem with the story was the treatment of Aunt Eva. I was so happy to see Winter's used her to show that women entered the workforce to fill important jobs while the boys were at war (as they would do again later for WWII) but Mary Shelly kind of treats here Aunt like a member of the help who has to work all day and then whip up some onion soup. Poor Aunt Eva is there to be disobeyed.
A similar read, although it takes place during the Civil War, is Picture the Dead. And readers who enjoy well written stories of pandemics would also like this one (At the Sign of the Sugared Plum,etc). I could also see reading this paired with All Quiet on the Western Front. Thank you, too, to Winters and crew for adding a note in the back listing sources and further reads.
