In the Shadow of Blackbirds

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.

This book was very delightful. I think the main character is wonderfully written. Intelligent and daring for a girl in the 1918. I've read about Spanish Influenza and the horrors that were WWI, but there were lovely touches that made you feel like the author just took a picture of the time for a 16 year old girl dealing with so much.

The touches about everyone being so paranoid about being thought of as anti-American, the fact that spiritualist and spirit photography was so popular even the fact that people had lots of homemade remedies (which included lots of onions) to fight against catching the flu just seemed to make the story more relatable. Mary Shelley is trying to fond her place in a new town, where her childhood sweetheart lives, because her father is jailed as a possible traitor for helping some men avoid going to war. The story is filled with mystery,love, sadness, and bravery. Along with a touch of the supernatural Spoiler since she speaks with her childhood sweetheart's ghost.

Like any good book it did leave me wanting more to the story. While the ending was satisfying I did want to know how things turn out for Mary Shelley and her familySpoiler Stephen's ghost ask her while she is unconscious/having an out of body experience/dead? to tell him what she has done with her life when she is an old woman. I definitely appreciate the author's research into the time period and the life she gave all these characters. I'd love to read more books from Ms. Winters.