The Forgotten Boy
Ratings1
Average rating5
15
Ratings1
Average rating5
A building undergoes multiple transformations through the centuries--but a fair-haired boy continues to haunt its halls . . . 1460: Ismay Deacon, caught between sides in the War of the Roses, tries to hide away in her ancestral home, Havencross. But when word gets out that she has a child, and speculation on who the father might be, Ismay has to make a terrible choice to protect her son. The Deacon family disappears, but there are rumors of a fair-haired, unsmiling ghost of a boy haunting the halls of Havencross . . . 1918: War nurse Diana Neville is hired by Havencross School for Boys to run the infirmary. She's enjoying the change from the front lines--but soon, vials are smashed in the infirmary when no one is there, there is knocking on her door in the darkness, and she hears footsteps in empty corridors. Moreover, the youngest students are reporting a ghostly boy luring them from bed in the middle of the night. But as Diana tries to investigate, she is faced with an outbreak of the Spanish flu, a child's disappearance, and a journey into terrifying medieval tunnels. 2018: Juliet Stratford is hired to spend the winter at Havencross to clear it out before it becomes a luxury hotel. Juliet, a historian, throws herself into the mysteries of the estate. Who is the forgotten boy who has haunted Havencross for so long? And is it the same boy that Juliet has begun to see in the echoing, empty house?
Reviews with the most likes.
The Forgotten Boy by Laura Anderson
This gothic historical fiction was a wonderful surprise. I usually don't like books that cover 3 time periods and 3 POV but it worked. All 3 stories come from Havencross and I loved the connections between all 3. We get the story of Ismay, a lady caught during the time of civil war, the war of the roses. She chooses her son over fealty to the realm. Then we have Diana, a nurse during the war, starts work at Havencross becoming a nurse at the school for boys and Juliet who is hired to clear Havencross out before it becomes a hotel.
Both Juliet and Diana see the ghost of a boy. Juliet takes on the task of trying to figure out who the little lost boy is and the story is truly heartbreaking. I loved the book. I thought the writing was phenomenal and the whole tone of the book was eerie and fabulous!
Excellent narration and my kind of book. 4.5 stars
