Mary Rose by Geoffrey Girard

Fall has arrived, Halloween is just around the corner, and Kerry Hammond is here to review a ghost story to keep you up at night.

Mary Rose by Geoffrey Girard released in Paperback on October 17 from Adaptive Books. I was fascinated by the backstory of this book. It was based on a ghost story written by J. M. Barrie, best known as the creator of Peter Pan. Barrie wrote Mary Rose as a play in 1920 and Alfred Hitchcock attempted to adapt the story into a film but it never got off the ground. I was extremely excited to see how Girard would put a modern day spin on such a story.

Mary Rose Morland and Simon Blake are a successful Philadelphia couple. They’re in love and Simon is ready to pop the question. Before he proposes, however, they travel to England where Mary Rose grew up in order for Simon to ask her father for her hand in marriage. While there, Simon learns of an event in Mary Rose’s childhood where she disappeared for thirty-three days on a remote island. After this time, she showed up with no memory of the lost time and no visible scars. The details of her disappearance were never understood and Simon decides that he needs to understand what happened to her. They travel to the remote area of her disappearance and Simon’s obsession with the truth gets even stronger as he sees the effect the location has on his fiancé. It makes you wonder if some things are better left undiscovered.

I was drawn into the book immediately. I loved Girard’s writing style and found myself wondering why I hadn’t read this author before. His descriptions were wonderful and made me feel like I was right there; I was immersed in the story being played out in front of me. It was chilling and wonderful, a great book that is best enjoyed with the light on.

This book was provided to Mystery Playground by the publisher. The review was fair and completely independent.