Review by mratdegraff91 -- The Saltwater Ghost
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mratdegraff91
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Review by mratdegraff91 -- The Saltwater Ghost
[Following is the official OnlineBookClub.org review of "The Saltwater Ghost" by Shiela Jane.]
2 out of 4 stars
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The Saltwater Ghost By Shiela Jane
The Saltwater Ghost is a story following the life of Alden Jurrien, a divorced professor, who resides in India at the beginning of the story. He is offered a new teaching position in his hometown of Saltwater, back in the U.S., that he is hesitant to take due to past events that took place there. The town is said to have a ghost by the name of Lainey Mercier who drowned in the nineteenth century. She was a young Mi’kmaq Indian who fell in love with a Sea Captain’s son. It was a forbidden love and Captain Malcolm Strachan was determined to see that his son Ewen married someone of higher status. He planned to ship his son back to Europe where he had promised a family that he would wed their daughter. On the day that he was to be shipped Ewen ran off from home while Lainey watched the ship sale away. She attempted to swim after it, which led to her drowning. Her spirit continues to walk the beach in waiting on her young lovers return.
This follows Alden in that his best friend also died on that beach when he was younger. He fell from the cliffs after a fistfight into the icy waters. This has haunted Alden his entire life and has kept him from wanting to return home but he decides to face the ghosts of his pasts and take the teaching position. Upon starting he meets a young lady name Wynn who he takes in after seeing her struggle with her living situation. The story continues to follow them building up on their love and helping them discover more about themselves, the town, and the story surrounding the ghost of Lainey and Ewen. They do this with the aide of one of Captain Strachan’s descendants named Louise Beck who is a spitfire of a woman who helps save an apartment complex housing many geriatric individuals like herself who would otherwise be homeless without the apartments.
The story itself has a great plot and I loved the characters. My favorite character was definitely Louise Beck. She lived off the bare minimum yet was as happy as could be. I also loved how descriptive the author was when it came to describing the scenery surrounding each character. The way the author described the white out blizzard toward the end of the book had me shivering as if I was actually out in the cold myself. I also really enjoyed reading how the love between Alden and Wynn developed. It was interesting being that Wynn was half of Alden’s age and also one of his students. It showed the controversy surrounding such relationships and showed the complications associated with it.
Something I really dislike about the storyline was that it was difficult to follow. It would switch from character to character with each chapter for a while before staying more constant with Alden toward the end of the book. I also found several grammar and wording mistakes throughout the entire book. Some of the sentences were so mixed up that I would have to read part of one and skip down to another section for it to make since and then return to the line to pick up the words that actually went with another section. The formatting was also off quite a bit. The sentences would break off randomly and pick up as if it were a new paragraph. I also felt that there needed to be page breaks at the end of the chapters before the next one began.
Because of the above-mentioned critiques, I give this book a 2 out of 4 stars. With some reformatting and more editing I think this book would be perfect and would have a better rating. I did enjoy the storyline and would recommend it to other readers if it were cleaned up a bit.
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The Saltwater Ghost
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2 out of 4 stars
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The Saltwater Ghost By Shiela Jane
The Saltwater Ghost is a story following the life of Alden Jurrien, a divorced professor, who resides in India at the beginning of the story. He is offered a new teaching position in his hometown of Saltwater, back in the U.S., that he is hesitant to take due to past events that took place there. The town is said to have a ghost by the name of Lainey Mercier who drowned in the nineteenth century. She was a young Mi’kmaq Indian who fell in love with a Sea Captain’s son. It was a forbidden love and Captain Malcolm Strachan was determined to see that his son Ewen married someone of higher status. He planned to ship his son back to Europe where he had promised a family that he would wed their daughter. On the day that he was to be shipped Ewen ran off from home while Lainey watched the ship sale away. She attempted to swim after it, which led to her drowning. Her spirit continues to walk the beach in waiting on her young lovers return.
This follows Alden in that his best friend also died on that beach when he was younger. He fell from the cliffs after a fistfight into the icy waters. This has haunted Alden his entire life and has kept him from wanting to return home but he decides to face the ghosts of his pasts and take the teaching position. Upon starting he meets a young lady name Wynn who he takes in after seeing her struggle with her living situation. The story continues to follow them building up on their love and helping them discover more about themselves, the town, and the story surrounding the ghost of Lainey and Ewen. They do this with the aide of one of Captain Strachan’s descendants named Louise Beck who is a spitfire of a woman who helps save an apartment complex housing many geriatric individuals like herself who would otherwise be homeless without the apartments.
The story itself has a great plot and I loved the characters. My favorite character was definitely Louise Beck. She lived off the bare minimum yet was as happy as could be. I also loved how descriptive the author was when it came to describing the scenery surrounding each character. The way the author described the white out blizzard toward the end of the book had me shivering as if I was actually out in the cold myself. I also really enjoyed reading how the love between Alden and Wynn developed. It was interesting being that Wynn was half of Alden’s age and also one of his students. It showed the controversy surrounding such relationships and showed the complications associated with it.
Something I really dislike about the storyline was that it was difficult to follow. It would switch from character to character with each chapter for a while before staying more constant with Alden toward the end of the book. I also found several grammar and wording mistakes throughout the entire book. Some of the sentences were so mixed up that I would have to read part of one and skip down to another section for it to make since and then return to the line to pick up the words that actually went with another section. The formatting was also off quite a bit. The sentences would break off randomly and pick up as if it were a new paragraph. I also felt that there needed to be page breaks at the end of the chapters before the next one began.
Because of the above-mentioned critiques, I give this book a 2 out of 4 stars. With some reformatting and more editing I think this book would be perfect and would have a better rating. I did enjoy the storyline and would recommend it to other readers if it were cleaned up a bit.
******
The Saltwater Ghost
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
Like mratdegraff91's review? Post a comment saying so!
Latest Review: Becoming the Dragon by Alex Sapegin
