Review of Hattie Vavaseur

[SunVixen]

[Following is a volunteer review of "Hattie Vavaseur" by M. Rebecca Wildsmith.]

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4 out of 4 stars

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The book Hattie Vavaseur by M. Rebecca Wildsmith is named after its main character. At the venerable age of 63, Hattie Vavaseur finds herself in a very bad plight. She is practically kidnapped and forced to live in a very strange house. Besides, she suffers from partial memory loss. What's more, poor Hattie's new environment seeks to convince her that she has actually died and turned into a ghost.

Hattie Vavaseur is flawlessly edited. There are no typos or errors in this book. Also, this novel is written in excellent literary language. The author is especially good at describing surroundings, whether it's a cluttered kitchen in a female medium's house or a drawing room in a mysterious manor.

In addition, a very talented stylization in this book deserves admiration. The action of Hattie Vavaseur takes place at the beginning of the 20th century, in Britain. This novel is written in such a way that it really looks like it was created in that era. M. Rebecca Wildsmith carefully chooses her words and avoids the slightest anachronism. For example, she calls the WWI the "Great War". After all, no one knew in those days that there would be another world war.

The plot also suggests an ingenious stylization. It seems that the author set out to collect in one book all the usual components of a classical English crime story. Undoubtedly, she succeeded in this. However, there is also an element associated with supernatural things and magic in the plot of Hattie Vavaseur. This element gives to the traditional plot freshness and even makes it very unusual. Indeed, spirits rarely investigate murders.

Theoretically, a crime story with murders and restless spirits should be very macabre. Actually, there is a lot of humor in Hattie Vavaseur. Living and dead characters constantly find themselves in very funny and awkward situations. Who would have imagined that a ghost would start sneezing during a session with a medium?

As for the characters, the main protagonist is undoubtedly very likable. Hattie is a strong and intelligent woman. She tries to carry herself with dignity and keep her head in any circumstances, no matter how strange these circumstances may be. Perhaps, she is too worried about acting lady-like. Nonetheless, such behavior was quite common in that time. It can be seen as part of the great stylization that characterizes the book. The rest of the characters are very interesting people too.

Therefore, Hattie Vavaseur is a perfectly written novel with an interesting plot, likable main protagonist and a good deal of humor. It is difficult to find any shortcomings in Hattie Vavaseur for which this book could be blamed. Because of it, I give this novel 4 out of 4 stars. This book will certainly appeal to those who love classic crime stories and great humor.

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Hattie Vavaseur
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[Raluca_Mihaila]

I find only good reviews regarding this book, and your work definitely convinced me to read it! Thank you for your thorough recommendation!