The Girl Who Would Speak for the Dead
Contents:
Where can someone check some of these out? More of your work? It seems I should have a lot more piled up by now. I have this little dream of publishing a book of stories collected under this title, somewhere down the line. Write as much as you can, write a whole lot, just write and write and write. Yes, take classes; yes, attend conferences; yes, do the whole social media thing if you want—sure, why not? There is a long, lonely vigil requisite to the writing life and no way around it.
Sometimes these bad spells have lasted months and years. Eric spends most of his time writing, reading, and hanging out with his chinchilla and bunny. By day he's a literary agent, by night, he's an author of humor and YA books. His writing has sold into nine languages.
His Young Adult series, Inked, is out now with Bloomsbury. It would make a wonderful movie. I am regular reader, how are you everybody? This post posted at this web page is truly good. About Contact Philly Geek Awards. Geek of the Week: Author Description Eric spends most of his time writing, reading, and hanging out with his chinchilla and bunny. The book was not exactly what I thought it would be about, instead it was more about family bonds, secrets, deceit, love, and lessons learned.
Though, the title and description may have been a bit misleading, I will admit, I thoroughly enjoyed the book and read it in one afternoon. I love being surprised by books I normally would not read!
May 10, Elizabeth Kennedy rated it really liked it. In this dreamy and atmospheric tale, a set of child twins navigate through the adult world of loss and obsession. One never actually finds out if there is a reality in their power or of not, but the reader does read about family loss, grief and what being forced to live a false life does to generations of people. This book almost seemed like what it would be like to have a bad secret in the past, one that makes you sick to think of it now the you are clear.
It's dreamlike quality makes you wonde In this dreamy and atmospheric tale, a set of child twins navigate through the adult world of loss and obsession. It's dreamlike quality makes you wonder if what Emily is remembering or seeing is true, or a figment of her imagination as she strives to comfort. Very interesting writing style from this author, a summer dream of shockingly painful memories and their unexpected consequences. Dec 08, Paul Jr. Lovers of historical fiction and character studies. Like the titular edifice, The Tea House is a bit of a mystery, a solid debut by Paul Elwork which, in some respects, defies description or categorization.
At onc Like the titular edifice, The Tea House is a bit of a mystery, a solid debut by Paul Elwork which, in some respects, defies description or categorization. At once profoundly simple and deceptively complex, The Tea House focuses on that tenuous period of time when the world had lost its innocence in the War to End All Wars, but had yet to realize the true horrors that lay ahead in WWII. It is the summer of , and at Ravenwood, a family estate on the banks of the Delaware River, 13 year-old twins Emily and Michael Ward find themselves fatherless, a bit bored with their lives and perched on the edge of an encroaching adulthood that seems far too close, yet so very far away.
Emily discovers that she has a unique talent—she is able to manipulate the bones in her ankle to make a popping sound, one seemingly without origin. One night she uses her talent to frighten her brother by pretending to be a ghost, the knocking a form of communication from one world to the next. In particular, says Michael, Emily has a special connection with Regina Ward, one of their ancestors, a young woman who died tragically on the banks of the river and whose photograph has haunted Emily.
Like the better films of Robert Altman and the more accessible works of Anton Chekhov, The Tea House is at its core a deeply rich character study, not only of people, but of a fading innocence, a decaying lifestyle and the transitory unease of impending adulthood. The plot is simple and straightforward and the beauty of this story is that it can be enjoyed on both levels: Although the novel is rife with imagery and metaphor, author Elwork never once hammers us over the head with it.
Like the novel as a whole, it is all done subtly, with a keen eye for detail and a steady, easy prose. From the beginning, Elwork captures the boredom of childhood, the loss of the family patriarch, and the silence that threatens to swallow up the adults in the Ward family and, really, the entire world. The result is a relaxed, yet brooding prose that never hurries and always carries with it a sense of danger, of impending doom. There are no bumps or scares here, but the novel is most definitely a story of ghosts, of the loss of which no one will speak.
In that respect, the novel works on another level, as a suspense piece in the best Hitchcockian tradition. Told primarily from the point of view of Emily, we are taken on a journey as the young girl, in a desire to create more ghosts for their harmless charade, becomes fascinated with the story of her own family and begins to discover its history, the relationship of her parents and the things she has never known or even wanted to know before now.
We see Emily discovering her roots and what the loss of her father has meant to each and every member of the family. It is then that the Tea House becomes—for me at least—the elephant in the room, that thing that hovers about each and everyone in the world. It is there, on the grounds of Ravenwood, but rarely does anyone go inside and no one, save the children, speak of it, enjoy it.
Like all the men lost in the war the lack of men in this world becomes almost a character in itself , the Tea House is never really forgotten by the adults, but neither is it spoken of. And there are one or two times when the pace could have been quickened ever so slightly. But these are minor, minor quibbles, almost hardly worth mentioning. In the end, this piece works on so many levels it is hard to choose my favorite aspects. The character are well-drawn without being overwrought and even those lost to the war blossom into full, rich characters some worthy of their own novels as Emily learns more about them, about the lives she never knew they led, about their lost childhoods.
The prose ventures into truly beautiful areas without every turning purple, and the tone perfectly captures a time and a place that can never be regained. It is truly a coming-of-age story in the very best sense of the phrase; yet it manages to be very much more. A very impressive character study that makes me want to see what other stories Elwork has in him.
Originally reviewed for Guilty Pleasures at Uniquely Pleasurable Review by Tim Gleichner "Oh, what a tangled web we weave The story concerns a set of twins, Emily and Michael Stewart. While their family is well-to-do, their home life is a bit mysterious and at times I sensed a bit of sadness. Emily discovers she has a unique "talent" one day, and initially has some fun with it. But once her twin, Michael, discovers her secret, he convinces E Review by Tim Gleichner "Oh, what a tangled web we weave But once her twin, Michael, discovers her secret, he convinces Emily to expand their performances to include friends of theirs.
Eventually, word of Emily's talent gets out, and Emily and Michael are drawn into the adult world, where their audiences are more than curious. This book is extremely well written. Elwork does an excellent job of developing the story and bringing together characters in the story and the story itself in equal portions, so that the farther along the book goes, the more characters and circumstances fit together, giving the reader a more detailed understanding of the story.
The characters of Emily, Michael, and Mr. Dunne are extremely well developed. The detail given to these characters made it quite easy to conjure a picture in my mind as to what they might actually have looked like. This book held my interest from beginning to end.
I liked the story line and the author's writing style makes this a very easy read. And here are answers to the author questions: Who are you influenced by as an author? The list is long, as I guess it is for everyone. And like any writer, my debt to them is immeasurable. Do you plan on writing a sequel to this book, or do you have something else in the works? I don't have any plans for a sequel to The Tea House, but I do have another novel in the works, this one set during the early days of the Holocaust in Germany. I'd say more, but that would be telling.
This book was published by Casperian Books, a small, independent company that publishes fiction. It is a single-member limited liability company that publishes fiction and operates out of a chaotic home office with some help from the other occupants of the house and a few hearty volunteers. To view their other books, please click on the link above. A copy of The Tea House will be raffled off to a reader the first week of February.
Please visit the website at www.
The Girl Who Would Speak for the Dead [Paul Elwork] on bahana-line.com *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. The innocence of childhood, the unknown of. Feb 1, A debut novel about year-old twins, Emily and Michael, who live on a large estate that borders the Delaware River.
Your name will be entered in the drawing. Winners will be announced on the website under Raffle Winners. Good luck and have a great day! Mar 27, Felice rated it liked it. Deep like yes, but love? The genesis of the storyline is compelling. It's summertime and thirteen year old twins Michael and Emily are b-o-r-e-d. They have the luxury of boredom. Their family is well off and they have acres of freedom to enjoy. During the course of their idleness Emily figures out that by bending her ankle just so she can make a wonderfully fierce knocking sound. That's the kind of thing that can amuse a kid all day.
Michael and Emily think they have found a way to make that amusement last the summer. Why not frighten the local children with conversations from beyond the grave? They could have a seance with Emily's ankle as ventriloquist for the dead. Their jump from bone cracking to the buried is a natural one. Their much loved Father was killed in The Great War and the shadow of that loss engulfs their household.
The twins enjoy scaring their friends but as their performances become more elaborate they attract the adults in the neighborhood. Soon their bilingual skills are taken out of the nursery and put into the drawing room. In a time when so many were still mourning loved ones lost in the War, Michael and Emily find themselves in demand by grieving grown-ups. Michael is thrilled by the attention and power it presents but Emily is uncomfortable and confounded by their new found importance, by the desperate needs of the adults.
As the whole charade spins out of their control Emily becomes intrigued by the family secrets her "powers" are unearthing. There is more than one strength in author Paul Elwork's writing. Emily's transformation from selfish child to sensitive teenager and coming to terms with her conflicting emotions regarding her and Michael's deceptions are mapped out in a believable and interesting fashion.
Elwork's descriptions of the grief his characters are experiencing are realistic without being sentimental and contrived. The atmosphere that Elwork wraps around the novel from the lazy heat of a boring summer to the uncomfortable intensity generated by the twins' performances for the suffering is all beautifully rendered. The Girl Who Would Speak for the Dead is a well written coming of age novel, but as I said before not for someone my age.
I am going to pass it along to my 15 year old niece and I know that she will love it. The problem for me is the novel doesn't take that next step from telling the reader the story and telling the reader all about the characters to allowing the passion and precision of the writing to let the reader discover the those things. May 14, Brittany rated it it was ok. Michael and Emily are thirteen-year-old twins. When Emily shares with her brother that she can make a haunting knocking sound with her ankle without visibly moving it, he starts to think they could use this talent for something.
So they start small "communing to the dead" in front of some of their friends; then to some older ladies who find them a complete delight. All too soon though, Emily sees that there may be repercussions for pretending to speak for the dead. This books didn't really seem t Michael and Emily are thirteen-year-old twins. This books didn't really seem to be about a whole lot.
Maybe I just didn't get it, I don't know. I mean it was fascinating that Michael and Emily did this whole spiritualist thing and all. I feel like this book was pretty much just about dead people being dead and some of the terrible ways they died. I mean no one ever actually sees any ghosts throughout the whole book and no one talks to them.
It was very disappointing.
Paul Elwork - The Girl Who Would Speak for the Dead - Book | BookPage
I just expected it to be a lot creepier and ghosty. I know that it's based loosely on the Fox sisters, and they never saw any actual ghost, but still. I did like the twins and how odd they were. Emily's internal dialog and curiosity were fascinating at times. I wish there was something more shocking in their family history or anything at all. It was interesting learning about the little snippets, but ultimately lackluster.
Mostly the whole time I was reading this I was waiting for something to happen. Some things did happen, but none worthy of my intrigue. All in all this book was a huge disappointment for me. Not great, but definitely not the worst book I've read recently. It's creepy, a fact that stems not from ghosts but from long-hidden family secrets. The novel is loosely based on the Fox sisters, who started "spirit knocking" in the mid-nineteenth century and played a large part in the creation of the spiritualist movement.
The story of the Fox sisters fascinates me, which is why I picked this up. Thirteen-year-old Emily Stewart has disco Not great, but definitely not the worst book I've read recently. Thirteen-year-old Emily Stewart has discovered that she can crack a joint in her ankle and make it sound as though the noise is coming from the air. Her twin brother Michael decides that they should put on spirit knocking shows to scare the neighborhood children, claiming they are contacting their dead ancestor who drowned in the nearby river.
However, soon the children start telling their parents and grandparents about what they've seen, and these adults dealing with the devastating effects of WWI want to experience the phenomenon for themselves and reach out to the people they've lost.
I think my biggest problem with this book is that it didn't live up to its potential. Given the premise, it could have been much more interesting, fast-paced, and creepy than it actually was. Because of that, I would definitely recommend reading Harwood's book before this one. Mar 25, Kimberly rated it liked it Shelves: I am disappointed in this book.
I haven't looked at any other review previous to my own, as I want to see if my view is in sink or out of sink with others. Sometimes I need validation but in other instances like this, Ill stand on my own and check for validation later. Why is this a big deal with this particular book? First, I wanted to love this book. I just knew it would be right up my reading alley. I took the book title and its cover only and ran with it. Next, the story seemed to be taking I am disappointed in this book.
Next, the story seemed to be taking me down a path, I thought for sure I would love. My synopsis of the book: This is a coming of age story. At 13 years old, twins Emily and Michael are rich, imaginative and highly intelligent. One day, Emily discovers an interesting talent. Something she can do with her body.
That something, allows her to fool others into thinking ghosts are in the room. Her brother runs wild with this and starts inviting friends and neighbors over to contact their deceased loved ones. Only Emily and Michael know the truth. That the long dead are not actually contacting anyone. The kids take this so far that when Emily tries to tell the truth, she wont be believed.
I was so bored, at times, and totally lost. I hoped for the story to evolve, but to me, it just stayed stagnant. I did enjoy hearing about the life and times of the people in the Edwardian era but I didn't come for that.
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- Muster der Menschheit (German Edition).
I came for the ghosts, I came for something that would never happen. That is my own fault, I judged the book by its cover. I must learn not to do that. This book was just plain old boring. Feb 28, Lyndsey rated it liked it Shelves: I've really been into the ghost books here lately for some reason. It didn't blow me away but I am definitely interested and hearing what else the author can come up with. I think the main problem I had was with the MC. I just never connected to the main character and that's something that turns me away from a book fairly quickly.
The concept was great and the prose was beautiful, but I just felt so "out" of the story almost the entire time I was reading. But I ended I've really been into the ghost books here lately for some reason. But I ended up liking the flow of the story overall. Oh, also - the title reminds me' so much of Speaker for the Dead.
I really miss Ender. Looking forward to more from this author! Thanks to Goodreads and the publisher for this Firstreads book! Mar 15, Kelly Hager rated it really liked it. Shortly after their thirteenth birthday in , Emily and Michael start holding seances for lack of a better word with the neighborhood children. Emily's found that she can crack her ankle in such a way that nobody can see it move and it sounds like a knock.
They call them "spirit knockings" and the children all agree to not tell their respective parents or family members.
But, of course, that ends up not being true. I really enjoyed this story, which is a combination of a family saga there Shortly after their thirteenth birthday in , Emily and Michael start holding seances for lack of a better word with the neighborhood children. I really enjoyed this story, which is a combination of a family saga there are several flashback chapters about the twins' ancestors and a coming of age story.
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I can't condemn Emily for pretending to be able to contact the deadshe does it out of a desire to help people; she's not making fun. But wow, such a cruel thing to do. This is such a creepy story, toowhile the seances are fake, ghosts are all over this story. What a fabulous new book! Spooky and smart, Elwork has a gift for description that draws you in to this story, which has the feeling of an old classic, reminiscent of "Rebecca" by Du Maurier. This is a ghost story for people who don't believe in ghosts anymore. Touches on big issues without shoving them in your face.
Jan 18, Katie R. Herring rated it it was amazing. A tragically beautiful novel-- loved the writing. This does fit under my favorite genre-- a lack of flowers, however.
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I'd like more details of the past, but the novel's message was about the present. Nov 08, Lesly rated it liked it. This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. A little different story. Jan 19, Corrie rated it it was ok. This was an easy read, but there were two stories that were interwoven.
I thought the second one was more interesting than the first. May 06, Karen Bales rated it did not like it. A ghostly atmosphere with no ghosts and no action. Real life is more exciting! Feb 09, Laurie rated it liked it Shelves: Very quiet book indeed