BOOK REVIEW:The Orphan of Cemetery Hill by Hester Fox

Publication Date: September 15, 2020 Format: Paperback Genre:  Gothic Fiction

Publisher: Graydon House  Pages: 352 Buy: Kindle | Audio | Paperback

Synopsis

The dead won’t bother you if you don’t give them permission.

Boston, 1844.

Tabby has a peculiar gift: she can communicate with the recently departed. It makes her special, but it also makes her dangerous.

As an orphaned child, she fled with her sister, Alice, from their charlatan aunt Bellefonte, who wanted only to exploit Tabby’s gift so she could profit from the recent craze for seances.

Now a young woman and tragically separated from Alice, Tabby works with her adopted father, Eli, the kind caretaker of a large Boston cemetery. When a series of macabre grave robberies begins to plague the city, Tabby is ensnared in a deadly plot by the perpetrators, known only as the “Resurrection Men.”

In the end, Tabby’s gift will either save both her and the cemetery—or bring about her own destruction.

Review: 

I was sucked into this story right from the beginning.  When Tabby is abandoned by her sister on the doorsteps of a church at 12 and she has to find her way.  Running from her aunt and uncle who want to use her gift of talking to the dead for their own profit. But they aren't the only people she is running from.  Unbeknownst to her she is also running from a nefarious group of men who think of themselves as scholars, stealing bodies from cemeteries in order to try to resurrect the dead.  

This is a very atmospheric gothic romance.  Set in19th Century Boston provides the perfect backdrop for this story.  I could hear the ships in the harbor, feel the mist ghost across my skin. The history of this city is in full bloom in this book which is beautifully creepy.  Ms. Fox has crafted wonderful characters in a beautifully creepy setting. I really enjoyed this book and will be looking for more books by this author. 

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