Historical supernatural romance, set in rural England during the Great War, where a bullied young man finds happiness and solves the mystery of the local ghost. This is at best guess a novella length piece, with minimal to no side or sub-plots. Competently written romance with some decidedly anachronistic feeling details. ( )

Originally posted on Tales to Tide You Over

This is an odd story, and I can tell you it didn’t go where I expected most of the time, but I enjoyed the read. I’ve read other Wessman Kneale stories set in her magic-infused Regency era, but this one stretches to the time of the Great War with only an homage to the other tales. This story jumps right into the middle, leaving me scrambling to get my bearings, but the important parts are clear enough to keep me going.

Miss Georgia Palmerton, otherwise known as the Stoweham Ghost, is a bit of a bully, but she mostly choses deserving victims. Her story is a true tragedy, but she’s had long enough to come to terms with the fact and move on in her naked unlife.

James Cowper was bullied so horribly as a kid that he has PTSD from the experience, not that it’s recognized in this time period. He’s been declared the village coward, an undeserved reputation but unsurprising when the village hero is none other than the bully who traumatized him as a kid. Yet, this very ostracism is what makes him willing to converse with a highly unconventional ghost.

While very much a sweet love and growth story, The White Feather has explicit and enthusiastic sex so is not appropriate for all ages.

I don’t always agree with the main characters’ actions, and I so wanted the story to prove only one bully existed rather than that the whole village took pleasure in making James miserable, but the events felt appropriate to the characters. There’s a strong theme about the nastiness of people and how they should get their comeuppance.

I did find it odd how magic was pervasive a hundred years ago but then vanished so completely from the collective memory that no one considered another explanation for the Stoweham Ghost. Still, the question made me curious rather than disrupting my enjoyment of the tale. I wondered what drove Aunt Violet as well. I loved the mix of the unreal and actual historical events, too.

The story is a short one, yet feels complete even so. The characters, however, are interesting enough to make me wonder if this isn’t the last we’ll see of this particular family and estate. Odd it may be, but in a good way.

P.S. I received this ARC from the publisher through NetGalley in return for an honest review. ( )