Book 25

[tala-tale.livejournal.com]

Joplin's Ghost by Tananarive Due.

This is absolutely my favorite of Due's books so far. It's an odd blend of genres; I'd say about 60% historical novel, 30% romance, and 10% supernatural/suspense/horror, though it might take other folks differently. I didn't find it particularly scary except a little bit at the very end (not much even then), but I absolutely fell in love with her characters, especially her portrait of Joplin. There is a tenderness to her writing and her characterizations in this book that I hadn't encountered in her work up to this point, and it's that, rather than the main "ghost story" plotline which drew me in. I wouldn't characterize this as "timeless literature," but rather as a completely satisfying book to curl up with on a rainy day. My cat agreed! :D