Helen O’Neill has a gift, a lightness and quickness about her hands that seems otherworldly–a great contrast to the heaviness in her heart over her lost husband. When her talent for restoring artifacts is observed at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Helen is whisked away to work at J.P. Morgan’s personal library. The ornate building with its precious manuscripts is awe-inspiring, but even more jaw-dropping is the mysterious young woman who keeps appearing on Madison Avenue outside. Wearing an old-fashioned gown in the dead of winter, the girl seems invisible to everyone besides Helen. Who could she be? What connection does she have to J.P. Morgan? And what exactly is she wanting to communicate to Helen?
This Christmas novella is technically a ghost story, but it’s no more in the vein of “horror” than Dickens’ Christmas Carol. Richly atmospheric, the story displays middle-aged Helen, with all her past sorrows and present concerns, in the bustling world of 1912 New York. This is the perfect novella for a short and satisfying holiday read.
Rosanne E. Lortz 