In the Shadow of Blackbirds

In the Shadow of Blackbirds, by Cat Winters, 387 pages

Fleeing her home in Portland, OR as her father is arrested for treason, Mary Shelley Black runs to her aunt's house in San Diego.  Not only is she escaping the sight of her father's imprisonment, but she hopes to escape the Spanish flu.  It's 1918, and boys half the world away fight each other, only to come home broken, both physically and mentally.  At home, as families are broken by war and sickness, Spiritualism becomes all the rage, especially in the realm of photography, with photographers hoping to catch concrete proof of an afterlife.  Mary Shelley, with her inquistive and curious nature (her mother was a doctor, after all), refuses to believe in it - science hasn't proven it, and it's far too easy to doctor photos to make them look like spirits have shown up.  But after her best friend (who had the potential of becoming more than her best friend), Stephen, is killed in action, Mary Shelley manages to get herself struck by lightning.  And then she dies.  She forces her way back into her body, but she quickly finds herself haunted by Stephen, who visits her at night, talking of blackbirds and poison. Something clearly isn't right, and naturally, Mary Shelley puts her quizzical mind to work to find out what really happened to Stephen in an effort to put his spirit to rest.

I loved this book.  LOVED.  Mary Shelley is a fantastic heroine, especially due to her odd-for-her-time interest in science and engineering.  The mystery around Stephen's death is perfectly twisty and satisfying in its conclusion.  The inclusion of the historical elements of World War I and the flu epidemic that followed the end of it helped heighten the atmosphere surrounding Mary Shelley's haunting, helping to create a sense that the world as she knew it was ending, not only for her personally, but for everyone.  In short:

I'll try not to the throw the book at you, but I can't make any promises.  Definitely check it out if you enjoyed some of the topics that were in Libba Bray's The Diviners.

(Read as part of the Young Adult Library Services Association's (YALSA) Hub Challenge.)