Historical Fiction At a Glance: The Cooneen Ghost & Alias Grace
Recently, I decided to limit the genre of books I review for this blog. Before, I would just read any book that tickled my fancy (I'm a mood reader) from my bookshelf and then, if I felt like it, I'd review it. Now, I will review only books in these categories: Historical Fiction Mystery Fantasy (including YA) To begin this transition, I read "The Unbidden Visitor," a short story by Dianne Ascroft . It's a historical fiction piece that's based on the tale of the Cooneen/Coonian Ghost in Northern Ireland. In 1913, Bridget Murphy and her six children lived in a cottage on a farm in County Fermanagh. Her husband had died in a freak accident some time before poltergeist activity started up in their house, from knocking and banging to levitating dishes to drawers slamming shut on people's hands. The family had the local priest visit several times to remove the presence and bless the home, but it didn't help. Eventually, the Murphy family sailed to America...