Goode Vibrations of the Wresting Place

by Amy Safford

The transformation of Penelope Brigid Goode begins after a near-death experience on her 30th birthday while skiing on a mountain in Maine. She wakes up in recovery and the world around her is more vibrant, vivid, and intense. Strange visions begin to creep up on her like a dream—the spirits of her recently deceased dog and the mother she hardly knew. Ghost owls cast shadows of premonition.

When the number three occurs and reoccurs, Pennie fears for her sanity, especially while she and her uncle survey a graveyard near the former Home for the Feeble-Minded. Here she senses her first vibrations—spirits of the Malaga Island settlement reinterred on these very grounds after a forced exile over a century ago by the State of Maine, a chapter of racism and eugenics in Maine’s history.

Despite warning signs and against her best instincts, she rushes headlong into a relationship with the developer who is excavating near the graves. She begins to realize the signs all around her, listen to her intuition, and awaken to her visions. Through a slow unearthing, Pennie uncovers the past and recognizes the power of her dreams, the haunting history of Malaga Island, and her fight for justice and the truth.

307 pages, Kindle Edition

Published July 20, 2024

About the author

Amy Safford, MFA, is an award-winning Maine author. Her debut novel, Goode Vibrations of the Wresting Place, won three international literary awards: the 2025 Eric Hoffer Spiritual Fiction and First Horizon Book Awards, and the Independent Publishers IPPY Silver Medal for Visionary/New Age Fiction. She was also named a finalist in the 2024 American Book Fest Visionary Fiction and 2025 Maine Writers and Publishers Alliance Speculative Fiction Awards.

Her stories blend historical and literary fiction, suspense and paranormal, for an enticing, thought-provoking reflection on New England regional history that shapes our lives today. With deep roots in the maritime coast, river valleys, and western hills of Maine, Amy descends from generations of people who settled the pine tree state.

She taught English composition at the University of New England and was a contributing writer to Coastal Fish of Southern Maine and New Hampshire published by Wells Reserve & Laudholm Trust. Her alma maters are Boston University and USM Stonecoast MFA Program. The former executive director of the Maine Psychological Association, Amy lives in Saco with her husband, Jon.

Reviews

[Kriti Dalmia · Rating 5 out of 5]

°book review°

Goode Vibrations of the Wresting Place by Amy Safford

This book isn't just about a tragic historical event; it's about real people, real families, and the lasting scar of being erased from history.

Imagine waking up one day and being told that your home, the place your family has lived for three generations, is being taken away because of who you are; a community of mixed-race people whom the state of Maine decided were a "nuisance." That is the gut-wrenching, true story at the core of Goode Vibrations of the Wresting Place.

Author Amy Safford's powerful achievement is giving voice and dignity back to the people of Malaga Island, whose homes were literally dismantled and whose lives were uprooted in the early 1900s. She doesn't use one hero; instead, she creates a "chorus" of voices:

* The Ancestors: We hear from the women and families who lived there, showing us how they held their history in their bodies, their daily routines, and their fierce acts of care and love for one another. They remind us that history isn't just dates and facts; it's the inherited weight of memory.

* The Descendants: We meet their fictionalized family members in the present day, still trying to piece together the shattered record, still feeling the quiet, persistent ache of their ancestors' trauma.

* The Land: Through the guidance of a Penobscot tribal historian, the book reminds us that the land itself is a witness. It holds the trauma of what happened and is a crucial part of the healing.

This novel is an emotionally resonant act of historical justice. It's not a dry history lesson; it's a moving tribute to resilience. Safford treats the community's painful story with the utmost respect, making sure to name her sources and collaborators. This means she's not just telling their story; she's giving it back to the community in a way that models respect and "consentful storytelling."

Ultimately, Goode Vibrations of the Wresting Place asks us to look closely at a dark chapter of American history, one defined by racism and nativism and to feel the human cost of being silenced. It's a must-read for anyone who believes that to truly understand who we are, we must first honor the stories of those we tried to forget.

[Janet | purrfectpages · Rating 3 out of 5]

After experiencing a near death experience on her 30th birthday, Penelope “Pennie” Goode awakens a new person, literally awakening a deep seated curiosity that needs answers. Suddenly, Pennie finds herself immersed in the heritage of the people and the land that surrounds her in ways she never was before.

Now occupying a sort of sixth sense, Pennie begins getting visions and vibrations which ultimately lead her to spirits of the Malaga Island, a controversial and heartbreaking chapter in Maine’s rich history. Complicating matters, Pennie enters into a relationship with a developer who is embroiled with the land from a different perspective. But the deeper Pennie digs into the past, the more she becomes moved to rectify her own present.

Goode Vibrations of the Wresting Place is a layered book, not unlike the history in which it serves to expose. Blending not only genres, but both fact and fiction, author Amy Stafford sheds light on little known facts about the macabre side of Maine’s history. Meanwhile, the fictional aspects of the book offer a mix of existential crisis and personal growth. A hard read on many levels, I would suggest this book to readers who enjoy learning about little known, yet hard hitting aspects of American culture.

[Nikki · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was historically informative while maintaining a compelling narrative. I think the supernatural elements in the form of premonitions and animal spirit guides gave it a level of intrigue while staying true to the story. Overall I think it worked really well and appreciated the overall message of the story regarding respecting the land and history of a group of people that’s been all but erased due to colonization and economic progression.

The story takes place in present day when our MC, Pennie, working at her uncle’s law firm is sent to survey a cemetery for an impending land development. Due to premonitions and visions following a near death accident she senses the spirits of the Malaga settlement. She unearths the history of Malaga Island, a peaceful and thriving diverse and mixed race fishing community forced into exile over a century ago by the state of Maine. She quickly understands the stakes of protecting their history and knows she must fight to protect their stolen land from excavation. There were important takeaways and themes involving racism and eugenics, responsible land development, oppression by society resulting in forced exile, DEI in a white society. While uncovering and exposing the hidden past of Malaga, she is able to honor the ancestors of their community- all of it inspired directly by Maine’s history. There was also a romantic sub plot that played directly into the tension of the story which I found added a nice layer to it.

I appreciated Pennie’s persistence for justice as she learned the traumatizing history of the land and its people. The conclusion was satisfying and overall I would recommend!

𝐆𝐞𝐧𝐫𝐞: General Fiction • History • Supernatural Suspense
𝐅𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐭: ebook (305 pgs)
𝐑𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠: ★★★★☆ 𝟒
𝐕𝐞𝐫𝐝𝐢𝐜𝐭: I found it incredibly informative with an important takeaway/message

✨Thank you so much to the author for my #gifted ebook copy!

[Brittany · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am torn on how to review this book.

The history part was interesting, and sad. I had to Google things a few times while reading this. It does seem that the author did her homework while writing this book. The whole Malaga Island, Home For The Feeble Minded, and graveyard story was disturbing and heartbreaking. Amy Safford did a good job laying out what happened and bringing attention to a few things that people may not know about (or at least it opened my eyes).

There was a little mystical aspect to the story as well with Pennie's visions and dreams after the skiing accident. I was left with a few questions surrounding Chloe's death, and even Pennie's mom. I feel like Ward was being nefarious and had a hand in it. He was such a perfect a-hole jerk in the book too. The author nailed his personality and those he was involved with. Made you really want to punch the guy.

However, this was not full of a lovable cast, but rather with characters that are not likable. While I did end up liking the FMC, it took me a bit to get to that point. Her uncle that she worked for was likeable....but not his wife. Honestly, I was rubbed wrong when the story had a racial joke early on in it. Might be why I didn't connect with the characters like I normally do in books.

[Pauline Briere]

Goode Vibrations of the Wresting Place pits Penelope (Pennie) Goode, a 30-year-old woman who feels “stalled” in her career and romantic life, against her steadfast Maine family, culture and landscape. With elements of history, romance and mystery this novel is a tale of buried secrets just waiting to surface given the right circumstance and conviction of a character such as Pennie.

A new development project in Fairview and her personal crisis upend the notion that wrongdoing, however long past, can be buried forever. Malaga Island’s mixed-race inhabitants not only were exiled from their homes, their dead were exhumed and moved to a mainland cemetery––all for the sake of land appropriation. Safford tells an authentic tale of greed and corruption, not only back in the early 20th Century but also today. What has changed in a little over one hundred years? Perhaps the ability of brave individuals such as Pennie to speak up.

Rich in sensory detail of place, the Maine landscape is just as much a protagonist as Pennie herself. I read the last page eager for more, feeling very much that this woman, finally coming to terms with the mystery of her own past, was just getting started on the Anglo establishment’s buried misdeeds.

[Karen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Met the author at a psychic fair, really enjoyed this book

[Clockwork Chapters · Rating 4 out of 5]

It took me a few tries to truly get started on this book partly because life got hectic with festivals and celebrations but once I did, it was unlike anything I’ve read lately. Goode Vibrations of the Wrestling Place turned out to be such a fascinating, layered experience… and then down a historical rabbit hole I fell into while reading it.

Amy Safford weaves together a modern story of self-discovery and spiritual awakening with one of Maine’s most heartbreaking and overlooked historical tragedies about the story of Malaga Island. The novel follows Penelope Goode, who survives a near-death experience and wakes up with more than a second chance at life. She begins to feel vibrations, visions, and an uncanny pull toward the unseen. When her work brings her to the forgotten graves on Malaga Island, her new “sixth sense” draws her into the island’s dark and buried history.

What I loved most was how Safford balances emotional depth with historical facts. The tale of Malaga Island and its history is both haunting and vital. Watching Penelope fight to protect this land from modern-day development gives the story real heart though I had to do alot of googling at this point.

This isn’t a fast-paced read, It’s a slow-burn reflection on trauma, justice, and rediscovering purposes. There were moments I wished for a bit more depth in some of the side characters, but Penelope herself completely won me over. Her transformation from a woman quietly surveying graves to one fiercely defending the truth felt inspiring.

If you love stories that blend quiet mystery, spiritual introspection, and hidden history, this book will absolutely resonate with you. It touches on themes of racism, eugenics, and land justice.

Thank you @dartfrogbooks and author @amysafford for this read! 🤍

[Harsh Tyagi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Penelope Goode’s life changes in a heartbeat, literally, after she nearly dies on her thirtieth birthday. What begins as a return to consciousness becomes a gradual awakening to another realm. The world around her sharpens and long-buried spirits start to appear. The ghosts of her mother and her beloved dog appear, and the number three haunts her with eerie persistence. As Pennie explores a graveyard tied to a forgotten chapter of Maine’s history, she finds herself drawn into a story of exile, injustice, and the restless energy of those who never found peace. Her search for meaning soon merges with a fight for truth, where the past whispers through every vibration she feels.

This historical novel is totally like standing on the threshold between the living and the spectral, with the blend of supernatural. Amy Safford writes with quiet power. The amalgamation of spiritual mysticism, historical reckoning, and emotional clarity has created this raw and haunting novel. It's laced with melancholy and grief. And it's also awakening and healing. Amy Safford gives us a story that’s atmospheric and unafraid to confront pain. Depicting Maine's history in a different picture, this genre blending book will leave the readers with a lot to think about.

[Cindy(groundedinreads) · Rating 4 out of 5]

On Pennie Goode’s 30th birthday, she has a near-death experience on a ski slope in Maine. Her chaotic life suddenly becomes more focused following the accident and she begins to question her goals and ambitions. While recovering, she shifts gears from pursuing a career as a vet tech to helping her beloved uncle at his law practice. Since the accident, Pennie has haunting dreams which lend foresight into future incidents with ghostly apparitions, omens, and physical vibrations. Her late mother was also known to have a sixth sense but this phenomenon is entirely new to Pennie. While researching land cases for her uncle, Pennie begins connecting clues between her dreams, the cases, and the local indigenous peoples’ lore of the land.

Although this book is set in present day, the storyline explores the dark history of the practice of eugenics a century ago. I really enjoyed following Pennie’s renewed outlook on life after her accident and how she recognized that her dreams were guiding her toward uncovering answers from the wrongs of the past. The inclusion of dogs, both in dreams and in real life, added a heartwarming touch to the story. I also found the Indian lore to be a fascinating and atmospheric backdrop to the story.

[Erica · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was quite an interesting read, maybe not something I would normally pick up but it was fascinating. The best part - I can't pinpoint why. There is something about the writing. It just brings you in, meandering down the path, learning Pennie's story, living her experiences. It's not fast paced or filled with huge incidents, it's subtle and hard to put down. The story is focussed on Pennie who after a skiing accident, wakes up in a more vibrant, intense world - one with visions and spirits but it darts in and out of others her life and pulls in historical events that occured at the Malaga Island settlement ( a real place with a terrible history) located in state of Maine. As a reader you just get to watch as she grows into her experience, listens to intuition and fights for justice for those who lived on the island. This is a book I would easily recommend - just dive in and live the experience!!

[Lisa Albright · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an interesting story featuring mystical elements, a gorgeous landscape, and intriguing characters. The tragic history of Malaga Island and the Home For The Feebleminded is stitched together with a Gothic tale of a woman that develops a kind of sixth sense after a traumatic skiing accident. Pennie begins to feel vibrations and is haunted by the need for the truth of what happened all those years ago. It's not an easy read, but I did learn about an event that I was unaware of and could appreciate Pennie's personal growth.

I received a gifted copy in exchange for an honest review.

[Steve Tompkins · Rating 5 out of 5]

Two aspects of Stafford’s debut novel resonated with me. As a transplanted Mainer who has lived in Alaska for 36 years, I frequently revisit the very towns and topography described in the story to visit my baby sister. I’ve spent a lot of time in Portland’s Old Town and the surrounding areas, and the author’s excellent writing transports me back to areas that I love. While a work of fiction, I appreciated the free history lesson that came with Good Vibrations of the Wresting Place; Stafford clearly put in a lot of research to seamlessly weave the sad events at Malaga Island into the plot line of the story. The juxtaposition of historical events with present day development pressures makes for a tension that builds throughout the novel, pulling the reader along for the ride!

[Avi Dinsa · Rating 5 out of 5]

In Safford’s powerful narrative, a woman becomes obsessed with unearthing the dark past of Malaga Island, Maine, where a once-thriving community was forcibly displaced and forgotten. After a near-death experience on her 30th birthday, Penelope Brigid Goode’s world shifts. Colors sharpen, sounds amplify, and disturbing visions of deceased loved ones haunt her days. The number three keeps surfacing, making her doubt her sanity. When a visit to a graveyard with her uncle reveals the presence of spirits from Malaga Island—victims of racist eugenics policies—Pennie is drawn into their unsettling history. Despite warnings from her gut, she becomes entangled with a developer disturbing the burial sites. As Pennie’s visions deepen, so does her resolve to uncover the truth about Malaga Island’s dark past.

Safford’s narrative cuts deep, blending fact and fiction to unearth the buried pain of intergenerational trauma. Pennie’s drive to uncover her family’s ties to the island is fueled by grief and guilt, forcing her to confront the weight of her ancestry. The novel’s tight pacing and sharp prose keep the tension high as Pennie’s search pulls her deeper into a web of forgotten stories and silenced voices.

Safford weaves in elements of magical, amplifying the story’s sense of wonder and underscoring the spiritual ties that link past and present. The relationships Pennie builds—with her uncle Alfie, her confidant Dani, and Mali, a descendant of the original residents—are strained and complicated, reflecting the uneasy balance between uncovering the truth and preserving personal bonds.

The book doesn’t offer easy resolutions, instead leaving readers with questions about whose voices matter and how history shapes the present. A challenging and thought-provoking exploration of memory, loss, and the relentless pursuit of truth.

[Niel (Thelectorem) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Goode Vibrations of the Wresting Place by Amy Safford is a work of fiction set in Maine, where we follow the story of Pennie, who begins seeing visions and experiencing paranormal sensations after a near-death skiing accident. To be very honest, I had high hopes for this book—especially for the mystical elements—and expected something intense and bone-chilling. Instead, it turned out to be a slow-paced story centered more on Pennie’s midlife and career struggles. She joins her uncle Alfie’s firm to assist him and gradually forms a bond with a developer, Ward Lewis. Little do we know that Ward will become a problem in Pennie’s life, given his ties to Malaga Island and his plans to build a road near the gravesite.

While reading, I wasn’t aware of the real history of Malaga Island, but after doing a bit of research, I truly appreciated the author’s effort to blend fiction with factual history. I was initially clueless about its significance, but as the story unfolded, I understood how important it was to preserve Malaga Island to honor the souls resting there.

However, I found the characterization unsatisfactory and weak. Apart from Pennie, I couldn’t connect with any other character, even though the book is filled with them. Most of them felt distant, existing only around Pennie without leaving much of an impact. The side plot involving Lars and his documentary felt stretched until it finally served its purpose near the end.

Overall, I would call this an average read. Aside from the plot’s connection to the history of Malaga Island, the story and its characters are largely forgettable.

[Vidhika Yadav · Rating 5 out of 5]

Book Review: "Goode Vibrations of the Wresting Place" By Amy Safford

Goode Vibrations of the Wresting Place is an exquisitely written yet subtle novel that not only tells a riveting story but also illuminates the history contained in our environment. In weaving an engaging contemporary story with the painful past of Malaga Island, Maine, where many people from diverse cultures lived together until they were forcibly exiled in the early 20th century, Amy Safford examines how the land is imbued with the collective memory and grief of those who live there.

Through Safford's contemplative and poetic style of writing, the historical content of Goode Vibrations evolves organically. Rather than sensationalizing, Safford treats the history behind Malaga Island with dignity, respectfully acknowledging the impact that racism, governmentality, and eugenics have on the lives of the people who lived there and providing a basis for healing and reconciliation. Both the historical context and the personal growth associated with it combine to create a narrative that is equally rich in both emotional and intellectual content.

The book resonates most profoundly as an invitation to hear—past voices of the land, as well as the present-day embodiment of those voices. This work of fiction evokes strong feelings and offers the enticement of historical fiction at its best: books that not only encourage inquiry, exploration, discovery, understanding, and acceptance but also provide a unique outlet for storytelling through both empathy and art.

[Pamela Mckenney · Rating 5 out of 5]

Who would have thought that property titles and survey disputes would make an interesting conflict for a novel? When the disputed property lines involve an ambitious real estate developer and a cemetery containing the exhumed bodies of a banished community, the intrigue abounds and becomes palpable. The banished community featured in Goode Vibrations of the Final Resting Place, is the infamous people of Maine's Malaga Island. The mixed-raced islanders made their home on Malaga until 1912 when the state of Maine exiled them and relocated their dead in mass graves at the cemetery encroached upon by the developer. Add Pennie Goode, a plucky, girl-next-door protagonist, who was hired to review the logistics of the proposed development and ends up in bed with the unscrupulous developer. She champions the lost people of Malaga and takes a stand against the man who seems determined to destroy her reputation. The ensuing hostility seems destined to end in a fatality. Motivated first by a need to be accepted, Pennie's near-death experience instigates a shift as she learns to trust her intuitive abilities and spiritual insights. These gifts are key to Pennie's discovery that keeping an ear on past can provide hope for a positive future.

[CorrieGM · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a strange book.
The main character, Pennie, gets visions after she had an ski-accident on a mountain.
While struggling with this, she helps her uncle, who is just recovering from an heart attaque.
Pennie is not only struggling with her visions, she struggles with life in general. She does not know what to do with her life, she does not know what to do in her relationships.
There are a lot of reasons why you could choose not to like Pennie, for example the fact that she quits her new job before she has even started it.
But I liked her. I liked her trying to do her best to cope with life, trying to cope with the way her mother died, trying to cope with a new struggle:
her visions.
A lot of the book is based on stories which really happened. I am not from America, I had never heard about the history of Malaga. I am happy I do now.
The style of the book was good and the pace was OK too.
So why not four, but three stars? I do not know. Perhaps because the characters in the book are too flat sometimes, or because there are too many loose ends.
But, if this will become a series, with Pennie following her visions and researching history of sacred places, I am all in.

[Ag · Rating 5 out of 5]

Maine! What is it with Maine? Lately every book seems to be set in Maine! Don’t get me wrong, I’m not complaining. I’m just observing. And I see lots and lots of weird bookish things happening in Maine lately. And this book too – Maine, there is a lot of Maine. And by now I know that Maine is the weirdest state out there, with the weirdest history, and each book set in Maine only reinforces this belief of mine.
I don’t know how do I label this book. It was reflection-filled, it was a beautiful journey inward, with a huge focus on what’s happening in the outside world, both now and in the past. This is not a quick and easy read, and it will make you stop and think. It’s not about twists and turns, but it’s about seeing yourself, about seeing you for who you are – all while witnessing Pennie on her own journey inwards.

[Michelle Godard-Richer · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed the real history of Maine’s Malaga Island incorporated into this suspenseful and slightly spooky tale. I liked the concept of Pennie’s near-death experience awakening a connection with the spiritual world. I also liked that Penny has flaws and complicated relationships with the secondary cast that counterbalance her drive to uncover the dark truth. This story sheds light on dark, real truths, making it an especially poignant read for fans of historical, mystical, and cultural fiction.

[Booksandcoffeemx · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don’t even know where to start with this one, it was fascinating!
A mix of paranormal, historical fiction, and suspense that hooked me from the very first chapters.

It explores a hidden part of Maine’s history connected to Malaga Island, a real and heartbreaking chapter I had never heard of before.

The atmosphere is eerie and haunting, and I loved how the author blended the supernatural elements with real historical events.
Gripping, emotional, and beautifully written, such a fantastic debut!

[Amara · Rating 4 out of 5]

I lived in Maine for almost 20 years and had never heard about this part of Maine history. I thought the author did a great job of blending the true history with a bit of mystical story telling.