The Ghost Wife

Point Horror Unleashed

by Susan Price

Let me be near you Jonnie. Share your warmth with me...

You do love me don't you Jonnie? You better love me.

I didn't mean to hurt you Jonnie. I just get so scared. I've got nobody but you. And you're alive. I wish I was alive...

Because I love you Jonnie, I'll never let you go. I love you to death...

Genres: Young Adult, Horror, Fantasy

174 pages, Paperback

First published February 19, 1999

Reviews

[ItzSmashley · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

Struggled with this one initially as it's odd to see a point horror story set in the past. But I got to grips with it quickly and started to enjoy this one. Not an awful lot of horror moments but I enjoyed the unique plot and liked where the story took me. Would deffo recommend as solid mid tier entry in the series.

Jonathan and his family work hard on their farm to provide for themselves. They have accepted the spirit that haunts the home, even though it has an unhealthy obsession with him. When one of the local mining girls starts to fall for him though, the ghost gets jealous and starts to scare her away. But when she brings in a local conjurer to exorcise the ghost things start to sour. What impact can the conjurer have on he ghost, and are his intentions more sinister than he let's on?

[Paula Brandon · Rating 3 out of 5]

Point Horror Unleashed continues to surprise with this unique entry, set during the Industrial Revolution, where young Rattle works in a coal mine. She travels with her mother and aunt to visit the Lyecross Devil, hoping he can tell them if there is any more coal to be found in their pit. The Lyecross Devil is actually the Turner family, brothers Jonathan and Harry, Harry's wife Sophie, and Jonathan's wife, Becca....who is a ghost! Rattle is immediately taken with Jonathan, but Becca doesn't like to share. Neither does Rattle, so she decides to take action.

As far as horror goes, The Ghost Wife is very, very low-key. But where it does excel is in creating atmosphere and a real sense of time and place. There are occasions of too much description, but Price creates a believable, breathing world with its own internal logic, which remains consistent. There are a couple of spooky moments, and Rattle is an interesting protagonist, although I found Jonathan to be a bit too wishy-washy. The story even has elements of tragedy in terms of the ghost wife herself, Becca, who is essentially doomed to be under a love curse for eternity and losing her loved one over and over again

A very interesting story, but not one to search out if you're after a good scare.

[Sarah Elizabeth · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 stars
This book was so confusing! Weird names, and talk of Devils which I didn't really understand.

There were this group of people with weird names like Rattle and Meel, and they had a coal shaft but weren’t sure if there was coal left in it. So they went to ask a Devil if they should keep digging, but the woman they meet claimed there wasn’t a Devil there. Then someone else decides that there is coal there, and so they tell the people to keep digging.
There are also a couple with a baby, and the woman (Sophie) sees a ghost rocking her baby’s crib and wants to call the preacher, but the man says that she’s Jonathan’s wife and that they’ve tried getting rid of her before but she won’t go.
Jonathan has lived with this ghost (Becca) all his life, and tells her to stop making trouble. He also tells her that he loves her. She tells him that he’s all she’s got, and she’ll never let him go. Becca was made a ghost by Jonathan’s great-grandfather who was a Devil. He killed her by drowning her in a water butt, which is why her hair is always wet. Becca became stronger than Jonathan’s great-grandfather so she’s able to take husbands as often as she likes. Jonathan is her sixth husband.
Rattle likes Jonathan, so she pays a Devil six pence to get rid of Becca. The Devil (Warley) goes to see Jonathan, and causes him to cut his hand. Warley takes Jonathan home because of the injury, and Sophie offers him dinner. He then asks Jonathan to walk him to the local inn. Once at the inn Warley performs a spell and releases Jonathan’s spirit from his body, and puts his spirit into Jonathan’s body.
There’s an altercation between Rattle, Warley/Jonathan, and Becca, and Rattle, and Warley/Jonathan end up dead at the bottom of the mine shaft. Becca's not happy about that, so goes and decides that Sophie's baby will be her new friend.

[Louise · Rating 1 out of 5]

1.5

Seems an odd entry for the Point Horror series. This is a ghost story set at some point during the industrial revolution, presumably in England. I'd struggle to give a specific time or place. The author doesn't do a great amount of world building and the dialogue gives an attempt at a regional dialect but I can't place where it is.

In any case, the story is rather dull and I didn't get attached to any of the characters. It was quite difficult to get through.

[Jamie Park · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was both beautiful and terrifying. The end was absolute gold.
I can't say much more due to spoilers but give this quick read a try.

[Paul Kim · Rating 2 out of 5]

Honestly? This was a really dull book. The plot wasn't interesting, nothing scary happens, and the plot moves at a slow pace.

However, I did enjoy some characters. Rattle is fun character for her wild behavior and is refreshing to see a girl for that. Jonathan was a sympathetic character due to his shyness and has to deal with his ghost wife. I even feel sorry for Becca, the ghost wife for her backstory and she doesn't seem too villainous for the actions she commit.

Despite decent characters, I wouldn't recommend the book as it's really drab and dull.

[Natalie · Rating 3 out of 5]

this is a one-of-a-kind ghost story because of the way it delivers alongside an ongoing examination of the tensions btwn wage earning & self reliant ways of life, as well as contrasts btwn rural & urban, btwn age and youth, btwn men and women, and how they make us vulnerable, weak, and strong in turn .

[Melissa]

Dawn recommended