Simply Kayla

Rating: ★★★

So, funny thing. A week after I read this book, I was folding my laundry in the bedroom. I was facing my bedroom door when I heard a distinct female voice behind me whisper, “Nooooooooo”. I jumped in a panic calling out to my boyfriend, but he was not home. I reluctantly crouched down to look under the bed – fearing I’d see some maniacal face smiling back at me. Nothing. Was it my imagination playing tricks on me after reading a ghost story? Or perhaps, I’m being haunted by a ghost that disapproves of the way I fold my laundry. So this is just a precaution – you may experience weird things after reading this book.

The story takes place in the First World War, and is told by the perspective of two characters – a sister and brother. The sister, Laura, is a renowned combat nurse and the younger brother, Freddie, is a soldier in the war. Laura was injured and back at home, but gets news that her brother is dead… sort of? So obviously she has to go back and find out for sure. They encounter some unexpected characters, which makes their lives simultaneously better and worse.

The chapters flip flop between each character’s storyline – you follow Laura, and then you follow Freddie. This format made it a quick read – much appreciated. My Mother wants to read this book so I promised no spoilers. I keep trying to compare this book to Katherine Arden’s “Winternight Trilogy” but the genre is too different to do that. I still enjoyed the trilogy much more, but I think it was because of the fantasy genre. She was also more lyrical in those books.

However, her strength in writing about the love of family did not falter in “The Warm Hands of Ghosts”. She had me ask myself a lot of questions. I’m an older sister, and so I naturally would compare myself with Laura – of course I would go try to find my younger brother. But Freddie’s story is so much more interesting with the decisions he’s had to make during this story. I found myself asking what would it take for me to give up what Freddie decided to give up? To me, it’s clear – nothing. But I’ve never been in a war. I think that is what Arden was trying to get at – war creates trauma deeper than we can ever imagine.

That is much scarier than ghosts.