Small Angels, by Lauren Owen (Random House)
The charming English village on the edge of a forest, equally
charmingly named Mockbeggar, looks peacefully bucolic on the surface. Even the
ghost stories and legends seem quaint when told in the sunshine. And if some of
the villagers take such tales seriously, that just adds to the allure. Or so
Chloe thinks when she arrives at the place that Sam, her husband-to-be, grew up
in, excited to plan her dream wedding in the tiny church called Small Angels.
But for Kate, Sam’s sister, the church, Blanch Farm, and especially the woods
hold the memories of darkness and terror. Chloe inadvertently awakens the
terror that has lain quiet for most of a generation. The woods are no longer
safe…and they never were. The Gonne family, who have pacified the phantoms of
Mockbeggar, is dispersed and only Lucia—called “the bad child”—remains.
Through multiple narrators and time lines, the story moves
forward to its increasingly dark climax while revealing the past events that
created the looming disaster. At times, I didn’t like any of them, although I
desperately wanted them to find a way through their living ghost story. Then
end was both unexpected and deeply satisfying. I love stories where the conflict
is resolved through compassion, understanding, and integrity. Small Angels
delivered such an ending to perfection.
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