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Summary
Summary
"It's a gray, wet winter in southern California, and Phil Ainsworth is alone. The sudden death of his young wife has left him shaken, and he gets eerie sensations as he roams around the big, old house he inherited from his mother. He's sure he's seen people snooping around his property, by the old well that, in this wet weather, always seems ready to overflow. How much is real and how much is in his head? That's the question." "A late night phone call brings more bad news: Phil's sister has died, leaving her ten-year-old daughter Betsy an orphan and naming Phil as guardian. It seems like a bad time to bring a child into this unhappy house, but Phil had always promised he'd take care of Betsy - and now she's all the family he has left." "What he can't know is that Betsy is a very special child. She has the ability to sense the powerful emotions of the past, to hear the voices of the dead, and to see the uncanny powers that are closing in around this house."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved
Reviews (4)
Publisher's Weekly Review
The central conceit of this elegant, accomplished contemporary ghost story is that fuentesÄsprings in which children have been ritually drownedÄare portals of inexact time travel. A byproduct of the ritual, and of time-traveling, is that memory is cast off in the form of a crystal stone, which allows its holder to experience the cast-off memory, which "might be transferred to living flesh." Hale Appleton, leader of the Societas Fraternia, a spiritualist cult, creates one such crystal in 1884. The stone is then stolen, and pursued to the present day. Timelines and characters overlap here. Scenes from previous centuries take place on the periphery of the present story line, wherein Phil Ainsworth, an insular photographer who lives in Southern California, where Appleton made his sacrifice, gains custody of his niece. People from the past and present converge on Ainsworth in an attempt to get the crystal, or to block the portalÄa well on his propertyÄfrom being neutralized. Ambitious plotting and characterization augment Blaylock's (Winter Tide) lush language (ripples in a well "cast a hundred shifting shadows... crisscrossing in geometric confusion"). This is one ghostly tale that stands on very solid ground. (Aug.) FYI: Blaylock has received two World Fantasy Awards, one for best short fiction ("Paper Dragons," 1986) and one for best short story ("Thirteen Phantasms," 1997). (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Kirkus Review
More contemporary supernatural horror from the author of Winter Tides (1997), etc. In the hills of southern California, certain wells fill only in rainy years and possess magical properties: children drowned in them cast off their memories as eerie crystals. Photographer Phil Ainsworth lives in a rambling old house beside such a well, and, on the death of his sister, Marianne, he becomes the guardian of Betsy, a nine-year-old, over the objections of Marianne's friend Mrs. Darwin, to whom a previous will left both money and Betsy. Meanwhile, in 1884, a rainy year, cult leader Hale Appleton drowns his young dying daughter, but blackmailer Alejandro Solas steals the crystal. Schoolteacher Colin O'Brien, advised by a priest, fights Alejandro for it. During the struggle, Colin and May, the elder sister of Colin's girlfriend, Jeanette, fall into the well and time-travel into 1940'though both find that certain of their memories have already been cast off as crystals. Hale Appleton arrives in 1942. Colin and May reside in what will become Phil's house while waiting for Jeanette to arrive. In 1998, a year of abundant rains, Hale Appleton instructs the avaricious Elizabeth Kelly to beguile Phil. Betsy, we learn, has May's memory crystal. Jeanette finally emerges from the well, but as yet Phil knows nothing of Appleton's obsession or of his intention to use Betsy as the vehicle to restore his long-dead daughter. This may be Blaylock's weirdest yet: intriguing, dramatic, atmospheric.
Booklist Review
Blaylock continues to extend his range, this time with a novel of quiet--but not entirely psychological--horror. In southern California, underground aquifers may lie hidden for years, and in a rainy season, vanished pools and springs may suddenly reappear or even flood. One such pool turns out to hold more than water. Those who wade into it may thereafter wade out of their own proper time and not always be lucky enough to ever wade back. Inevitably, once what is happening by accident is understood, the foolhardy and the corrupt try to use the pool deliberately, with lethal results for themselves and others. Blaylock constructs what might be described as a leisurely page-turner: one wants to find out what comes next but doesn't feel compelled to rush onward to do so. Fans of horror in general--especially those who don't demand a high body count--as well as dedicated Blaylock fans will be well pleased. --Roland Green
Library Journal Review
The coming of the rains to California's mission country releases a torrent of unusual activities surrounding a century-old mystery. Photographer Phil Ainsworth finds his life altered by the adoption of his late sister's child and the legacy she brings with her. As ghosts and strangers from the past seek redress for old grievances, a young girl's life hinges on the possession of a strange crystal and a magical well. The author of Winter Tides continues to display an uncanny talent for low-key, off-kilter drama, infusing the modern world with a supernatural tint. Blaylock's evocative prose and studied pacing make him one of the most distinctive contributors to American magical realism. Recommended for most libraries. (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.