A review by bbrassfield
The Broken Girls by Simone St. James

4.0

Ghost stories are probably my first horror love as a reader, going back to Peter Straub's Ghost Story, which I read when it was new and still very young. This compelling ghost story by Simone St James has some elements in common with Straub's novel. The plotting here is quite good as the story moves back and forth between 1950 and 2014. There is loads of atmosphere and the small Vermont town and old private school make for excellent ghost story venues. Most importantly, the ghost is real! I love novels where the ghost is real! The author writes a pretty great ghost story that ends up encompassing much more than just the first ghost to appear and most of the plot twists are fairly hard to guess far in advance. The characters from 2014 are all dealing with their own ghosts, real or imagined, and it's fun to follow the trail of evidence and investigation since one of the leads is a journalist digging up the past in order to put to rest her own ghosts. The connections come together at the end for a satisfying finish.