In Broken Ghosts, J.D. Oswald, or James Oswald as we usually know him, has written a beautiful, gently haunting coming of age novel. A stand-alone book, this is the story of how the orphaned Phoebe ‘Feebs’ MacDonald buried both her parents and was then whisked away from Fife in Scotland to rural Wales to live with her uncle Louis and aunt Maude in the Welsh woods. Phoebe has to leave her friends behind; when she gets to Llangwm, a small village, community of situated on the Llangwm Pill off the River Cleddau in Wales she knows no-one and doesn’t, of course, speak any Welsh. There are no children of her age in the village and no nearby school that teaches in English. To all intents and purposes, she is completely isolated. Her aunt and uncle, both somewhat eccentric, though never cruel, don’t even have a television, so Phoebe is driven to finding her own entertainment. Pant Melyn, their house, is however full of books, including, oddly, a whole series of romance novels which have been her uncle Louis tells her have been sent for review. For Louis is an author, resting somewhat on the laurels of a book published some time ago which brought a little respectable fame. It’s insufferably hard for Phoebe as she grieves the loss of both her parents and has to find a way through living with complete strangers, having no friends and then, to her horror, her aunt and uncle start discussing the possibility of home schooling. Her aunt Maude, though kindly, sees Phoebe as a helper for her vegetable garden and other household chores, but even then Maude has some eccentricities that cause Phoebe to wonder quite what she has come into. James Oswald draws such beautifully rich characters that they come to life on the page. Phoebe’s grief is all too real and when she does what is really her only option and takes herself out of the house to go exploring in the woods it takes a while, but there’s something about the rich and varied countryside that, while it can be dangerous, is also slowly healing. It is on the wooden bridge that Phoebe meets Gwyneth, a local girl about her own age. Gwynneth will be her guide through the forest, showing her local landmarks and filling her in on some of the local characters, including a pair of young male twins who should be avoided at all costs. Broken Ghosts has a dual timeline, with 12 year old Phoebe in 1985 and then decades later, when she returns to Llangwm to bury her aunt Maude. Oswald deals with grief, questions of what home really means, loneliness and the mystical, natural way of nature to mend and heal. The sense of place permeates the book and this place is a character in its own right. This is such a beautifully written story that it brings out feelings of love and empathy. There’s a soft subtlety to the suggestion of ghosts that hover in the background and as Phoebe roams, she will find out that there are dark secrets here that linger through generations until they can finally be laid to rest. Verdict: Broken Ghosts is so beautifully written and full of the most interesting characters that the reader cannot fail to be entranced. Phoebe’s transition from child to adult has not been without its bumps and bruises, but the understanding of what home means is never closer nor more poignant than when she sits with the bees and ponders her future. Very highly recommended.

Simply beautiful