This book should serve as the blueprint for how *all* ghost stories should be written. At least one of the main characters should be the restless spirit in question and at least show glimpses of how they once lived. Part of the thrill of any quality ghost fiction should be watching the path of the spirit's untimely death as its former existence is slowly revealed. The ghost should be a mysterious creature that doesn't communicate easily with the living character's conscious state of mind; otherwise we are left with Casper The Friendly Ghost or Nearly Headless Nick from the Harry Potter series (and no, I am not knocking Potter - I love Harry Potter). How believable is any spirit that can walk and talk with you and really, the only difference between you, the living and he/she, the dead is that the spirit can pass through walls? How much mystery and suspense is wiped right out of that novel when the spirit is about to talk with, touch or simply enteract with the living character at any time? If you ask me that's when a novel ceases to deliver a spine tingling, suspenseful adventure and reads more like a run of the mill story about two friends/frenemies and the only difference in characters is that you can see through one of them - and don't sell me that overdone You're-The-Only-One-Who-Can-See-And-Hear-Me crap. Beth Gutcheon has delivered the ideal ghost story. My only complaint (though certainly not with her!) is that I cannot find another ghost story quite like this one. Most other writers seem to prefer Casper The Friendly Ghost or its variant, Casper The Demonic Entity...but both versions are able to walk/talk/touch you at any time while having that really cool ability to pass through walls! It makes me wish that Gutcheon wrote more ghost stories because at least that way I'd have more than a meager handful of quality ghost fiction. (Christopher Pike's Remember Me, told entirely through the dead girl's perspective, was another "good one", BTW, though I was strongly opposed to his two sequels; if you ask me it should have ended at the first book - not that book 2: Oh goodie, I'm dead but I get to live again inside the body of someone who tried to kill herself! No, you're dead, you do NOT get to "live" again.)More Than You Know combines two time periods, the Depression era which is "present day" in the story and (glimpses of the spirit's life) the mid to late 1800s, in alternate chapters like "two stories in one book" except the lives in the alternate time periods connect with each other. I understand that some were put off by this alternate present day and past but for me it just intensified my involvement in the story. From the very start I was curious about what life events molded this spirit into the restless and malignant entity it became in death - and let me tell you, that was one scary ghost! Why is it so hateful? Why is its despair and rage so powerful that the living characters, in mere seconds of seeing it right before it fades (that's how spirit apparitions should be shown in a ghost story, BTW, in brief flashes that fade as quickly as they appear) can literally feel it rolling off the entity in waves, as though its only substance is comprised of evil energy? Gutcheon did not disappoint! I got to witness the spirit's life unravel with each flashback, bit by bit, alternate chapter by alternate chapter and if you pay attention the spirit's life will also carry with it a parable. Gutcheon does not spoon feed the spirit's motive but she shows you enough that you can draw your own conclusions and once you do that, you will hunger for someone else to read this book just so that you can discuss it with another person (preferably a living one).
Hannah Gray is now an old woman, reliving the summer when she was seventeen and in love. She's revisiting her grandparents' house on the coast of Maine and re-reading her journal from that summer. She was fighting with her stepmother, her father was back home in Boston, and the house they had rented was haunted but Hannah was the only one who could see that. She eventually stumbles on the tale of a gruesome murder with ties to the house when it was located on an island out on the bay. In a dual narrative, the book contains Hannah's journal and relates the events surrounding the murder.I really just grabbed this out of a box of books that I borrowed from my aunt a long time ago and haven't finished reading. I glanced at the back and saw something about Maine and decided that sounded good to me. I was surprised to get a murder and a ghost!Don't get the idea that this is a horror novel. There's a lot more going on here than that. The ghost seems to serve more as an illustration of the ways we hurt each other in countless ways, both big and small, and the way that bitterness and anger cause effects that ripple out from us and down through generations. I liked Hannah and thought her parts captured that feeling of being young and in love and knowing that the world is too small to contain everything you feel. She just wants to do what she wants but she has her stepmother constantly trying to clip her wings. And Conary, the boy she loves--he's fabulous. I got the feeling that he could be a heart breaker but he's tender and caring and charming and almost perfect with Hannah.The story about the Haskells and their miserable lives together is horrifying. They just about hate each other. Well, they really do hate each other. Claris and Danial are married in spite of her parents' misgivings. They see Danial more truly than Claris although she'd never admit it. Claris thinks his quiet demeanor hides a deep soul when really it hides a man who just wants to work and be hateful and not much else. The two warp their children and even drag a schoolteacher who is boarding with them down into their spite and hate. They're one of those couples that seems happiest when they're tearing each other apart. They were exhausting.The harsh Maine landscape of the early twentieth century plays a part here too. A visit to Maine is definitely on my bucket list and the descriptions in this book only added to my desire to go. But the tough climate shaped a tough, proud bunch of people and that's reflected here. This is one of those books that just wouldn't be the same if it was set anywhere else.I haven't read The Woman in Black but, based on the movie, I get the feeling that readers who enjoyed that would enjoy this book and vice versa.When you're in the mood to explore the darker side of human nature, give this one a try. It's a quick, atmospheric read that won't disappoint.
Do You like book More Than You Know (2005)?
I thought this was a great book. It is both a ghost story and a love story and both are intriguing. I have one big complaint though-I wanted the ending to be so much better. Either I was smart enough to figure out who the ghost was or the writer wanted us to know through the whole book (but it seemed like it was supposed to be a mystery.) The book ended and I was a little disappointed because I felt like the big "reveal" was obvious. I was so hooked through reading it though, I still think it was very worth it.
—Emily
This is a ghost story and love story all rolled into one. A tale about life coming full circle on itself. The chapters alternate between the storyteller, Hannah and the history of a family that touches Hannah’s life one summer in a small town in Maine.The history starts in the early 1800s when Claris Osgood is 10 years old and already feels completely different than her close, loving family members. She meets a boy named Danial Haskell and they fall in love. They marry against the Osgood’s wishes. Danial lives on the island and the Osgoods don’t want Claris taken so far away from them. They question how well Danial will treat her. They want what’s best for Claris, but she won’t hear any of it.Claris soon finds out Danial isn’t the person she thought he was at all. He is cold and heartless. Claris loses her first two daughters in a miscarriage and when she finally has a son, Amos, he is her pride and joy. Danial never cared much for Amos mostly because he reminded Danial of the Osgoods. He was musically talented, but Danial would have no music in the house. A few years later, Claris has another child, a girl named Sallie. Sallie takes after her father’s side and it is apparent her mother doesn’t love her as much.Hannah Gray tells the story of one summer spent in the small town in Maine where Claris once lived. Her stepmother doesn’t care for her and her father is never around. Hannah’s mother grew up in this town and everyone sees fit to tell her how much she looks like her mother.Hannah begins to see a ghost in her summer home. The ghost is always weeping, but it isn’t to be pitied. It’s ugly with piercing eyes and Hannah is very clear that it is a THING, not a person. She spends the summer investigating the origin of her house, which used to be the schoolhouse on the island. She finds out about the Haskell’s and about the strange events that led to Danial Haskell’s murder.On her journey, she comes across a young man named Conary Crocker. They are immediately taken with one another and quickly fall in love. Conary has run into the ghost before as well and is the only person Hannah can turn to with her findings.This is their story, as it is the story of the Haskells. What happened that summer and what happened long ago and how they are connected. The book ended with me wanting more. I wanted to know more about Hannah’s life after that summer and more about the motivation behind the Haskell’s. A very quick read, not scary at all for a ghost story and highly recommended!
—Lynda
Ooooh That Was GoodThis is the story that Hannah Grey has waited a long time to tell. It's the story of what happened to her the summer she was seventeen, living in Maine. The summer she met Conary Crocker, the wild boy she fell in love with. It's also the story of what began to happened with the Haskell family who lived in isolation on an island off the mainland of Dundee, Maine back in the late 1880s. It's part love story, part ghost story. And the two stories eventually collide... I thought this was very well done. The characters were realistic, and well developed and I found it to be an easy and satisfying read. I will look for more books written by Beth Gutcheon.
—Barb
