Review by Booklist Review
Among the thousands of European war brides transported to the U.S. on the Queen Mary in 1946 are French Simone, who suffered terrible violence at the hands of the Gestapo and survived with the help of the Résistance, and Belgian Annaliese, who has assumed the identity of her recently deceased best friend to escape from an abusive Nazi husband. In the present day, Brette Caslake is struggling with a unique gift. She has the Sight, an ability she has inherited from her mother's side of family that enables her to see ghosts. She tries to ignore these generally harmless beings but feels drawn to one she encounters on the Queen Mary, now a floating hotel and museum docked at Long Beach, California. Soon, she finds herself delving into questions surrounding Annaliese's shipboard disappearance. The mashup of ghost story and grounded-in-history drama may leave some readers wishing for more of one or the other. But Meissner's (Secrets of a Charmed Life, 2015) plot twists and relatable characters will keep them engaged.--Quinn, Mary Ellen Copyright 2017 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
A woman who can see ghosts becomes tangled in a mystery involving European war brides who crossed the Atlantic on the Queen Mary.Brette has had the sight since she was a little girl. The ability to see the dead runs in her family, but ever since an aunt told her she was better off ignoring the ghosts she encounters, that's exactly what she's done. That is, until an old classmate needs her help and Brette inadvertently becomes drawn into the lives of three women from the past. As Brette communicates with a spirit and tries to unravel the mystery behind one of the ship's tragedies, Meissner (Secrets of a Charmed Life, 2015, etc.) also tells the stories of two of the ship's passengers: Annaliese Lange, who is escaping from a marriage to a Nazi, and Simone Devereux, who lost her family in the war. Annaliese's and Simone's stories are engaging and heartbreaking; Brette's point of view, though, is less interesting and never seems as urgent. Also, the multiple points of view are occasionally hard to keep track of, especially when it isn't yet clear how they intersect. Although the stories of Annaliese and Simone are captivating and well-researched, readers may find themselves wishing Meissner had devoted more of the book to the women on the ship and less to Brette and her ability to see ghosts. An interesting World War II narrative is dragged down by a less-engaging present-day story. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
