The Winter Ghosts by Kate Mosse

In The Winter Ghosts, a despondent Freddie Watson mourns the loss of his favored brother who perished in WWI. Even ten years after the war, Freddie cannot rid himself of a paralyzing case of survivor’s guilt. After crashing his car in a snowstorm in the French Pyrenees, he hikes to the nearest village where some of the local denizens give him a cold reception.

However, he soon finds himself invited to a fête, treated to a reenactment of a centuries old conflict. It is here Freddie meets the enigmatic Fabrissa who helps him navigate his sadness and make sense of his life. Following an attack and escape, a tender, melancholy love story develops between Freddie and Fabrissa.

This is one of those books embodying the theme that sometimes things are not what they seem. The Winter Ghosts is also a book with a frame story–in this case, one that takes place five years later involving a mystery and a rare manuscript.

Author Mosse creates an ethereal setting reliant on atmosphere and nuance, evocative of times long past. The pace is measured, even, at times, slow. Though the primary time period is Edwardian, the wispy Fabrissa is more reminiscent of demure Victorian heroines. (Hint: she’s neither Edwardian nor Victorian.)

For these reasons, this novel is not for all ghost aficionados. If you prefer your fictional apparitions to lurch, bearing their own (or others’) bloodied heads in their hands, then, I think, you will not be well pleased with these winter ghosts.