MORE THAN YOU KNOW (Beth Gutcheon)

Gutcheon's novels are always exceptional, and each one is unique in theme and setting.  "More Than You Know" is a ghost story, a love story, a historical novel, and much more.  Gutcheon manages to juxtapose vividly the stark coldness of life and an unhappy marriage on a barren island more than 100 years ago with the excitement of young love and the terror of unexplained phenomena in Depression-era Maine.  The novel spans many years, alternating between the life, marriage, and family of Claris Haskell and the budding romance between young Hannah Gray and Conary Crocker, both of whom have witnessed the chilling apparition that seems to haunt both the schoolhouse-turned-cottage that Hannah's grim stepmother and mostly absent father are renting for the summer, and deserted Beals Island, off the coast of Maine. During the course of the novel we learn, along with Hannah, the story of the brutal murder of Danial Haskell, Claris' husband, and their daughter Sallie's inconclusive trials for his murder.  Gutcheon begins and ends with Hannah as a very old woman, widowed now and in the twilight of her years.  Hannah acts as a sort of narrator, ensuring that the story is finally told before she is no longer able to tell it.

I read this book over a weekend.  It is short (268 pages), intriguing, and definitely worthwhile.  I recommend it wholeheartedly to both adults and teens.  Gutcheon maintains the suspense of the story right up until the end, when we finally discover the truth about the horrifying apparition that haunts Hannah and Conary.