The Ghost Road by Charis Cotter

Ghosts, a family curse, buried secrets -- and two girls who have to figure it all out. 

For the first time, Ruth is heading to Newfoundland to stay with family she's never met instead of spending the summer traveling with her dad. When she arrives, she finds Newfoundland is very different from her life in Toronto--people there are much more friendly, but also superstitious, believing in ghosts and The Sight and family curses. Ruth's cousin Ruby is also staying for the summer, and the two discover they have a lot in common: they both lost their moms when they were two years old, they're the same age and they even like the same food. But while Ruby believes in spirits and fairies, Ruth believes in science and cold, hard facts.

When they find ominous information on some tombstones in the local cemetery, Ruth and Ruby start investigating their family's past and discover that twin girls are born in every generation, and every set of twins dies young, leaving their children without mothers. What's more, one of the twins always has The Sight and can see the Ghost Road that leads to the mysterious lost settlement of Slippers Cove. What happened there? What does it have to do with their family? And who is the ghostly presence that keeps visiting Ruth late at night?

The answers lie somewhere along the Ghost Road . . . if they can only find it.

Hardcover, 368 pages

Published September 4, 2018 

by Tundra Books

3.5/5 stars

I love a Canadian setting, add in some ghosty vibes and I'm there.  This is my first time reading anything by Charis Cotter.

The Ghost Road follows Ruth and her cousin Ruby, two girls who have never met and now they are spending the summer together for the first time. They could not be more different in personality, which makes for an interesting dynamic as they're thrown together and slowly uncover a family history neither of them expected. Set in 1978, this is a time period I don't see very often in middle grade fiction.

For a middle grade book there is a surprising amount of depth here. Cotter weaves in generations of family history, centering on the fact that twin girls are born in every generation and the story unpacks what that has meant for the women who came before Ruth and Ruby. I will admit there were moments I felt a bit lost trying to keep track of all the names and how everyone was connected across generations. It took some concentration to keep it all straight.

I don't want to give away too much of the plot, but this was a fun read overall. Two cousins with opposite personalities, a rich family mystery and a setting steeped in Newfoundland history and folklore made for an engaging and entertaining story. 

This book was part of my 2026 Reading Off My Shelf Challenge, #29

Review: The Swallow: A Ghost Story by Charis Cotter

In 1960s Toronto, two girls retreat to their attics to escape the loneliness and isolation of their lives.

Polly lives in a house bursting at the seams with people, while Rose is often left alone by her busy parents. Polly is a down-to-earth dreamer with a wild imagination and an obsession with ghosts; Rose is a quiet, ethereal waif with a sharp tongue. Despite their differences, both girls spend their days feeling invisible and seek solace in books and the cozy confines of their respective attics. But soon they discover they aren't alone--they're actually neighbors, sharing a wall. They develop an unlikely friendship, and Polly is ecstatic to learn that Rose can actually see and talk to ghosts. Maybe she will finally see one too! But is there more to Rose than it seems? Why does no one ever talk to her? And why does she look so... ghostly? When the girls find a tombstone with Rose's name on it in the cemetery and encounter an angry spirit in her house who seems intent on hurting Polly, they have to unravel the mystery of Rose and her strange family... before it's too late.

 Hardcover, 318 pages 

Published September 9th, 2014 

by Tundra Books

**** 1/2

Polly - "There's no place for me. I'm getting squeezed out of my own house.  My parents want to save the world, and they're doing it one unwanted kid at a time."

Rose - "I don't fit in.  There's no place for me.  Not at school, not with Mother and Father, not in this new house, not anywhere."

It's 1963 in Toronto and these two 12-year-olds are searching. Where one wants to see ghosts the other wants to stop seeing them.  Where one wants to be alone the other is tired of it.  Such begins The Swallow and how could I not get draw right in. This story weaves back and forth to the voices of Polly and Rose, relatively short chapters making it a perfect fit for middle grade, also made it very easy to think, hmmm just one more chapter. 

It's been a while since I've read a really good ghost story and this one fit the bill.  While The Swallow is a story of friendship it is also a mystery and this reader kept trying to unravel what was going on.  Hats off to the author for keeping me guessing right till the end. 

I found the writing to be atmospheric, witty and suspenseful. Charis Cotter is a new author to me and one I will be reading again.

"When you see a swallow, it means that spring is coming, and with spring comes new life and hope."

The Swallow comes from my personal library and part of my 'reading my shelf challenge'