KIRTLEY, Sophie, The Haunting of Fortune Farm. Bloomsbury, January 2025, 336 pp., RRP $16.99 (pbk), ISBN 9781526642783
Reader beware! This is a genuinely spooky read, bordering on horror when, in the climax, our heroine is trapped in a dark cave with an angry sword-wielding Viking ghost.
Things start innocently enough when Edie, 12, and her younger brother, Pip, travel to Fortune Farm – an isolated property in the Irish headlands – to spend the holidays with their grandmother. Edie is still grieving the death of her father. Unbeknownst to her, her grandmother is still grieving her twin, who died when they were children. Both cope with their respective grief by tamping it down. Edie literally squishes it out of her head, imagining colours or other images until the painful memories subside. Neither speaks to the other about their respective grief.
Meanwhile, Edie uncovers a clue in her grandmother’s house that might lead to a long-buried Viking treasure. She also unwittingly strikes up a friendship with a girl who turns out to be her grandmother’s long-lost twin.
This middle-grade novel has a complex but fast-paced plot and will appeal to fans of the supernatural. There are also some teachable moments about managing grief. How letting in memories can often ease rather than aggravate the pain.
Reviewed by Heather Gallagher
