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| Mysteries Magazine Essence: A Savannah ghost story by Jason McCurry Essence is one of those books that is hard to put down. In this new novel by Glenn Woods, we embark on a unique trip into the paranormal, through the spectral eyes of a ghost child. While there, readers get a rare glimpse at what it is like to be a spirit, trapped in a location and unable to leave. From the very first page, you are drawn into the emotional ordeals of this young child. The seemingly effortless task is achieved by the magic only a gifted storyteller can create. This is one of those once in a lifetime books a person could lose track of time reading, which is almost unheard of these days. The author’s writing style in this story is reminiscent of some of the masters, such as Clive Barker and Tamara Thorne. His words are vivid and paint a rather compelling picture. “America’s Most Haunted City,� Savannah, Georgia is the backdrop for this rather unusual tale of a haunting, that of an eleven year old girl named Luzette. The ghost’s appearance to the writer in his dreams prompts him to tell her story. The story begins in 1861, when the little girl comes up missing in Savannah. She is eleven years old. Eighty-nine years later her remains are found behind a wall of brick. The body is identified by a locket the girl's mother had given her. The remains of this child is then laid to rest at Bonaventure Cemetery, a picturesque burial ground in south Georgia. It is important to note, that burying the body did not seem to bring closure to this disturbed spirit. I recently caught up with Glenn Woods and spoke with him at length about his new book. One of the things he said that struck me was, “In writing this novel, I wondered how often we tell ghost stories in the presence of ghosts, while they throw their hands up in disgust at how much about them we have wrong. In most of my dreams I found myself actually seeing things from her point of view.� Though the story is a novel, Mr. Woods went on to say, “There are parts of Luzette’s story that are true and parts I made up. There are also parts that I dreamt, which means that I am not sure where they came from.� Essence is a novel that will be remembered for years to come. The talented storytelling and eerie atmosphere pulls the reader in from page one and does not release its grip till the final page is turned. This novel is definitely on my top ten list of must reads. Glenn Woods cares for his father and writes at their family cabin in the mountains of Ashe County, North Carolina. ================================================== Review by Marcus Pan Legends Magazine When I first began reading Essence, originally I was struggling with the excellent writing, high-brow vocabulary and superb dictation, of what was supposed to have been a “little girl.� Being a bit of a character developer myself in my own stories, my first impression wasn't well worn. Little girl’s don't speak like Luzette. But then it hit me – like a ton of bricks along with a big “stupid� sign on top – that Wood’s ghost was as perfect as could be. After all, though a child when she died, she has spent the next 150+ years by herself, watching the rest of the people that moved in and out of her haunted house, learning, struggling and thinking all along about her situation…and trying to contact people to help herself out of it. Of course she’s going to speak intelligently and unlike any child and many adults I've known – she’s lived and learned for much longer! This revelation hit me around the time I met some of the other characters in Glenn’s books, who’s diction, drawl and slang were so ultimately done that you can hear them speak. The voodoo woman with her bag of bones sounds like any Civil War era black voodoo woman should. Housekeeper Miss Clara and the other folks of Savannah’s yonder days are so well created they make the folks of Gone With the Wind look like anachronistic cardboard cut outs. Great work Mr. Woods. Through Essence you'll be whisked through different times and cultural climates. From the early days as the Civil War breaks out and the slavery culture of Savannah to the rise and fall of a jazz band…the technological discoveries of phones, radios, televisions – all new and appearing to the wondering filament eyes of a little girl who lived in the days of sailboats and cotton gins. You'll feel Luzette's frustrations as she attempts different methods, many trying to utilize the new technologies brought into her home as she learns about them, of trying to reach the people living there in hopes of having her corpse discovered only to finally succeed…and learn that it’s not always a “proper burial� that releases a ghost from her mire. It’s really a touching story – ghost story or not. Very dramatic…well researched by the author as he took us through a century and a half of our own American history better than any textbook could have. Little Luzette can probably teach most of us more than all the wise men still in physical form as terms like “out of the mouths of babes� takes on new meanings when the babes have lived five times as long as I have. I used to think being a haunt might be fun…and surely some aspects might be. But I'm not willing to commit to that much after I've frustrated along with a little girl as she struggled away the hours, hiding from the sunlight, avoiding the shadows and trying to speak in a southern American home since the day that Georgia seceded from the Union…and a child’s innocent soul seceded from her body. |
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