My Work in Progress

Ghost River, a novel by Penny Gilchrist

Ghost River

How do you choose between saving yourself and sacrificing everything to protect those you’ve come to love?

Ghost River, a novel by Penny Gilchrist

As a child, Claire Belmont turned off the terrifying gift of psychic mediumship she inherited from her female ancestors, and at twenty-six, she still has no interest in talking to ghosts. But after running away from her violent husband and becoming stranded in remote little Moonstone, Virginia, she’s suddenly running into ghosts everywhere. Could her inability to fight off Moonstone’s unusually lifelike undead have something to do with the town’s mysterious, cursed river?

Claire revels in her new life: a quaint little cottage, a job selling antiques, and new friendships. If only she could ignore her attraction to handsome bookstore-owner Michael—and the Moonstone ghosts’ unwanted attraction to her.

One spirit in particular refuses to leave Claire alone: Amelie Haizlett, a Victorian indentured servant girl who died trying to escape her abusive master. Amelie insists the terrified Claire help her transition to eternal peace. But even the most clueless psychic medium on earth knows a ghost who won’t accept her tragic death isn’t getting anywhere close to heaven.

As the two women discover the threads that bind them together, they begin to wonder if a ghost and a living woman can actually become friends. Then, the past and present converge to threaten their safety–and eventually, the town of Moonstone itself. How do you make the impossible choice between saving yourself and sacrificing everything to protect those you’ve come to love?

Ghost River, a novel by Penny Gilchrist