The Uninvited

June 29, 2015
In Winters’s (author of YA novels including In the Shadow of Blackbirds) dark and romantic adult novel, an act of shocking violence encourages a young woman to flee her rural Illinois home amid the influenza outbreak of 1918. When 25-year-old Ivy Rowan’s brother and father commit a terrible act, Ivy, recovering from the flu, flees her home, takes a room in town, and even begins driving an ambulance for the Red Cross. Ivy’s always been able to see spirits (the “uninvited”), and amid so much death and sickness, it seems she’s seeing them at every turn. However, she soon finds refuge in a passionate, forbidden romance, and in a love for jazz, but she wonders if her newfound freedom can last in a world that seems to be coming apart at the seams. The author effectively captures the dangers of the period, and yet Ivy finds bastions of human kindness and acceptance. Her compelling voice carries this gothic coming-of-age story, at once horrifying and tender, toward a revelatory yet hopeful conclusion.

June 1, 2015
In the last days of Word War I, influenza ravages the town of Buchanan, Illinois. But a more menacing plague endangers the town: hatred of Germans. As her drunken father and younger brother, Peter, crow about the "Kraut" they've just killed with their bare hands, Ivy Rowan staggers from her sickbed. Appalled at their vicious racism, Ivy packs her bags and takes a room in the home of May Dover. Like Ivy, May has recently lost a beloved young man to the war: Ivy's older brother, Billy, and May's husband, Eddie, were both killed in action. May tinkers with a Ouija board, trying to contact her husband. But Ivy dreads seeing the dead, for the women in her family have a history of seeing harbinger spirits. Wracked with guilt, Ivy seeks out the surviving brother of the man they killed. Daniel Schendel tries to push Ivy away, but she keeps coming back, and soon they can no longer ignore the sexual tension tethering them together. Their love affair is scored by the vibrant jazz music drifting through Daniel's windows; across the street, an impromptu jazz club has formed, welcoming everyone, regardless of race, and Ivy can't resist the tempting melodies. Lurking outside, however, is Lucas, a menacing member of the American Protection League, who labels Ivy a German-sympathizing whore. Meanwhile, Ivy helps two women working for the Red Cross, driving their ambulance, which careens around town every night rescuing influenza victims. As the death count rises, Lucas' threats intensify, and Billy's ghostly appearances increase, Ivy struggles to uncover Daniel's secrets. A successful teen author, Winters (The Cure for Dreaming, 2014, etc.) threads her first novel for adults with paranormal elements, manipulating them to build toward a surprising revelation. Yet the tale reads rather simply, missing opportunities to darken the atmosphere or ratchet up the tension. An intriguing yet thin paranormal read.

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June 15, 2015

Upon recovering from her bout with the Spanish flu in 1918, young Ivy Rowan encounters the ghost of her grandmother. Because the women in her family share a gift of seeing spirits just before hearing news of someone's death, Ivy is somewhat prepared for the knowledge that her father and brother have killed a local German in retaliation for her other brother's death in the war. Appalled by this revelation, she opts to rent a room in town and then divides her time between going to a local jazz club; volunteering to drive a night ambulance for the Red Cross; and visiting Daniel, the brother of the murdered man, in an attempt to make amends. The romance that flowers between Ivy and Daniel forms the arc of much of the narrative, which meanders a little until the surprise ending. Winters's (In the Shadow of Blackbirds) first novel for adults treads similar ground as her earlier books and will likely appeal to the same readers. VERDICT A mild-mannered early 20th-century ghost story with some enthralling historical tidbits; while the characters may not feel fully authentic, this should be popular with gentler readers who like their horror not too scary.--Victoria Caplinger, Durham, NC

Copyright 2015 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

February 1, 2016

In October 1918, with too many young men dying in the world war and with devastating casualties from the Spanish influenza pandemic, 25-year-old Ivy Rowan encounters the ghost of her older brother Billy-one of the "uninvited" she and her mother have always had the power to see just before someone dies. Barely recovering from the flu and hearing a disturbance in the kitchen, Ivy discovers that her father and younger brother have just murdered a local German immigrant to avenge Billy's death. Driven by the anger and guilt she feels on their behalf, Ivy moves into town and into the arms of the murdered man's brother, Daniel. They rebuild Daniel's home and store, which had been destroyed during the attack. Finding a room to rent with a war widow, Ivy begins driving an ambulance each night to transport influenza-stricken victims from certain death in impoverished areas to better health care. It is only later, upon discovering answers to a mystery that Daniel has been hiding, that Ivy must face up to certain truths about him and herself. This ghost story blurs the line between life and death and leaves readers to wonder just where that line begins. VERDICT There's much to like here for teens: an earnest young woman who wants to do right by those who her family has wronged while participating for the first time in the many opportunities that life can offer.-Connie Williams, Petaluma High School, CA

Copyright 2016 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

June 1, 2015
1918. It's a violent time. In Europe, WWI is raging, while in Buchanan, Illinois, the Spanish influenza is epidemic. Ivy Rowan is recovering from a bout of this often deadly illness when her father and brother murder a German man. Horrified, the 25-year-old flees her home, but will those she calls the Uninvited Guests follow? Yes, Ivy sees unbidden ghosts, and each sighting presages a death. Might one of those be that of Daniel, the younger brother of the murdered man, with whom Ivy finds herself falling in love, a forbidden love since Germans are regarded as enemy pariahs? Don't expect chills and thrills from Winters' rather tame ghost story. Its focus is on the romance between Ivy and Daniel, which is compromised by Ivy's often unmotivated actions. Too, the book needs fresher diction, but all of this is redeemed by a plot twist that invites readers to reconsider everything that has gone before. Devotees of romance and ghost stories will doubtless enjoy Winters' latest.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2015, American Library Association.)