Blue Moon

At first, Julia Johnson, a teenager with penchant for Gothic novels, is less than enthusiastic about her summer job as an au pair in Cape Cod. However, she quickly warms to the task once she arrives and discovers her young charge, Molly, a rambling old house full of oddities, and a resident ghost: Molly's dead mother, Maria, a compelling photographer whose touch is still present in Molly's life. As she explores the Cape over the summer, Julia quickly becomes embroiled in a conflict between Molly and her stepmother, Cheryl, as Cheryl attempts to renovate their old house. This project is complicated by inexplicable delays that Molly believes are sent by her mother in an attempt to stop the renovations, and as Julia learns more about the charismatic woman Maria was, she reluctantly begins to agree that something supernatural may be at work. Meanwhile, Julia also finds adventure in Sean, a local artist who asks to paint her portrait, though she soon realizes that a romance between them may be impossible. As the summer in Cape Cod winds to a close, Molly's connection with her dead mother leads her into danger, and to save her, Julia must decide how much of her obsession is real - and how much may only be imagined. Narrated in a meandering fashion by Julia, BLUE MOON reads like a Gothic adventure laid over events that at first glance seem ordinary. An old house due to be remodeled becomes a stylish old mansion haunted by a ghost who wants nothing more than to see the renovations fail; a local artist becomes a tall, dark stranger with a potential for romance; and natural phenomena like the sea and storms obtain sentience. The presence of such Gothic conventions is interesting and refreshing, but, perhaps because of this deliberate construction, the story is sometimes simplistic, and there were some conflicts and events I wish the author had delved deeper into. However, BLUE MOON remains a compelling read because of Julia, a heroine whose thoughts are at once dark and romantic, and fans of Gothic literature will appreciate her references to such books as JANE EYRE, WUTHERING HEIGHTS, THE TURN OF THE SCREW, and REBECCA. Reviewed by: Rebecca Wells