Picture the Dead
Author: Adele Griffin & Lisa Brown
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Publication Date: originally May 1, 2010. Rereleased February 1 2012
Pages: 262
Source: finished copy from publisher
About the Book: A ghost will find his way home.
Jennie Lovell’s life is the very picture of love and loss. First she is orphaned and forced to live at the mercy of her stingy, indifferent relatives. Then her fiancé falls on the battlefield, leaving her heartbroken and alone. Jennie struggles to pick up the pieces of her shattered life, but is haunted by a mysterious figure that refuses to let her bury the past.
My Thoughts: I found this book to be really intriguing. The book itself is really lovely. There are some embellishments and endpapers that really add to the feel of the story. Throughout the story the reader glimpses pages from Jennie’s scrapbook. I really loved these. The same colors from the cover are used on these pages. They include pictures, lists, letters, drawings… basically anything Jennie could slip in to her pocket without anyone noticing. There were a few times when I had trouble reading some of the items and notes in the scrapbook due to the script but all was revealed in the story.
As for the story itself? I found myself caught up in trying to figure out the truth of what happened right along with Jennie. Her whole life has been torn apart and she is left reeling. It really made me think about the Civil War in a deeper way. You hear the death totals and in your mind know what all that entails but to see how it affects a person… that gets you on a whole different level. Poor Jennie! Plus, she has to try and figure out what exactly happened because she can tell things aren’t what they seem.
Picture the Dead caught my attention and kept me guessing. The addition of the scrapbook pages made the story all that much more haunting. As a bonus? Some of the events are based in history! If you’re looking for something a little different I recommend giving this one a try.
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