Stones

Dave Jenkinson is a professor in the Faculty of Education at the University of Manitoba and the author of the “Portraits” section of Emergency Librarian.

In the same fine manner that he blended realistic fiction and fantasy
together in Five Days of the Ghost, Bell does so again in this engaging,
multilayered, love found–lost–refound story. Central to the
contemporary plot are narrator Garnet Haverlock, the mysterious
Raphaella Skye, and two Orillia, Ontario, teens in their final year of
high school.

The novel’s fantasy portion involves the “ghost” of Hannah
Duvalier, a former black slave who appears to be “haunting” an area
near an African Methodist Church originally built in 1849. Initially,
Garnet and Raphaella set out to discover why Hannah’s spirit remains
in a state of terrified unrest. With what they learn, the teens bring
closure to a historical act of violence in which Hannah was stoned to
death by a group of men for ostensibly being a witch. Through subplots
involving the teens’ mothers, Bell creates contemporary parallels to
the historical prejudice that had led to Hannah’s being condemned.

While the mystery element imbedded in the story’s fantasy component
will appeal to some readers, the novel’s more compelling attraction
resides in the characterization of Garnet and Raphaella and their
developing relationship. Bell spends a good portion of the first (of
three) sections slowly filling in details about Garnet who, though
academically gifted, is socially backward. Raphaella is suddenly dropped
into his life, and, for both Garnet and the reader, aspects of
Raphaella’s life remain unknown until near the end of the story.
Highly recommended.