#QOTD – Do you enjoy historical fiction?
Ghostwalk by Rebecca Stott is a beautifully written and deeply haunting novel that blurs the line between fact and fiction. The book opens with Elizabeth Vogelsang, a Cambridge historian, being found drowned, clutching a glass prism in her hand. Her book about Isaac Newton’s involvement with alchemy remains unfinished.
Lydia Brooke, a young historian, is then commissioned to ghostwrite the missing final chapters of the book. As Lydia delves deeper into Newton’s life and work, she becomes entangled in a web of secrets and lies that stretches back centuries.
The novel explores the themes of science, religion, and the nature of reality. It questions the relationship between science and faith, the role of imagination in shaping our perceptions of reality, and the way in which history is constructed and remembered.
I particularly fell in love with the evocative descriptions of Cambridge and its surrounding countryside. Stott has created a sense of place, almost as if I am walking on those streets. The use of historical documents and real-life events adds another layer of depth to the story, blurring the lines between fact and fiction in a way that is both compelling and unsettling.
As the novel unfolds multiple storylines, the reader is drawn deeper into the mystery surrounding the death of Elizabeth, and the tension and suspense build to a climactic and unexpected ending that leaves a lasting impression.
Overall, Ghostwalk is a beautifully written and thought-provoking novel that combines historical fact with literary imagination in a way that is both captivating and haunting.
The Bora Booktique 