The Diviner’s Tale by Bradford Morrow
(Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, $26.00, 311 pages, ISBN 978-0-547-38263-0)
The Diviner’s Tale is part murder mystery, part ghost story, some paranormal and part literary. It’s now on my personal ‘best-books-of-the-year’ list. The author manages to weave all of the disparate elements into a story that will not only keep you turning the pages; you’ll be sorry there aren’t more of them as you follow Cassandra Brooks on a mystery quest that turns into a journey of enlightenment.
Cassandra “Cassie” Brooks is a single mom, struggling to support herself and her twin boys by divining, or water witching, a tradecraft she learned from her father in upstate New York. She’s barely managing to keep them all clothed and fed when she sees the body of a young girl hanging in a tree, a body that’s gone when she returns with the sheriff and others . . . who question her credibility. And so the mystery deepens and the journey to enlightenment begins, with the reader in tow, hanging on for the ride. “Upstate New York” appears to be northwestern Sullivan County as a couple of local landmarks are mentioned. This is a book to be enjoyed by everyone, teens and up and I hope many of you will do so.
Leave A Comment