I've just finished Unquiet Spirits by K.M.Peyton, as mentioned by LadyA upthread.
Mixed feelings about it, tbh - I don't think the first person voice works as well as her third person books (not quite convincingly teen), and I didn't quite buy a lot of the detail that the plot hung on (these teenagers making huge progress restoring a historic house, including opening a restaurant there, while the artist mother casually 'restores' some 16th c bedcurtains, which would actually be ridiculously valuable if they had really survived that long, with none of the planning permission and Listed Building Consent wrangling that you get in reality....). I know teenage readers aren't going to be picky about this stuff, but IMO one of the best things about Peyton is that when she writes about sailing, horses, etc, she really knows her stuff, and it's a pity not to have that.
That said, all the important stuff is spot on - beautiful, atmospheric writing, really warmly-written and interesting characters, and actually, I think pulling off a modern relationship/ghost relationship parallel is really hard to do and she does it very successfully.
Now to read more Peyton, now her backlist has appeared on Kindle!
Mixed feelings about it, tbh - I don't think the first person voice works as well as her third person books (not quite convincingly teen), and I didn't quite buy a lot of the detail that the plot hung on (these teenagers making huge progress restoring a historic house, including opening a restaurant there, while the artist mother casually 'restores' some 16th c bedcurtains, which would actually be ridiculously valuable if they had really survived that long, with none of the planning permission and Listed Building Consent wrangling that you get in reality....). I know teenage readers aren't going to be picky about this stuff, but IMO one of the best things about Peyton is that when she writes about sailing, horses, etc, she really knows her stuff, and it's a pity not to have that.
That said, all the important stuff is spot on - beautiful, atmospheric writing, really warmly-written and interesting characters, and actually, I think pulling off a modern relationship/ghost relationship parallel is really hard to do and she does it very successfully.
Now to read more Peyton, now her backlist has appeared on Kindle!