A Novel with Thoughts and Ponderings

FIRST SNOWS

Author: Jane Shoup ISBN: 0973762772 12/2005 PARANORMAL Publisher: CHAMPAGNE BOOKS

First Snows by Jane Shoup

Six months have passed since the accident that claimed the lives of Andy Ridgemont's eight-year old twin daughters. Andy and her surviving daughter, twelve year old Alyssa, exist in a state of depression and emotional paralysis until they embark on a trip to Andy's childhood home in Lambert, PA. Close to her destination, Andy takes an alternate route, gets lost and discovers an abandoned farmhouse -- the infamous Collier House, long thought haunted. In the days that follow, Andy finds herself inexplicably drawn to the house. She begins exploring it as well as investigating the former occupants, a five-member family who all died within about a year of each other in 1917-18. She also begins having strange, compelling dreams and visions. Although she harbors the fear she may be losing her mind, these strange occurrences are so powerful, mystic and intoxicating, she cannot turn away from them. When Steve Catalano, a writer of 'true ghost stories' shows up to research the Collier House, he and Andy feel an immediate and profound connection for one another. As their relationship develops, they begin to understand their part in a mysterious love story that began a century before.

RRAH's THOUGHTS AND PONDERINGS:

Well, this was just about as sad a book as I've ever read.

FIRST SNOWS touches on the tragedy of the loss of a child (twin girls, in this case). It's a fear every mother knows. Jane Shoup writes with such deftness and intuitiveness that, as a reader, I can imagine responding in exactly the same way as the heroine did in this novel. But, don't let the sadness keep you from reading FIRST SNOWS. It's a wonderful story of recovering and learning to love again. There is plenty of twists and mystery, too, and the ending is simply heartwarming.

Cynthia Whitten

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