When Charly moves to P.E.I. with her mother after her parents’ divorce, she has trouble adjusting to her new life in her Grammie’s house. Grammie and her mom don’t always get along, and Charly’s sister’s violent boyfriend doesn’t help. But when Charly and her friends break into an abandoned house on the Strait one day, she becomes aware of a ghostly presence, and the next day when she returns, she meets the house’s mysterious and sad inhabitant, Katherine. Only Charly can see the ghost, but her Grammie at least believes in such things; her mother does not.

As Charly and Katherine slowly become friends, Charly realizes that Katherine is trapped in the house by her grief over the death of her baby. Only by helping Katherine come to terms with her loss can Charly learn to accept her new life and her own family. In the end, Katherine helps forge a bond between Charly, her Grammie, and her mother.

Though it’s a satisfying ghost story, this novel focuses more on family relationships than on supernatural chills. Charly is a fully realized 13-year-old, and Grammie is especially vividly drawn. Katherine is also well realized, and the way she interacts with Charly – writing her a note on a steamy window – provides an unusual twist on ghost story conventions. The links between four generations of women are established delicately for the most part, although sometimes Charly’s family struggles don’t ring true; in particular, some of the conflicts between Charly’s mom and grandmother are puzzling. Nevertheless, many readers will love this poignant, hopeful novel.