by Nancy Bilyeau
Step into the opulent, drama-filled world that fans of HBO’s The Gilded Age enjoy but prepare to be moved by not just the lives of Manhattanites but those living in the Bronx and Brooklyn as well. The heart-warming story is set during a snowy winter in 1912, when a talented library restorer discovers that the opulent walls of J.P. Morgan’s private library hold more than just rare manuscripts—they harbor a restless spirit demanding justice. Blending historical elegance with a spine-chilling turn of the century supernatural mystery, this novella is a must-read for anyone seeking traditional Christmas ghost story books with a sophisticated, historical twist. The haunting love story will leave you moved for many days after reading. Family loss and betrayals, Gilded Age secrets, and a haunting seasonal mystery collide on Manhattan’s most famous avenue.
For fans of Victoria Thompson, Fiona Davis, and Alyssa Maxwell and for lovers of The Haunted Bookshop Mysteries and classic Victorian ghost tales…
Praise for The Ghost of Madison Avenue
“Diverse locales of old New York are the setting for Bilyeau’s atmospheric novella, which takes place in 1912, in the days leading up to Christmas, but it can be read and enjoyed at any time of year. Helen O’Neill, an Irish American widow of thirty-five, is nervous to start her new position as a restorer in J. P. Morgan’s personal library. Her supervisor, the brilliant Belle da Costa Greene, has exacting standards, and what if Helen were to meet the famous financial titan in person?
“For those who haven’t visited the Morgan Library and Museum—I haven’t, though plan to do so—reading this story feels like getting an exclusive private tour of the site, as it looked over a century ago, alongside Helen. With its secret staircases, ornate bookshelves and balconies, and elaborately painted high ceilings, it’s a fabulous place to envision. Helen lives comfortably with her brother’s family in a clapboard house in the Bronx’s Morrisania neighborhood and is agog at her new workplace. She’s puzzled, though, when she spies a young woman in an old-fashioned dress and hairstyle on the street outside; the snow doesn’t seem to touch her. Helen also feels a lingering sadness about her late husband, who died some time earlier, and neither she nor her family feels she’s likely to marry again.
“All the characters are poignantly human, and their social and cultural backgrounds add rich shadings to their actions. The warmhearted theme of second chances is well balanced with the mysteriousness of the woman’s identity, which Helen gets in trouble trying to uncover. Add a touch of Irish magic to the plot—Helen’s unusual dexterity with her hands reminded her late mother and husband of the aes sidhe—and you have an entrancing ghost story with a touching message.”
—Sarah Johnson, editor, Historical Novel Review
Buy it from Amazon, Bookshop.org, Golden Notebook Bookstore
Ebook, $4.99
Paperback, 118 pages, $7.99, ISBN 978-1674496436