Sparrow Hill Road Paperback – June 5, 2018

Rose Marshall was on her way to prom when her car was plowed off the side of the road. Rose didn’t survive the crash and now, nearly 60 years later, her ghost is legend among travelers. She’s known as “The Girl in the Diner”, “The Phantom Prom Date”, and “The Girl in the Green Silk Gown” to name a few. Really, she’s just Rose; a girl whose life was taken all too soon.Rose would love to move on, but there’s still the matter of Bobby Cross to contend with, the one responsible for Rose’s death all those years ago. Selling his soul in order to gain immortality, he pays for it by taking the souls of others. Rose is the one that got away; Bobby is the one that killed her. These two are on a collision course with one another and Rose is ready to stop running and fight back. If not for herself, then for everyone else who’s in danger of losing their soul to Bobby Cross.I knew I would like Sparrow Hill Road because I’ve enjoyed Seanan McGuire’s other work, but I didn’t realize how much I would love this collection of Rose’s stories. McGuire’s version of the afterlife was at times both beautiful and bittersweet, full of its fair share of dark spots as well. Seanan McGuire took the urban legends surrounding some of the most well-known ghost stories and gave them a name and face. She made it personable, and made me care.I felt so sad for Rose at times. In many of the stories we are reminded of the awful way she left this life to go on to the next as a “hitcher.” At times she can come across as cynical and maybe a touch mean, but when it comes down to it, Rose just misses her life and regrets what she missed out on.In the end she really does right by the travelers she hitches rides with. She helps those that she can avoid accidents, but for the less fortunate she acts as a psychopomp pointing them in the right direction to go afterwards. She’s been witness to many deaths, she taken those she loved and grew up with in her hometown to the beyond, and only rarely are those times anyone’s “time to go.” I would think that would make even the happiest person a little cynical. Regardless, she’s an honorable ghost, and if she counts you as a friend, there’s nothing she wouldn’t do for you.The threat between Bobby Cross and Rose was not something presented right away. Instead McGuire slowly introduced us to Rose’s story and wove Bobby in along the way. Even though there was a lot of emphasis placed on Bobby Cross being the foil to Rose’s hero, it’s definitely not all the book is about. Bobby is part of a much larger picture since he’s the reason for Rose being where she is, but Sparrow Hill Road is first and foremost Rose’s story. No one can overshadow that fact, and this introduction into Rose’s past and present adventure on the Ghost Roads is one that I’m looking forward to continuing.

A lot of people will tell you this is a story "in the vein of American Gods." That's both true, and unfair to the author.This book could absolutely hail from the world of Shadow and Mr. Wednesday. It has that same "familiar unfamiliarity" to it. That "world just a bit out of reach vibe. And it's certainly on par in terms of quality.To stop there, however, would be a disservice to both the story and the teller. Ghost Roads might well have the American God's Supernatural road trip vibe. But it is also a wholly unique, engaging, quality take on "American Mythology. "Ghost Roads is rife with Americana. It reminds us thar even young nations - and younger cultures - have a past they bury as progress ushers in change.And where there's a buried past, there are ghosts.This is a story about those ghosts. Both the ones that walk American roads...and the ones that WERE American roads. Because roads, like people, can die. And like people, they may even sometimes haunt the place they left behind.If you've ever sat alone in a late night diner, or blinked twice at what you could have sworn was a person alongside the road. If you've ever taken a wrong turn and sworn, for a moment, you'd stumbled into a place where you truly didn't belong...if any of these things is a bit familiar, read this book.But not in that diner. And not in the dark.

The description I read of this book made it sound like a novel, but it’s actually more of an anthology of interconnected stories about Rose and the Ghost Roads. An intricate level of worldbuilding has gone into this milieu. Ghosts of all different kinds, following different sets of rules, abound. Routewitches pop up quite a few times, and on the whole they seem inclined to help Rose achieve her goals, although not always in the manner which she’d prefer. It was hard to imagine how Rose’s setup would support a book this large, but we’re talking Seanan McGuire here, so I trusted. I was right to trust–the stories are fascinating and imaginative all the way through. I’ve already pre-ordered the sequel: The Girl in the Green Silk Gown.The characterization is beautiful. Rose is a complex character, not at all limited by her urban legend(s). (Naturally in the decades since she died she’s been the source of a handful of them, some more accurate than others.) We gradually learn more and more about her own death, until finally it’s time for her to tell us the whole story. We also see her square off against a ghost that doesn’t know it’s a ghost, fight to save someone who’s approaching their fate, and do an unpleasant favor for the Queen of the routewitches. She tags along with some ghost hunters on a whim, and discovers that some of her own family still has an interest in her. The stories are varied and interesting, as is the world in which they take place. I absolutely recommend this book to anyone who enjoys ghost stories.