This story is set in Belgium in the dying stages of the First World War. However, it is also a story suffused with magical realism and the supernatural.
1917, Freddie awakens to find that he is entombed in a German pillbox. Buried alive but not alone. Entombed with him is a German soldier. Pointless to fight each other, they work together to try to dig themselves out of their makeshift grave.
1918, Laura, a combat nurse and Freddie’s sister, fears that the crate before her contains her brother’s possessions. The war has somehow managed to snatch both her parents away even here in Halifax when the SS Mont-Blanc exploded in the harbour. Laura’s fears are realised upon opening the crate. However, among the possessions are both of her brother’s dog tags and Laura is certain that her brother is still alive. Two timelines merge when Laura decides to travel to Belgium to find her brother.
The character of Faland shines in this novel. Whether he is a ghost, a spirit, or the devil himself. He roams the Forbidden Zone, revealing himself to soldiers offering them a blessed reprieve from their fears. Fears that he feeds on.
The Warm Hands of Ghosts is about the horrors of war. The damage and injury, both physical and mental, but it is also about the unbreakable bond between soldiers when a life is saved. Even between men who were once enemies.
Reviewed by Neale Lucas
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Katherine Arden Burdine uses the pen name Katherine Arden. She is the New York Times bestselling author of the ‘Winternight’ trilogy and the Small Spaces Quartet. In addition to writing, she enjoys aimless travel, growing vegetables, and running wild through the woods with her dog, Moose. She lives in Vermont.
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