This review is for the audiobook version of Bristol House, by Beverly Swerling.
This book is practically Sarah bait. History, adventure, ghosts, and a little romance, what more could I want?
The story follows Annie Kendall, Tudor historian specializing in religious symbols on doors, as she begins a new research project in London. Annie is a recovering alcoholic trying to rebuild her academic career and has been given a fantastic opportunity to research Jews in the Tudor era, and is set up in an apartment that seems to be haunted by a monk. Annie meets a television reporter Geoffrey Harris, who becomes interested in her research because he is attempting an expose on the foundation funding her research. His mother is a fantastic character, someone I would like to actually meet, which is an unusual experience for me.
The author weaves the story of the monk and the story of the present expertly, using the history to further the modern story. It falls down a little at the end, with the baddie being less sane than I had anticipated, which was unfortunate. The audio book has separate narrators for Annie, the Carthusian monk, and the Jew of Holborn, the man Annie is to investigate, making it very easy to follow the stories. There are some heavy themes, but they are handled with a lightness that makes for easy listening. I would love to read more by this same author, and will be searching my library for more of her work.