A View of the River
Kathleen Eagle
Mira, Sep 2005, $6.99, 384 pp.
ISBN: 0778320987

Schoolteacher Rochelle LeClair returns to her home in Little Falls, Minnesota to insure her once wealthy philanthropist Aunt Meg has a roof over her head. The family fortune earned by great-grandfather Martin Bruner back in 1911 also devastated the homes of a small but courageous band of Ojibwe Indians.

Ojibwe shaman Birch Trueblood is doing quite well with providing Native American rituals to believers and tourists though he himself is a cynic. He raises his preadolescent daughter Robin by himself ever since his wife, a soldier, died on active duty overseas.

Birch is hired to help the spirits that reside at Meg's home which was converted to a bed and breakfast move on to the next level. Everyone who attends his performance including Robin thinks he is the real deal except himself and Rochelle. Their ancestors crossed back in 1911 and they have known each other on and off for years; she believes he is fraud, something he would agree with. However, this time encouraged by her aunt, his daughter, and several spirits they fall in love but she refuses to believe him when he insists he has seen ghosts that no one else sees.

This is an interesting contemporary romance with a paranormal spin and a delightful final reverse twist that will surprise readers. The cast makes for a pleasant read as the past haunts the present in more ways than just the ugly "eminent domain' 1911 incident that link the lead duet. Though Robin is too precocious, fans will enjoy this fine tale with ghostly intervention.

Harriet Klausner