Review: A warm and fuzzy ghost story
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 06 4, 2012
Michael Collins was a revered though controversial Irish revolutionary leader who was shot and killed in 1922 at the age of 31. Patrick Collins, born in 1980 and the protagonist in this melding of past and present, was not Michael Collins. Or was he?Patrick is a failing insurance salesman assigned to a district near Killarney where the delightful patrons of the nearby pub want nothing to do with insurance. As Patrick wanders through the countryside trying to make a sale, he comes upon an enchanted cottage, where an elderly woman awaits him with a delicious meal but insists on calling him Michael, his middle name. He realizes that he somehow knows this woman, whom he calls Ellie, and soon finds himself in a blend of past and present.The old woman, whose name is actually Riona (Ellie being a private nickname) says something to Patrick as he leaves, which turns out to be a tip on a horse. He bets, as do all the pub patrons, and is elevated from penniless to moneyed in one fell swoop. On subsequent visits to Riona over ensuing weeks he experiences various points in the progression of her life, meeting her children and granddaughter, and he leaves symbols of his own presence, a presence that he shares with a mysterious ghost of a man who gently possesses him while he is with or near Riona. The tips on horses continue.Eventually Patrick steps onto the property surrounding the cottage in the present ... Riona has been dead for some years and the cottage and land are sorely neglected. Then her children and granddaughter arrive and Riona's wishes are granted.This is the kind of warm and fuzzy tale that I felt compelled to keep on reading without a break though I really can't call it a "page turner" in the classic sense. The characters were delightful and the plot is really a love story that transcends time. It was several hours of reading magic.