Ahoy there me mateys! I wanted to read this book when I found out it had ghosts and dealt with the Bayeux Tapestry. I studied the tapestry in school. It portrays the battle of Hastings in 1066 and also shows Haley’s Comet which occurred that year. This book weaves multiple generations together in chapters that jump in time – 1066, 1759, 1976, and 2017.

What is the significance of those years? Well in those years comets appear in the skies. Any time a comet is in the sky, members of a certain family can see and talk to ghosts. And not just any ghosts but the ghosts of their own family members. Not that comets are limited to those years. The family members also have to stay in Bayeux in order to see the ghosts.

The reason for the jumps back and forth are to show the different lives of various people, their connection to comets, and how their lives intertwine. I highly enjoyed the comet connection. This was me favourite part of the book. And I liked all of the major characters and glimpsing their lives. I do think it was very well written.

There were two things that led to this not being a better read. One was that I listened to this in audiobook format. I had a hard time grasping characters and time shifts in the beginning. I do think this book begs to be read and not listened to. Also I didn’t like the french accent used for the characters. I can’t say if the accent was good or not. It just didn’t work for me. I would have liked no accents at all.

The other quibble was the “mystery” aspect of why the ghosts appear. I thought that subplot was kinda lame. I didn’t like the ending of the book and how this resolves. That said, I did enjoy it and am glad I listened to it. I just think that overall it was an okay read and I won’t ever re-read it. Arrr!

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