I don't know why, but I think of paranormal romance as a very contemporary genre. This was first published in 1945, I think, and yet paranormal romance it is, and it feels very modern despite its historical setting.

That modernity, I think, comes almost entirely from the depiction of Lucy Muir. A young widow with two children who has spent much of her life being controlled by her (no doubt well-meaning) husband and in-laws, she uses her widowhood to escape with her children to a small house on the coast. That house is haunted by a sea captain, and as the years go by Lucy begins to discover herself. She is, when she allows herself to be, extremely clear-sighted about the disappointment she felt in her marriage and, occasionally, in her children (particularly her little prig of a son), and her growing ability to stick up for herself and her right to happiness is thoroughly supported by the sea captain, who sees her potential and doesn't want her to waste her life.

It's a very slow-burn romance, and one in which the protagonists can never actually touch, but it's still just plain charming. Lucy, especially, is enormously sympathetic.