The Winter Ghosts - Kate Mosse

The Winter Ghosts

Kate Mosse

To Be Released February 3rd

Freddie is haunted by the memory of his brother George, who lost his life during World War I. After years of sadness and a brief stint in a sanitarium Freddie journey's around France. When a snow storm leaves him with a broken car and lost in the mountains he winds up in the village of Nulle, Freddie  finds a girl with a similar past who leads him to a monumental historical discovery.

The Winter Ghosts is a quick read, which is good because it will distract you from the lack of story it has. Mosse took an interesting subject, the Cathars, and made it dull, and ultimately unimportant in her story. Freddie himself, goes from being a character one can pity and really root for to an annoying babbling crazy person.
A big part of the problem is that the story Mosse is trying to tell isn't big enough for the 250 pages she has written. A lot of mindless descriptions and musing happen, and the story moves at a snails pace.
The actually story of the Cathar's is interesting, but as it is told as an unbelievable dream and in short bursts near the end, it felt more like a plot device than a historic even important to the actual story.

Overall The Winter Ghosts wasn't great, but it wasn't terrible, and if nothing else it was a quick read. If you think you can stomach Freddie's whining, you might actually enjoy it.