In the Shadow of Blackbirds by Cat Winters (review)

In 1918, "a year the devil designed," the U.S is engaged in a terrifying new type of warfare abroad while its citizens back home are ravaged by the Spanish flu and beset with paranoia. Sixteen-year-old Mary Shelley Black has seen these evils up close: her father has been unjustly arrested for treason, her sweetheart has been killed in Europe, and she dons the white gauze protective mask against the flu as her neighbors and loved ones fall ill daily. A near-death experience alters her senses, and suddenly she is able to see and talk to Stephen, her beloved, whose strange ramblings about poison and blackbirds lead her to believe that he actually died after returning home rather than in battle. This engrossing combination of historical fiction, ghost story, psychological thriller, and straight-up whodunit moves between genres with stunning ease, maximizing the tropes of each to satisfying effect. The selection of period black and white photos reflects the horrors of the time: the doctored images of "ghosts" are indeed eerie, but it's the shots of flag-draped caskets and dead-eyed flu sufferers that will send chills down readers' spines. Mary Shelley's voice is at times defiant and other times simply exhausted, and as her situation worsens, her reliability as a narrator begins to decline, especially when her hallucinations become violent and incoherent. Readers will appreciate the exploration of the good and evil of humanity, and they'll be pleased to see Mary Shelley get an optimistic ending after all she's been through.