In 1925, child psychologist Alice Lind travels to the stormy coast of Oregon to test the learning abilities of the local children. Michael O'Daire picks her up at the station and offers her a place to stay while she's in town. He hopes that Alice can help his seven-year-old daughter, Janie, who believes she lived a past life. As Alice learns more of Janie's story and gathers evidence that the girl might really be experiencing something beyond scientific explanation, she is also drawn into the lives of the child's parents, particularly the dangerously handsome Michael. While there's more than a dash of melodrama in Alice's romantic entanglements, the author does a good job of building suspense about whether Janie's experiences could be real, with a skeptical Scully-like Alice confronted with events beyond what her psychology training can explain.
VERDICT Atmospheric and spooky with real gothic flair, the latest from Winters (The Uninvited) introduces a realistically flawed heroine stifled by the conventions of her time.
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