The Safe Room

by B. A. Shapiro

 

          

            The Safe Room is two parallel stories. The first, told through her diary, is that of Sarah Harden, the daughter of a Massachusetts abolitionist whose home is a stop on the Underground Railroad.  The second story is of Lee Seymour, the modern day descendant of Sarah. Lee is helping her grandmother rehab the ancestral home Hayden House to be included on the Harriet Tubman Network to Freedom Park.

            Sarah’s diary details the attitudes, prejudices and times she and her father live in. It is also a chronicle of her affair with a runaway slave hidden in Hayden house and the consequences of that affair.

            Lee’s story of rehabbing Hayden House becomes a search for more of the history of her family as events come to light that have been hidden for over a century. As Lee delves deeper into her family’s history she begins to think she’s hearing ghost. Then she sees one.

            Billed as a paranormal suspense, this is absolutely not a book I would normally choose to read. Actually, I only read it because I received an invitation from the publisher to review an ARC copy.

            This is a really good book. The diary of Sarah Harden is worth the read in and of itself. When Lee begins hearing noises and actually seeing a ghost, Shapiro pulls this off so well that it’s not at all unbelievable. The alternating narrative between Sarah and Lee’s story is also very well done. Novels that jump back and forth in time can sometimes be confusing and not cohesive. Not so with The Safe Room.

            This is a book that fans of historical fiction and mysteries will enjoy. The paranormal parts do not detract from it in any way.

            Disclaimer: I received an ARC from the publisher in exchange for a fair and honest review.