Deborah Sweaney

The Spirit of the Limestone House Deborah Sweaney

On a sunny afternoon in 2011, fourteen-year-old Callie Anne Monroe tossed the day's mail on the counter. She could not have imagined that events that happened 150 years ago and a thousand miles away were about to change her life forever.

The Spirit of the Limestone House, by Deborah Sweaney, writer of the acclaimed memoirs, Unpacking Memories and Blest Be the Tie, tells the story of a young girl who inherits an old limestone house from an unmarried aunt whom she never met. Aunt Amelia was the last of her line but her house is far from empty. Instead, it is full of secrets, an undeniable sense of restless energy, and strange occurrences.

Set against a backdrop of historic events, The Spirit of the Limestone House weaves mystery, a ghost story, and more than a little romance into a novel of four bright teen-age girls researching the past, an old maid school teacher who never shared her own story, and a soldier who did not have the chance to say good-bye.

Illustrated by young artists Callie's age, The Spirit of the Limestone House not only entertains but will make readers of all ages think about what really matters in life and remind us all that our spirits are always more important than our physical bodies.