Review copy was received from Publicity team. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
The Resurrection of Evania James by Jaime Jo Wright Published by Bethany House Publishers on October 27, 2026
Genres: Historical Mystery
Pages: 336
Format: Paperback
Source: Publicity team
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In 1879, when Eloise James' sister, Evania, goes missing after being admitted to an asylum, Eloise is determined to find her sibling but instead finds evidence of dying patients and grave-robbers. Wannabe journalist Silas Dobbs has his own reasons for exposing the grim trade. Together, they are intent on learning whether Evania is alive or if her body has also been stolen. But unraveling a tapestry of underground resurrectionists proves daunting, and the dead are not the only ones in danger.
In the present day, Tilly Thompson is unnerved to find human remains entombed in the wall of the historic mansion her grandfather just purchased, launching her into an investigation of the former owners' murky past. The James family legacy harbors a darkness tightly woven through decades of secrets, yet the past refuses to stay hidden. Will revealing the truth resurrect dangers best kept buried forever?
Her sister’s free-spirited nature and disregard for propriety is a threat to their austere father so he has her committed. Decades later, another young woman finds the ghostly shadowy presence of past evil keeping her palpable company in her new house. Jaime Jo Wright’s Inspirational Gothic Suspense has fast become some of my most highly anticipated reads each year and The Resurrection of Evania James is no exception.
A dual-timeline gothic suspense tale opens in the past with the story of Eloise James, a sheltered young lady brought up to wealth who has followed all the rules of society and the tighter rules of her own father while her sister, Evania, broke free of the tight bonds and lived in the sunshine. Now, her sister is paying a harsh price for living outside their father’s bonds- being institutionalized like a madwoman. However, Eloise slowly realizes that all is not as it seems when it comes to her father’s motives and her sister’s welfare- even her safety. This is the catalyst needed to slip her father’s stringed rules and go to the asylum to bring her sister home to nurse her. Easier said than done even with the help of a cheeky journalist also seeking answers for the darker side of that asylum.
Meanwhile, in the present time, Tilly, a woman who has never fit in among others for her quirks and ways has only ever found understanding among her own family and full acceptance from her beloved grandfather. In a surprising turn of fate, as her grandfather starts slip further away due to Alzheimer’s he places himself in her care and gives her early inheritance of the old James mansion which she has always admired.
Not long after she moves in, strange and spooky occurrences take place and she finds her unlikely partner in figuring it out, the youngest member of the James family who once was her bully and the person who hurt her the most in her high school days. Tilly could never imagine forgiving him let alone relying on him to discover what truths they would dig up in that old house.
If walls could talk… and the walls of the James mansion have seen much. Dark and spooky events happen in these two times and two different women find they are stronger and more intrepid than they think as they face what they must. I enjoyed both heroines and both their timeline stories. They had distinct personalities and situation. The historical details about women being at the mercy of fathers or husbands when it came to being committed caused as many chills as the build of atmosphere and mystery in the present. I was riveted and had to know the final events for both women as things got their most intense.
All in all, The Resurrection of Evania James was as good or better than I anticipated and I felt a letdown that I have to wait once again for the next inspirational gothic suspense from Jaime Jo Wright. The inspirational themes of letting the past go and forgiveness for Tilly and knowing where duty and honor lie for Eloise, the historical and present backdrops, and atmospheric suspense will appeal to a wide range of readers.
Giveaway:
This is a giveaway hosted by Partners in Crime Virtual Book Tours for The Resurrection of Evania James. See the widget for entry terms and conditions. Void where prohibited.
The giveaway is for: a paperback copy of The Resurrection of Evania James by Jaime Jo Wright and a $50 Bookshop.org gift card (US only)
Enter the giveaway HERE
Excerpt:
Read the Excerpt HERE
About Jaime Jo Wright
Jaime Jo Wright is the author of ten novels, including Christy Award and Daphne du Maurier Award-winner The House on Foster Hill and Carol Award winner The Reckoning at Gossamer Pond. She’s also a two-time Christy Award finalist, as well as the ECPA bestselling author of The Vanishing at Castle Moreau and two Publishers Weekly bestselling novellas. Jaime lives in Wisconsin with her family and felines.
As a lifelong reader, it was inevitable that Sophia would discover book blogs and the joy of blog reviewing.Sophia is a prolific reader and audiobook listener which allows her to experience so many wonderful books, authors, and narrators.Few genres are outside her reading tastes, but her true love is fiction particularly history, mystery, sci-fi, and romance.Though, sorry, no horror or she will run like Shaggy and Scooby.
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