It was so much fun journeying with Rilla, and she began to uncover the island’s strange and unsettling past and discover herself in the process. And given that this is a ghost story, there’s a delightful creep factor to it as well. So there’s a lot going on with this story: long-held secrets, grief, and loss, there’s a mystery to solve, there’s the struggle between tradition and moving forward, the connection between the past and present, there’s the horror of racial prejudice and even a touch of romance. Bit the bit, the island’s horrifying past - and a tragedy that has been kept secret – finally comes to light - a disaster that has a strong connection to Rilla’s own past.

Now, this is news to her, as Rilla has never heard of anyone living on the island, and she is determined and excited to investigate the island’s history. There she meets a young man named Sam, a university student who’s excavating the island and searching for clues about the island people who were evicted from the island 80 years earlier. The ghosts pull grows stronger until intrigued, Rilla boats over to the island. One night Rilla sees the apparition of a ghostly girl floating over the nearby island and her haunting yet familiar song reaches Rilla, beckoning her. The story takes place in a small Maine fishing community and visible to the town is a mysterious uninhabited island. The Rattled Bones is a super-atmospheric ghost story that follows a young woman named Rilla Brae who has recently lost her father and is struggling with her grief as well as her uncertain future.

The Rattled Bones by S.M. Parker