The Curse of Misty Wayfair by Jamie Jo Wright

Left at an orphanage as a child, Thea Reed vowed to find her mother someday.  Now grown, her search takes her to Pleasant Valley, Wisconsin, in 1908.

A century later, Heidi Lane receives a troubling letter from her mother…

As two women across time seek answers about their identities and heritage, can they overcome the threat of the mysterious curse that has them inextricably entwined?

The Curse of Misty Wayfair deals with mental health issues in the early 1900s and today, and particularly focusses on autism and anxiety.  This is the third book by Jaime Jo Wright, who was Baker Publishing Group’s top fiction author in the UK for 2018, and her stories just keep getting better and better. 

In 1908 Thea Reed is searching for the mother who abandoned her when she was just four years old. Her search leads her to the mental asylum in Pleasant Valley, where the legend of Misty Wayfair and the supposed curse connected with her is very real.  A century later, Heidi Lane receives a strange letter from her dementia afflicted mother and travels to Pleasant Valley to find some answers of her own.  The two women’s stories will cross, but each separate story is also completely engrossing. 

At its heart, this is a book about who we are, and what we are searching for.  In many places it’s a dark read as it deals with some very grim historical practices associated with the mentally ill, but it also gives a perceptive insight into some of what modern day sufferers and their families face. The author has first hand experience of some of the issues in the book, and she also spent time with mothers of autistic children to ensure that the representations of autism in the book are true to reality.  Despite the characters who clearly deal with mental health issues, the book shows how everyone has their own internal struggles to deal with.   

One of Jaime Jo Wright’s great strengths is how well she brings her characters to life and we’re not disappointed here. Dogged and determined Thea, pushing through her fears. Simeon with his stress-worsened ticks. Heidi with her brash exterior and easily triggered ‘flight mode’ (perhaps the most changed of all the characters as the story progresses). Risk playing Emma, who is wonderfully created and as her mother says ‘perfect as she is’. And the interesting Rhett and his truck companions!   Plus a superb ‘supporting cast’, none of whom are at all peripheral in terms of their presence within the story.

The Curse of Misty Wayfair is a suspense novel.  It could be referred to as ‘creepy suspense’ with its plot elements of a ghost and a curse, neither of which are seen all that often in contemporary Christian literature.  However the author weaves these through her story in a way which is both tense and, yes, creepy, but also in a way which will not leave the books Christian readership uncomfortable at the end. By the way, the Christian elements are worked in very well indeed, and are not at all heavy.  This is a book I’d give to a non-Christian friend without qualm.

I found this a compelling read.  Wonderful characters, interesting and tantalising plot elements, and plenty of well written tension and twists.  I began to suspect ‘whodunnit’ quite late on (for one element at least), but some things I didn’t see coming at all.