"Try it my friend-try just one day working the cane under that sun and under a whip, and you will know what a damnation slavery is. You will rise up in your thousands and demand that Parliament pass the Emancipation act-'

Fiona by Catherine Gaskin

This is one of my favorite books of all time.

It is historical fiction mixed with a bit of Gothic. Actually it is mixed with a lot of Gothic. Because of the description of the book, some people may think it’s purely a slave saga and while slavery definitely plays a role in the book, the subject matter encompasses much more than that.

This book is about Fiona, a nanny who goes to work for a family simmering with secrets. Fiona has the ability to see into the future but only partially so she can see things and see images of what will happen or what might happen, but it doesn’t ever tell the complete story. She has to put the rest together herself.

As Fiona acclimates into the household she’s pulled into the life of this family including Fergus, one of the family members with whom she falls in love. I really don’t want to say too much more as this is a hauntingly beautiful novel that it is best to go into not knowing alot about.

There are some beautiful characters in this book and as mentioned, slavery is one of the aspects of this book particularly a couple of beautiful souls who are slaves that Fiona befriends.

I should mention that this book takes place in the West Indies. The setting is absolutely beautiful and tropical. Everything about the book is lovely.

I read this book so many times it turned into a joke with my dad. I first read it in childhood and I reread it every few years.

It is a breathtakingly beautiful haunting atmospheric work of historical fiction that unfortunately has a terrible title. ( Really, does "Fiona" tell you anything?) I actually amused myself once by coming up with alternative titles for the book and I came up with "shadows of the soul" as the winning title.

I would really urge anyone who is a fan of Historical and/or Gothic fiction to check this book out. It should have far far more reviews than it does as the beauty of the book definitely rises to five stars. There is beauty, there is triumph of spirit, there is tragedy and there is joy. Read this book and love it as I do ( )

Nostalgic read, first read it in my teens (a long time ago) and I remembered the love story quite well (a little improbable but that's what romantic fiction is for!). However I'd missed the drug usage and hadn't registered the really interesting backdrop of the emancipation of slaves in the West Indies. Not great literature but enjoyable and far from trashy! ( )