Tranquil Heights

I really enjoyed this story. I love the mystery aspect of it and ended up reading it in one day because I just had to find out if the curse would be lifted.

The story centers on a family that is cursed. The firstborn daughters of each generation will die on their 25th birthdays. Katie Edgecomb and her twin sister Liz, were told this story their whole lives yet they believed it to just be a way to keep them in line. That is until Liz dies two minutes to midnight on the night of their birthday. Katie has discovered she's pregnant and with fears she's carrying a girl, she sets out to discover if she can lift the curse.

Tranquil Heights started out as a sanitarium first opening in 1910 to house wealthy tuberculosis patients. In 1932, it was converted to a hospital for wayward girls and women. A place to house the dirty little secrets of elite families. Afterward in 1953, the hospital once again transformed into a full-fledged mental hospital but now accepted men and was private pay for the wealthy until its closure in 1979. The hospital stood empty for 23 years, attracting vagrants, wildlife and teenagers while it decayed until in 2003 when it was bought for a song and renovated back to its former glory and turned into a preparatory academy for girls.

Katies great-great-grandmother worked there from 1934 until she retired in 1967. During this time there was an incident with a patient that she believed is where the curse stemmed from but she refused to divulge what the incident was and who had been involved. While searching for answers, Katie decides its time to visit Tranquil Heights and solve this mystery once and for all. While there she meets Darla, the school museum coordinator and is shown a journal her grandmother kept during her time there. Its within this journal that the mystery starts to unravel. 

Katies great-great-grandmother, Wilhelmina Darrington, worked as a private nurse at Tranquil Heights at night on the swing shift and cared for the "wayward" girls that had been used and abused by society's elite. It was a better paying job than that of a regular hospital and in the 1930's, that was something, to have a job at all, was huge. The journal spans a period between 1934-1935. It is during this time period that the "curse" is laid upon her. Unfortunately, several pages of the journal are missing. 

Ill stop here as to not give too much away for the rest of the story. Suffice to say, Katie discovers a long ago secret, a heart wrenching story of love and loss and an event so appalling, it threatens everything Katie believes to be real. However, she has no choice, she will not risk her unborn child succumbing to the curse. 

All in all. the premise of the story is fantastic. The setting for the bulk of the story is perfect. A school, once a place of sorrow and sadness, now haunted by its former residents. I loved the journal entries and the back and forth between then and now. As a mother I felt the story. I myself have a daughter and cannot imagine a curse that might take her from me. By the end of the book, I had tears in my eyes.  It would be the perfect read for the upcoming spooky season. I highly recommend this book and I look forward to more from this author.