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IN A CITY FILLED WITH THE DEAD AND DYING,

 

WHILE A NIGHTMARISH WAR RAGES HALFWAY ACROSS THE WORLD,

 

THE GRIEVING LOOK FOR ANSWERS IN PHOTOGRAPHS AND SÉANCES.

 

IT’S 1918. SAN DIEGO.

 

AND A GIRL WHO DOESN’T BELIEVE IN SPIRITS

 

STEPS OFF THE TRAIN AND INTO A NEW LIFE . . .

 

 

 

 

 

 

Image Credits

Page vi: Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division, LC-DIG-ds-01290;

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: Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, WWI Posters, LC-USZ62-8278;

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: National Media Museum / Science & Society Picture Library;

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: Wm. B. Becker Collection/PhotographyMuseum. com, © 2013 The American Photography Museum, Inc. ;

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this page

,

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, and

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: Courtesy U. S. National Library of Medicine;

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: National Media Museum / Science & Society Picture Library;

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: National Archives (165-WW-269B-25)

PUBLISHER’S NOTE: This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Winters, Cat. In the shadow of blackbirds / Cat Winters. p. cm.

Summary: In San Diego in 1918, as deadly influenza and World War I take their toll, sixteen-year-old Mary Shelley Black watches desperate mourners flock to séances and spirit photographers for comfort and, despite her scientific leanings, must consider if ghosts are real when her first love, killed in battle, returns. ISBN 978-1-4197-0530-4 [1. Spiritualism—Fiction.

2. Ghosts—Fiction. 3. Influenza Epidemic, 1918–1919—Fiction. 4. World War, 1914–1918—Fiction. 5. San Diego (Calif. )—History—20th century— Fiction. ] I. Title. PZ7. W76673In 2013 [Fic]—dc23 2012039262

Text copyright © 2013 Catherine Karp Book design by Maria T. Middleton

Published in 2013 by Amulet Books, an imprint of ABRAMS. All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, mechanical, electronic, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without written permission from the publisher. Amulet Books and Amulet Paperbacks are registered trademarks of Harry N. Abrams, Inc.

115 West 18th Street New York, NY 10011

For Adam, Meggie, and Ethan, who patiently share me with my characters

 

 

Contents

 

1 A Year the Devil Designed

2 Aunt Eva and the Spirits

3 Mr. Muse

4 The Mysterious Island

5 A Transparent Figure

6 The Buzz of Electricity

7 Death

8 The Expert

9 Blue Smoke and Whispers

10 The Butterfly and the Lightning Bolt

11 Phantom

12 Come Talk to the Spirits

13 Ugly Things

14 Stay Safe

15 The Weight of Souls

16 Of Rats and Crows