A Certain Slant of Light

Title: A Certain Slant of Light
Author: Laura Whitcomb
Published: 2005
Synopsis from Goodreads

Helen is a disembodied spirit who "attaches" herself to humans in order to possess their bodies. Unable to remember the circumstances of her death, and with no idea why she's in this precarious state of limbo, she knows this much: she's been haunting the living world for 130 years. But when Helen inhabits the body of a high school teacher, everything changes. For though he remains quite unaware of her presence, a certain boy in his class is clearly able to see Helen. This realization, and Helen's subsequent introduction to him, rocks her world.

Uncomfortable with the boundaries of her existence, Helen continues to test them and takes hair-raising risks -- often for love. Moved by her passions, she is stymied by limits placed on her that she doesn't yet understand and is unable to control. Despite the supernatural realm it explores, A Certain Slant of Light is nothing sort of chilling in its evocation of a world that's starkly real, and a newfound love that's positively sublime.




WOW! Just plain WOW! I said that after I read the first chapter of this book. It draws you in and doesn't want to let you go until you read the last word on the final page. Just brilliant!


I super loved this book. I didn't think that I would be so into it because of the religious factor. But that didn't seem to bother me at all. It did very well with this story just like it did with "The Five People YOU meet in Heaven." It was definitely needed and I never felt uncomfortable.

"A Certain Slant of Light" is about a ghost named Helen. She's been dead for over a 100 years, trapped on this earth, having to cling to hosts to stay out of her grave. She's had several and each one of them has the most fascinating background stories. This is what the first chapter is about. It's fun to see how each person is linked with another and makes you wonder if the author researched someone to make it all work... because it really worked well, in my opinion.

Helen's current host is a high school English teacher. One day she's in his class watching the world of the room when all of the sudden she's noticed. A boy locks eyes with her. A boy who shouldn't be able to see her but can. This is a first. And this is where the story takes off.

I really enjoyed how this book was written. Each sentence is well thought out and reads like poetry. You can definitely tell that the author put a lot of thought in each word. I really enjoyed that. It made me want to read the book more.

I think everyone should give this book a try. I also would LOVE to see a movie made of this. I think it would be brilliant. I look forward to reading more from this author.