The Uninvited

By: Cat Winters

Narrated by: Emily Woo Zeller

From the award-winning author of In the Shadow of Blackbirds comes a stunning new novel—a masterfully crafted story of love, loss, and second chances. Set during the fear and panic of the Great Influenza of 1918, The Uninvited is part gothic ghost-story, part psychological thriller, perfect for those who loved The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield or The Vanishing by Wendy Webb.

Twenty-five year old Ivy Rowan rises from her bed after being struck by the flu, only to discover the world has been torn apart in just a few short days.

But Ivy’s life-long gift—or curse—remains. For she sees the uninvited ones—ghosts of loved ones who appear to her, unasked, unwelcomed, for they always herald impending death. On that October evening in 1918 she sees the spirit of her grandmother, rocking in her mother’s chair. An hour later, she learns her younger brother and father have killed a young German out of retaliation for the death of Ivy’s older brother Billy in the Great War.

Horrified, she leaves home, to discover the flu has caused utter panic and the rules governing society have broken down. Ivy is drawn into this new world of jazz, passion, and freedom, where people live for the day, because they could be stricken by nightfall. But as her ‘uninvited guests’ begin to appear to her more often, she knows her life will be torn apart once more, but Ivy has no inkling of the other-worldly revelations about to unfold.

The Uninvited is an atmospheric, haunting, and utterly compelling novel.

What a twist!!!

I absolutely LOVED this book! Cat Winters is becoming one of my favorite authors! She is good at mixing a historical time period, ghosts, and a love story to make such a phenomenal story.

This one takes place during World War I in Buchanan, Illinois. It’s 1918 and the flu has been taking many lives! It was kind of ironic to read this because we’re going through the flu right now. Ivy must wrestle with the thought of her brother, Peter, and father killing an innocent German man and losing her other brother, Billy, to the war. She is in the process of trying to recover from flu and she leaves home to find herself.

She encounters the German man, Wilhelm, whose brother was slain by her brother and father. She constantly feels pulled to him and begins to kindle affection for him. She finds a place to stay in town with a woman named May, who is a widow of one of Ivy’s classmates. She stumbles upon a Red Cross ambulance stuck on the tracks. She helps and befriends two girls, Addy & Nellie, by driving the ambulance at night to pick up flu victims.

Little does she know, her world will totally be turned upside down once more and she will never be the same!

Wonderful story and great listen!

This was the best story I’ve listened to yet. I love books from this time period (WWI) and romances and ghost stories and this had it all. Great performance by the reader! Made me cry. I highly recommend this book!

Great, if you like this kind of topic

I have to give this book four stars because it was well written and a good story, but unfortunately I didn't really enjoy it. That isn't the author's fault, however. It's because this book reads like an historical fiction romance, not a supernatural ghost story like I wanted.

A caution to those expecting this to be a creepy ghost story; nothing is creepy about this book and the ghostly elements in it are scarce. The book has a great twist but one I saw coming a mile away and didn't make up for the boredom I experienced waiting for the ghostly portion of this book to emerge.

It is a great story for those interested in a historical fiction romance vibe, set against a war backdrop and peppered with political statements (all of which bore me to tears in fiction) but will probably disappoint those looking for a supernatural thriller (like I was) such as those by Wendy Webb, John Harwood, and F.G. Cottam.

The narrator annoyed me to no end, but unfortunately I also have no objective reason to give for it. I simply didn't enjoy her voice or style but see no reason why others might not.

Slow storyline, but good enough to finish

slow story, but it finishes good. I didn't go into it really knowing what it was about, it came across as horror but it is not that. romantic story...sweet.

boring

boring, not interesting, not scary, not suspenseful, not romantic, not good, reader good, story was bland