Carolyn has everything set up, laid out in front of her. An approved beau, a supportive father, an expected hefty inheritance, and the dream of a sparkling house on the banks of the Great Lakes. A life fit for a respected socialite and wife. But something doesn’t feel quite right–or maybe it is too right. Before he can officially propose, Carolyn tells her boyfriend that she needs to make a trip to New York City to see an aging aunt. She wants to clear her head and, importantly speak to someone who knew her mother, before she takes the path laid out for her.
In the year 1956, the face of New York City was changing rapidly. Gilded Age mansions made way for skyscrapers. The neighborhoods of townhouses and brownstones grew hemmed in by office towers with reflective glass. One of the proud homes, disappearing into obscurity, is Carolyn’s family’s. It will be listed for sale soon, but as her aunt explains, a Madison Avenue firm has rented it out for a house party–hosted by none other than Alfred Hitchcock.
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Carolyn agrees to act as the family representative while the place is being set up and make sure guests don’t make off with the silverware. She is amused to learn they want everything left in its charmingly cobwebby condition–and they want to be visited by a ghost. Much to her surprise, one does oblige. It turns out to be an ancestor.
Hitchcock was tracking the blue light. He’d seen the glowing girl once more. She’d drifted toward the second-floor stairs, then zoomed right up them, as if carried in a stiff breeze. How was this possible? He followed her lead, pausing to peer behind some drapes. … A plate of cake balanced in one hand, his brain afire with speculation, his was a tippy ship traversing a rocky bay. ~Pg. 158
The party is peopled with special guests like Henry Fonda and Charles Addams (the cartoonist who created the Addams Family) as well as important network executives and sponsor companies for Alfred Hitchcock Presents. Hitch laments that Grace Kelly cannot attend as she leaves in the morning to marry her prince in Monaco. As the evening continues, Carolyn realizes the guest list is expanding to include more ghosts–not all of them related to her. Somehow the party is making the spirits come alive again and they are attracted to the celebration.
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The novel somehow balances nostalgic romance, slapstick comedy, family drama, and domestic suspense. There are moments that are genuinely hilarious when the reader can see a mile away what is about to collide. There are also touching memories shared by the ghosts who are still struggling to understand their place in a world that can no longer see them. It’s a perfectly lighthearted Halloween read.
My thanks to Simon & Schuster/Atria for the advanced review copy.
Publisher: Atria Books
Publication date: October 14, 2025
Print length: 336 pages (English)
ISBN-10: 1668058731