“More Than You Know” by Beth Gutcheon

“More Than You Know” by Beth Gutcheon
2001, First Perennial
ISBN: 0-688-17403-5

“More Than You Know” by Beth Gutcheon is a book I happened upon almost by chance. It was early morning and I’d stopped by the library on my way to work to return some books. They have a few boxes out front where people put orphan books during the night. I presume when the staff comes to work in the morning they pick over the books and bring the likeliest looking ones inside. I beat them to the punch and rescued this copy of “More Than You Know”.

Once you start this book you won’t be able to put it down. It’s a ghost story, yet it’s more than just something to raise the hair on the back of your neck while you sit with your friends around a camp fire. Beth Gutcheon reaches back under the skin of the story to the bones to tell you how and why and where it all came to be. I cried in parts of it. I didn’t miss seeing page 222 as it went by, though, I mostly don’t miss that with any book I read.

I speak to the dead. All the time. I’m a psychic. But, I surely would never in a million years want to talk to the things that haunt, to the ghosts in this story. I wondered, too, that it was set in Maine. Bangor was mentioned. And, I thought of Stephen King. And, I wondered about that part of the country about how it is that there are mentioned so many strange things that go on. There’s got to be ghosts in other places, but it surely seems to me that I’m only hearing about them in Maine these days.

This was very well written. I really appreciated the rhythm in the story moving from present to old times to older times and back again. It was like breathing in the book. It felt right. The rhythm of the book.

I enjoyed reading this book. If you happen upon a copy or even based upon this review go out and look for it in particular I think you will be satisfied. I’m interested to know that Beth has eight books in print at this time. You know I'm going to be reading more of them.