Official Review: Johanna's Stone by Earlene Carlisle

Jocelyn Eastman · Post by **Jocelyn Eastman** » 22 Mar 2020, 00:52

[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Johanna's Stone" by Earlene Carlisle.]

2 out of 4 stars

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Johanna’s Stone by Earline Carlisle is a historical fiction about Madeline Reynolds and the haunting of a ghost named Johanna. Johanna is haunting Madeline’s dreams because she wants something from Madeline, but Johanna had haunted others before. Madeline gathers all of the townspeople that Johanna had haunted to discuss this, and the ghost appears before them again. She tells them there is a cache of gold hidden at her gravesite and that she wants Madeline to use the gold to build a veteran’s home. As the Civil War has just ended, the home is desperately needed. Since Madeline just lost her parents, she is relying on friends and neighbors for support. However, she will learn family secrets that will put her life in danger. She will also find love in the most unexpected places. Will she survive? Will she fulfill Johanna’s wishes?

This book is written in basic language and is easy to understand and read. There is no profanity in the book. There is a scene of implied sex, but it is not at all graphic. People of many ages could read this book and not find it offensive to their tastes.

The thing I liked most about this book was the description the author would use. The author was very detailed in the background and scenery throughout the book and would often set the mood with the weather outside. I also felt like I was getting fashion lessons from the late 1860s. The descriptions of the clothing that people were wearing were so detailed I felt like I was looking at each character. The author took the time to plot out every little thing in the scenery.

The thing I disliked most was that for a book that was that the characters didn’t seem genuine to me. This story takes place right after the Civil War, and yet former slaves are dining with their former slave owners. Knowing the racial divides and segregation that existed in the south for 100 years after the war, I find it laughable that the author thinks this is believable. I also don’t think former slaves are praising their former slave owners in casual conversations with their bosses. In the dynamic of the world that exists back then, these conversations just aren’t happening. The world between former slaves and their masters was not that congenial. Even though the book presses the point multiple times, there were no “fair” or “good” slave owners. I also don’t believe in the storyline of the murderer either. I don’t want to spoil a lot of the book, but let’s just say that if a black man killed a slave owner back then, he’d be dead. There would be no second murder plot. There’s a lot more wrong with that storyline, but I’d have to give away a lot of plot.

Also, this book was billed as a romance novel, but there are no lovemaking scenes of any detail in the book. I do not consider this a romance novel and was disappointed that it was not one.

Overall, this book had more downs than ups for me. Those who are into historical fiction may like it more than I did, and this also fits more into a supernatural crime novel genre than romance. The book could also use a lot of editing, which for me was so distracting and detracting. I am giving this book 2 out of 4 stars.

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Johanna's Stone
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