Title: After the Spirits Come
Author: Beth Ford
Genre: Historical fiction
Book Blurb:
One week after the events of A Christmas Carol, Ebenezer Scrooge is celebrating New Year's Eve at his nephew Fred's house, ready to embark on his new life as a gregarious, generous family man with a more charitable business model. However, it soon becomes clear that his transition will be more difficult than predicted on Christmas Day. At the New Year's Eve party, Scrooge meets a doctor who requests to interview him about his experience with the spirits, an interview that leads to others in positions of power doubting Scrooge's mental faculties. And when Scrooge returns home from the party, a threatening note awaits him from men whose lives he ruined in the past and who will not let him be forgiven so easily. Can Scrooge learn to rejoin society? And will the forces converging around him allow him to succeed?
Excerpt:
On a cold New Year’s night, from a confluence of shadows in the lee of a building, two men watched Ebenezer Scrooge’s front door. Both men were about forty, but anyone seeing them in the light would think them at least ten years older from their deep-etched wrinkles and the steeliness in their eyes.
“Do you think he’ll even read it?” The man who spoke was tall, with a pockmarked face.
His shorter companion scoffed at the first man’s doubt. “Of course he’ll read it. The man has never received a letter in his life.” He hunched his shoulders against the cold and jerked his head toward their destination. “Let’s go. We’re going to need to plan for a lot more than one lousy note and a shovelful of horseshit. It won’t be easy, taking everything from a man the way he did to us.”
***
Meanwhile, in a middling house in a middling London neighborhood, two young people stood in front of their fireplace in a parlor crowded with celebrants.
“Remarkable, isn’t it?” Fred Williamson asked his wife, Clara.
“No more crowded than last year.” She kept her gaze on the guests filling the space. A coy smile tugged at the corners of her mouth, showing she knew that was not what Fred referred to. Fred had only one thing on his mind during the week between Christmas and New Year’s. Now, with two hours left before they rang in 1844, she knew the trajectory of his thoughts would not change.
“You know what I mean.” Fred lifted his glass, shining with a fresh helping of punch, in the direction of a gray head across the room that Fred glimpsed only when the man’s two companions moved in time with their laughter.
“You win the bet on that one. Your uncle managed to maintain his new demeanor for this whole week.” She swiveled her face toward her husband, beaming. Her sausage curls bounced merrily against her cheeks. “How long do you want to wager next?”
“I think I have more faith in him than you do. Maybe Easter?”
“That’s bold of you. All right. I think he’ll be back to his old self long before then.”
They shook hands to seal the wager, then watched Fred’s uncle, Ebenezer Scrooge, as he chatted in a small group squeezed behind the sofa.
“Still . . .” Clara began, “do you think he’s all right?”
Fred shrugged. “He refuses to talk to a doctor, of course, but I spoke with Dr. Smelton last week—you know, Helen’s cousin?—and he said an apoplexy might cause odd symptoms—personality changes, hallucinations . . . and if he’s had one, he’s more likely to have another that won’t be so kind.”
Clara’s sister, wrapped in lavender silk and cream lace, tugged on Clara’s arm and led her away, eager for Clara to join a game starting in one corner. Fred laughed and gave a quick nod at the two women. He watched his uncle awhile longer. It was unlike Fred to be pensive, and he didn’t like the feeling. He drained his glass of punch and determined to leave what had happened in 1843 behind. In the new year, he would enjoy whatever time he had with his uncle and thank God for it. With a grin, he dove back into the crowd, joining a group of his fellows in a song.
***
At five minutes before midnight, Fred dashed back to the clock on the mantel at the front of the room. He rapped his punch glass. When that didn’t get everyone’s attention, he stuck two fingers in his mouth and released an ear-piercing whistle. Instantly, everyone turned toward him, though a few grumbled to their companions about the shrill noise.
“It’s almost time!” he shouted. “I just wanted to say, I’m happy I knew all of you in ’43, and I hope our acquaintance will continue in ’44.” He raised his glass. Others followed, and one man cheered, “Hear, hear!” Everyone took a drink. But Fred had called for everyone’s attention too early, and the remaining few minutes suddenly felt like a very long time to fill. His guests started to return to their conversations. Fred watched the clock hands. “Thirty seconds!” he yelled at the appropriate time, then, “Ten seconds!” Everyone joined him in the countdown.
Midnight struck. The great dongs of the nearest church bells drowned out the tinny chimes from the parlor clock. There were embraces all around, and some kisses, mostly with the appropriate partner. A few young men started a round of “Auld Lang Syne” that did not catch on.
Scrooge found his nephew in the mass of bodies and clapped Fred’s back three times. Fred had received more hugs from his uncle in the last week than he had in all the years of his life put together.
Fred smiled as they pulled apart and wished each other a happy New Year. “This will be a wonderful year, Uncle. I can feel it!”
“Yes, my boy!” Scrooge agreed. He turned and shook hands forcefully with the other men near him and even dared to give one of their wives a friendly peck on the cheek.
Fred also greeted his fellows but kept an eye on his uncle. He had commented on the great things 1844 would bring partly to convince himself. One thought still nagged at the back of Fred’s mind.
This all might be too good to be true.
Buy Links (including Goodreads and BookBub):
Universal link: https://books2read.com/afterthespiritscome
It’s a brand-new year, full of possibilities. Did you make any resolutions/goals for 2025? If so, please share one.
In 2025, my goal is to read at least one historical novel about a time period/location I am not very familiar with.
Why is your featured book a must-read in 2025?
This book picks up on New Year’s Eve and goes from there, so January is the perfect time to start it! This book adds new dimensions to the beloved characters we all know so well from A Christmas Carol.
Giveaway –
One lucky reader will win a $100 Amazon gift card.
Open internationally.
Runs January 1 – 31, 2025
Drawing will be held on February 3, 2025.
Author Biography:
Beth Ford is a historical fiction author living in the beautiful Shenandoah Valley of Virginia. She is the author of the novels In the Times of Spirits and Love Between Times as well as the Cassie Woods, Reporter novella series. Her upcoming novel After the Spirits Come: A Continuation of Dickens's A Christmas Carol will be released February 11, 2025. Her work has also appeared in a variety of literary journals.
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