Ghosted by British author Rosie Walsh is a modern story of love, both filial and romantic, thickly coated in mystery. Sarah, an L.A. transplant, meets Eddie while visiting her hometown of Gloucestershire. The two of them are swept up in an all-consuming romance and, despite the fact that they barely know each other, both are convinced that they have found their true-life partner. After seven blissful days they reluctantly part and Eddie promises to call. But then he doesn't.
Sarah's friends tell her to accept the fact that she's been "ghosted," but she refuses to give up on him. As the mystery of Eddie's silence deepens, the devastating past that Sarah spent her whole life trying to escape catches up with her. Walsh employs clever descriptive contrasts to reflect the very different worlds Sarah and Eddie inhabit: the cozy dampness of Gloucestershire against the stark brightness of L.A.; restless Sarah who fled to America versus stable, constant Eddie who stayed close to home; her high-visibility career and his quiet work as a traditional British cabinetmaker.
Ghosted heralds a new subgenre of romance mystery, one that builds relationship suspense through unreturned texts, deleted messages, mysterious Facebook posts and, of course, good old-fashioned phone calls. Walsh includes letter writing, too, to round out the communication struggles Sarah and Eddie face as they attempt to balance their need for each other with the consequences of being together. --Shahina Piyarali, writer and reviewer