Short Story Wednesday: The Ghost of Opalina by Peggy Bacon

This was another book I read for the R.eaders I.mbibing P.eril event. The Ghost of Opalina is a children's fantasy, made up of a series of linked stories that Opalina, the ghost cat, tells to the children of the house that she has lived in for all of her nine lives. None of these stories are scary, and Opalina never behaves maliciously. She does protect those she cares about.

The book begins with a family, Mr. and Mrs. Finley and their three children, moving to a house in the country with lots of land, gardens, barns and such. They arrive in the summer, and the children have all their days free to explore. Their parents have set up a play room for them in a section of the house that has no electricity. One evening they stay in the room until after dusk, and when it gets dark in the room they see a glowing form in an old stuffed chair in the room. This is Opalina, a beautiful white cat, who announces to them that she is a ghost and can only be seen at night. They beg her to tell them about the various families that have lived in the house since she was there.

The unique aspect of this children's book is that the stories give the reader a picture of the house and the way people lived over two centuries, from 1750 up to 1966, the year the Finley family moved in. The first story is First Life, 1750: "The Mice, the Mouser and the Mean Young Man." The last story is Ninth Life, 1966: "Trick or Treat." The book was published in 1967. Most of the stories are from 20 to 40 pages in length.

This was a fun and entertaining read, although certainly aimed at children. I see it as a perfect book for reading aloud to children of any age. I was particularly drawn to the book because it is illustrated by the author. And a book featuring a cat is always of interest. 

Many reviewers at Goodreads mention that they loved this book as a child and were thrilled to find an affordable copy. For many years this book was only available for high prices online.

I first heard of this book at Staircase Wit. Constance's post also has more information about the author and illustrator, Peggy Bacon.

The Listening House: Mabel Seeley

Published in 1938, The Listening House is a suspenseful and sometimes creepy mystery with a boarding house setting. The boarders (and the landlady) are all strange, sometimes sinister, types. The story is perfect for this time of year.

Gwynne Dacres is a 26-year-old divorcee who loses her job as a copywriter. It is hard to find a job, and she needs to find a place to live that she can afford. She discovers an advertisement for two rooms (one of them a kitchen) available for a reasonable price at a boarding house. When she checks the place out, she is put off by the dark, smelly, gloomy hallway that leads to the rooms. But the rooms are very nice, even including her own private lavatory. So she moves in quickly.

Very shortly after Gwynne moves in, she discovers the body of a man near the boarding house. The initial investigation focuses on the residents of the house, but there is no evidence that the death of the man was connected to any of them.

Interest in that event dies down, but Gwynne is bothered by sounds in the night. There is a break in and the police come back to investigate. And finally one of the people living in the house is found dead, after being missing for days. People want to move out, but the police won't let them.

The story is told by Gwynne Dacres. These are the opening paragraphs.

I am not sure, myself, that I should open the door of Mrs. Garr's house and let you in. I'm not at all sure that the truth about what happened there is tellable. People keep saying to me that the rumors going around are simply ghoulish, and ought to be laid to rest. But I've heard those rumors, some of them at least, and they're not a bit more nightmarish than the truth. Finally, of course, I gave in to pressure.

"Okay, I'll do it," I said.

Because, after all, I'm the one that not only knows almost everything that went on in Mrs. Garr's house in April, May, and June of this year, but also why a lot of it went on. And, unless Hodge Kistler wrote it, no one else could get the ending anywhere near right.

Since agreeing, I have made seventeen entirely separate and different beginnings.

I have begun with the cat's swift sneak and hunch under the bookcase of that dark hall. I have begun with my first sight of Hodge Kistler chinning himself on the bar. I have begun with those terrifying hands reaching for my throat. I have begun with the opening of a door that led to an unimaginable hell.

I picked this book to read in October for the R.eaders I.mbibing P.eril event because the description sounded like it would be sufficiently suspenseful and scary for this time of year, and still within the limits I will read. I am partial to a boarding house setting, and I loved such things as the list of characters at the beginning of the book and the detailed plans of the house, including the basement and the first and second floor.

Some parts of the story are fast moving. At other times the pace slows as the police review the possible suspects... over and over. But either way, I enjoyed it, because Gwynne was such an entertaining narrator.

Along the way, two men compete for Gwynne's attentions: the police detective (Lieutenant Strom) and another lodger, a newspaperman, Hodge Kistler. And she doesn't seem aware of it.

I won't say much more except that I loved the ending. 

Also see the reviews at The Passing Tramp, Beneath the Stains of Time, and crossexaminingcrime. 

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Publisher:   Berkley Prime Crime, 2021. Orig. pub. 1938.
Length:      349 pages
Format:      Trade Paperback
Setting:      US
Genre:       Mystery
Source:      I purchased this book.

R.eaders I.mbibing P.eril -- R.I.P. XVII

Once again I am participating in the R.eaders I.mbibing P.eril event, otherwise known as the RIP XVII Challenge. I am late in announcing this, but I was reviewing the books I read last year especially for that challenge and I enjoyed all of them a lot. I hope to repeat that experience.

This year I was reminded of the R.eaders I.mbibing P.eril event by posts at NancyElin's blog and Kay's Reading Life. This event was originally hosted by Carl V. Anderson at the Stainless Steel Droppings blog. Since then it has been hosted by other bloggers and lately has been primarily on Instagram and Twitter. See this post for the announcement for 2022. The event runs from September 1 through October 31, 2022.

The purpose of R.eaders I.mbibing P.eril is to enjoy books, short stories, and movies/television that could be classified as:

• Mystery.
• Suspense.
• Thriller.
• Dark Fantasy.
• Gothic.
• Horror.
• Supernatural.

I read a lot of mystery fiction and thrillers, so this event is a natural for me. However, it will be more of a challenge this year because I have two longish classic fiction books I also want to read during September and October: Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy and Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen.

Two books I plan to read in October that I think will fit the mood of the R.eaders I.mbibing P.eril event are:

The Listening House by Mabel Seeley, a mystery published in 1938, set in a boarding house, which promises to have an eerie atmosphere. 

The Ghost of Opalina or Nine Lives by Peggy Bacon, an illustrated children's book about a ghost cat. Published in 1967. Constance at Staircase Wit recently reviewed that book.

I will list my books read for R.I.P. XVII in September and October here:

The Tenderness of Wolves (historical mystery set in 1867, in the Northern Territory in Canada).

Crazybone by Bill Pronzini (#26 in the Nameless Detective series)

The Sanctuary Sparrow by Ellis Peters (historical mystery set in 1140, #7 in the Brother Cadfael series)

Head On by John Scalzi (Science Fiction / Mystery crossover)