The Specter: A Gilded Age Debutante Novel

Getting rid of a family specter means walking into other people's dark rooms…

San Francisco, 1892: Vivian Alderdice is not your typical Gilded Age debutante. She prefers reading books to flirting and long walks in Golden Gate Park to ballroom dancing. But what's a deb to do when she has social obligations and expectations to fulfill?

Then, in the midst of her debutante life, her grandmother dies. The future Vivian thought was so clear is now clouded with confusion and uncertainty.

To make matters worse, a woman shows up at her grandmother's funeral claiming to be an old friend from Penelope's younger days. The young woman she knew was not Penelope Alderdice, Nob Hill socialite and wife to one of the city's biggest shipping tycoons. Penelope was Grace Carlyle, an artist in search of adventure in a small coastal town named Waxwood.

Is the intruder a crank or, as Vivian's mother claims, "confused"? Or is she telling the truth? Now it's not only Vivian's future that is cloudy but her family's past as well.

Vivian's journey takes her into the life of the woman she thought she knew, uncovering family secrets her mother kept hidden for over forty years.

Will Vivian find out her future in her grandmother's past?

Follow Vivian's path to maturity and self-discovery in the first book of this series set during one of America's most turbulent eras.

Get The Specter today and experience the life of a spirited Gilded Age belle guided by a family ghost.

What reviewers are saying:

"May's historical fiction picks apart the delicate facade of American gentility in upper-class, well-heeled families on the wild West Coast at the end of the nineteenth century." - Lisa Lickel, author and blogger, Living our Faith Out Loud

"Gently told, and forms a good basis for the series to build upon." - Discovering Diamonds: Historical Fiction Reviews

"Part gothic fiction, part psychological drama, "The Specter" was a deeply moving & introspective book about one of San Francisco's powerful families set in 1892"

"An intriguing and beguiling story."

"A fantastic story that will definitely intrigue the reader and pull you into the last page."

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Be sure to check out the rest of the series!

False Fathers (Waxwood Series: Book 2)

Pathfinding Women (Waxwood Series: Book 3)

Dandelions (Waxwood Series: Book 4)