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CM . . .
. Volume XVIII Number 4. . . .September 23, 2011
excerpt:
It is unusual for a purpose-built, imposing edifice, such as Government House in Regina, SK, to have been put to as many varied uses as it has, no doubt filling some better and some less well. It cannot have been ideal, for example, as a veteran's hospital after the First World War. Surely the number of bathrooms adequate for a vice-regal family in the late-nineteenth century would not be sufficient for a nursing home! However, it did begin as a residence for the first Lieutenant-Governor of the province -- if Silverthorne's historical research is to be trusted, and I see no reason why it should not be, two of his, or perhaps those of a subsequent lieutenant-governor's, young children and their nurse seem to have died there -- and is now a museum restored to those days at the beginning of the twentieth century when Saskatchewan was made a province. Having filled so many different roles in its history, it is not surprising that a wide variety of people have been associated with it, and a selection of these is the foundation on which Silverthorne has based her story. Ghosts of Government House begins with an after-hours tour organized by J.J.'s and Samantha's community club. When they hang back from their group and its guide in order to explore a bit on their own, the lights suddenly go out, and they hear strange footsteps in the dark that go past them and then seem to disappear through a closed door. But the power had not failed in any other part of the building, and more time seemed to have elapsed than they could account for. Both girls are prepared to think it was a ghost that they had heard, but Sam's brother, Gabe, is a complete sceptic. So the girls return again and again to the Government House museum, where, aided and abetted by Sam's grandmother, they meet other people who do not seem part of the museum set-up, in spite of their being in period costume. Despite the evidence the girls present to him, Gabe continues to disbelieve in their ghost sightings, but, in the end, he becomes unwillingly convinced after attempting to shake hands with the ghost of a Chinese cook. In the meantime, the girls, being outside the history of the building, have managed to introduce the various ghosts to each other, something they could not manage themselves because of having lived there at different times. This act cheers the spectres up no end by relieving their loneliness and has the side-effect of also cheering up Grandma and J.J., both of whom have had a loved one die in the recent past. If ghosts were really possible, then just because J.J.'s mother was not visible to her was no reason why she couldn't be hovering nearby and continuing to take an interest in her daughter's life. Ditto Grandma's husband. So the feelings of closeness which both had occasionally experienced were perhaps not an illusion and certainly could be allowed to be a comfort.
Recommended. Mary Thomas, at the time of writing this review, was soon to be visiting Regina, SK, and was looking forward to her tour of Government House!
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