Nancy loves a good mystery. That’s why she, Bess, and George are volunteering at Persimmon Woods Pioneer Village, a living history museum of the 1830s. Nancy’s heard that a lot of weird things have been happening there, like the eerie sightings of the Lantern Lady­ the ghost of an original settler. But as soon as Nancy starts investigating, she learns that even though the workers at Persimmon Woods are in costume, the danger isn’t an act. Someone has concocted a cunning scheme to destroy the village—and if Nancy doesn’t find the culprit, she could become history, too.

Lady With a Lantern is an eye-opener for anyone who was neither patient nor staff in “the big mental” hospital. Kay Parley was both and she can light the way. The author uses journal, narrative and short story to convey a range of emotion from despair and violence to hope and fun. She provides an understanding of the variety of creative therapies used when the Saskatchewan Hospital at Weyburn was named the most improved mental hospital in North America. There will be times you’ll feel lucky you weren’t there and there will be times you’ll wish you were. You get a clear sense that the hallmark of psychiatry is the unpredictable. Kay Parley has written an entertaining and valuable piece of Saskatchewan history which has too often been neglected and misunderstood.

In 1882 millionaire Aloysius Carmichael Bellingham left behind his native England and brought his family to Manawassa Springs, a sleepy town in the panhandle of Florida. His legacy was the immense Victorian house he built, Belle Magnolia. But the Grand Lady of Manawassa Springs harbored dark secret. In 1971 Anna Wilkes wanted nothing more than to settle into a nice, quiet retirement. More than thirty years later Katie O'Neill thought only of rebuilding her life after her divorce. Both women were inexplicably drawn to Manawassa Springs and bought Belle Magnolia. Each owner in her time developed an obsession with the Bellinghams and Belle Magnolia. Discovering the truth of what happened there became a matter of life or death. Only by listening to voices speaking from beyond the grave would the mystery be solved.

This fascinating study explores the multifarious erotic themes associated with the magic lantern shows, which proved the dominant visual medium of the West for 350 years, and analyses how the shows influenced the portrayals of sexuality in major works of Gothic fiction.