The thirteenth husband

The spectral woman in white first appears to ten-year-old Aimee Crocker the night her beloved father dies, leaving her with a "bottomless" loss and a $10 million fortune. In Macallister's (The Arctic Fury, 2020) captivating biographical novel, Aimee recounts her quest to fill that loss, to grab every chance at pleasure. Missing her father, feeling isolated and misunderstood, she rebels against Gilded Age conceptions of female propriety. When her first marriage fails, the Sacramento heiress embarks on a life of far-flung travel, exotic encounters, lavish entertainment, and a string of husbands and lovers. Throughout Aimee's life, the woman in white appears at times of impending tragedy, haunting Aimee's thoughts and feeding her interest in mystics and Eastern religions. Macallister skillfully crafts Aimee's story, filling it with memorable characters and judiciously detailed period settings. Aimee is passionate, unfettered, and self-reflective. She reckons she's married 12 times, counting seven extralegal "Oriental" husbands. Then, one night, she recognizes the dark shadow around the woman in white for who the figure really is.