Ethan Waite lives with his father and their housekeeper in Gatlin, a small, southern town that prides itself on having been on the losing side of the Civil War. When Lena Duchannes moves to town, moves, specifically, to live with the town's shut-in Macon Ravenwood in the ancient Ravenwood plantation manor--Ethan finds himself moving away from everything ordinary about his life and toward the town's newest outcast. Their relationship is bizarrely immediate, complete with telepathic communication and electric sparks whenever they touch.And then there's the locket, the visions, the storms, and Lena's dark and mysterious family history.
I'm not quite sure what to say about this one. I read all 560+ pages of it, and I was definitely not bored. I particularly loved the creepy, creaky southern setting, the geneaological mysteries, the libraries, all that. It was interesting.
But I didn't think about it when I wasn't reading. I haven't thought about it since I finished. The characters just didn't stick with me the way some do.