Book Divas

Haunted by the death of her legendary actor father, Esti Leguard and her mother decide to move to a school on Cariba. Esti hopes that the change in scene and her chance to perform in the school’s theater will help her get over her loss. However, Esti’s chances of leaving her past become impossible when a mysterious voice of a “ghost” in the school’s theater reveals himself to her. Alan stays in the shadows and darkness, but his knowledge of acting and Shakespeare and his uncertain connection with her father draw Esti to him.

Her feelings for Alan change to romantic almost immediately, a feeling only rivaled by her attraction to her childhood friend Rafe, Cariba’s local bad boy. When Alan starts interfering with the school productions, the locals claim that the theater is haunted by a jumbee, an evil spirit. Esti defends Alan, but she begins questioning their claims the more she learns. Who is the mysterious Alan? Is he the understanding and protecting man that Esti is falling in love with, or his he the dangerous phantom that everyone else believes he is?

Pamela Keyes has brought Gaston Leroux’s epic Phantom of the Opera to modern times with this gripping novel. Her characters and plot can be traced back to the original legend, but Keyes has added twists and changes of her own. The novel is set in the West Indies, a rich setting that backs the dramatic plot with an intriguing cultural zest. Readers preferring many different genres will be allured to the mysterious Alan, the charismatic Rafe, and Esti’s complicated circumstance that the story revolves around.

Even readers familiar with the original storyline will be caught of guard and held in suspense. As a fan of the Phantom of the Opera, I have always hoped of getting a chance to read a retelling, and The Jumbee delivers with flying colors.