The Girl and the Ghost by Jacqueline Harvey

Title: The Girl and the Ghost

Author: Jacqueline Harvey

Genre: Mystery

Publisher: Penguin Australia

Published: 29^th April 2025

Format: Paperback

Pages: 352

Price: $16.99

Synopsis: A French village, new friends, fabulous food, a local mystery to be solved and . . . a ghost.

She snaps the locket shut. Just as quickly as he appeared, the boy is gone.

Josephine’s heart is hammering. Her skin feels prickly and hot.
Surely, she’s imagined him. That’s the only possible explanation. Because boys don’t live in lockets. Not unless they’re ghosts. And ghosts aren’t real. Or are they?

When almost-thirteen-year-old Josephine Eloise Thomas moves from Sydney to a chateau in the southwest of France, she expects many things – adventures, inspiration for the stories she loves to write and maybe finding out more about her French mother, who tragically died when she was a toddler. What she doesn’t expect is to find a beautiful gold locket with the ghost of Louis XVII trapped inside!

After being accidentally released into the twenty-first century, the young prince proves to be annoying, strange and obviously from another time. He also believes that Josephine is not who she says she is.

Then, there’s Gabriel. The grandson of the local baker – French, beautiful, an artist and definitely not a ghost.

When Josephine and Gabriel venture to the shadowy Chateau Du Lac next door to her home, the secrets become more sinister. With Louis’s help, can Josephine and Gabriel discover what her neighbours are really up to and solve the mystery of Louis and the locket too?

~*~

Jacqueline Harvey has a fabulous new middle grade series set in France, starting with The Girl and the Ghost. Meet Josephine Eloise Thomas, or Jet. She’s almost thirteen and has just moved to France with her father and stepmother after they bought a chateau. In between renovating it and getting ready to start a new school, Jet thinks she’ll get lots of great ideas to write whilst exploring her new home, Chateau Margaux and its haunting neighbour, Chateau Du Lac. Jet is ready for adventure and stories and finding out more about her French mother, dead for many years. But she’s not ready to find a mysterious locket with the ghost of Louis the XVII trapped in it! He’s been trapped for over 200 years, and is annoying – especially when he starts calling Jet a different name – Madeleine, believing she is the girl he loved before he died. And he refuses to believe Jet!

The story kicks off with Louis determined to convince Jet she’s someone else, that the world she lives in isn’t right, and that her new friend, Gabriel Barbier, isn’t right for her. As the story goes along, Gabriel and Jet uncover dubious neighbours at the Chateau Du Lac and a series of art thefts – these are paintings that were really stolen and that are still missing – which Jacqueline explains in a note at the back. Because Jet has never dealt with a ghost, she’s got no idea whether anyone else can see Louis – keeping him a secret, making sure people don’t think she’s weird is something Jet wants to maintain. To solve the mystery of what happened to Louis after the revolution. To help him find out what happened to Madeleine. To find out why he is so determined she looks like Madeleine. I got the sense that they are connected – through Jet’s French mother, and I hope this is explored more throughout the series, because it made this book very compelling.

Jet’s first mystery – am art theft – it very interesting, and based on real thefts and history, yet fictionalised enough to make the story work very well. Everything is incorporated well, and seeing Jet adjust to her new life was done well. She’s curious, but she’s also shy at times, a big reader and loves the classics – a girl after my own heart, and a character I would have related to as a younger reader. A French chateau is the perfect place for a mystery that connects the past and the present, and will bring history and art to life in many ways.

Ghosts and chateaus seem to go hand-in-hand – especially old ones, where you think they might be lurking. Louis’ presence gives the story its otherworldly feel, and connection to the past, and many more adventures and mysteries to come. Everything in this novel is carefully used, with just enough mentioned to set up the impetus for the move, and to intrigue readers into getting into the series – I can’t wait to find out what is going to happen next! Jet’s family is lovely too, and her connection with her friend Harriet is awesome. They are growing up, and on the precipice of becoming teenagers, so all the awkward feelings that go with this are included and dealt with sensitively, with a great understanding of this strange time for girls. I loved that Gabriel was there too – as a friend and someone Jet can trust in France – I wonder if he’ll find out about Louis! I love that Jet is s writer as well, and the little nods to Jacqueline’s other books and Friday Barnes. It gives something fun to the novel, where everything is enthusiastically embraced and talked about – another thing I loved about this book and Jacqueline’s writing as a whole.

What I am looking forward to finding out is if everyone else finds out about Louis, as there are a few hints that people have noticed something strange, but because nobody else can see him, this could be an interesting plot point in future books. The mystery is bubbling along, and has several elements that inform the premise of the series and set things up well. We’re given just enough to dangle the promise of finding out more in this book. I fell in love with Jet and everyone in this book. I loved the setting, and it came to life so well, through the writing, Jet’s impressions and A. Yi’s fabulous illustrations. I’m really looking forward to seeing where this series goes, so will be very keen for the next book when it comes out. And Jacqueline’s fans of all ages will gobble this up, and find new fans as well – such a great middle grade book for readers aged eight and over.