While the above is true, poor Rose was actually the victim of a man named Bobby Cross, who ran Rose off the road in order to claim her soul and feed it to his demon car. But Rose got away and became a "hitcher" or hitchhiking ghost, a ghost who travels the roads hoping to be picked up by a human, because the only time a ghost can get warm and enjoy a corporeal body is by wearing the coat (or sweater or shirt) of a human, plus enjoying the taste of actual food only comes when it is freely given to her. Rose's job is to attempt to prevent people from dying on the roads when she can, and when she can't, she can at least help them on their way so they aren't left wandering the Ghost Roads in confusion. She can always tell when someone picks her up if their impending road doom is around the corner, because they have a telltale fragrance - ashes and lilies.
Rose Marshall is known by many names, thanks to urban legend - The Girl in the Green Silk Gown, The Girl at the Diner, The Phantom Prom Date, among them. While she might be a bit murdery in a lot of these tales, she gets a bad rap, since she's actually trying to save people, but since she is around when a lot of people don't make it, she inevitably gets the blame.
Sparrow Hill Road follows Rose throughout time, some stories being about her time before she died, and plenty of stories since. Her primary goal is staying out of Bobby Cross's sites, since she is "the one that got away," but she's also got plenty of others to save along the way, some who even fall onto Bobby Cross's radar.
Along the way, Rose runs into plenty of other inhabitants of the Twilight, including Emma, a bean sidhe (Irish spirit) who runs The Last Chance Diner/The Last Dance Diner (depending on when and where it appears), the Queen of the North American Routewitches, the Ocean Lady (the old Atlantic Highway), plus quite a few folks that Rose has helped cross over throughout the years. There are even a few from Rose's human past, and still some who seek revenge against her for misperceived wrongdoings. She'll definitely have her hands full as she forever thumbs a ride down the Ghost Roads.
Sparrow Hill Road is a great introduction to the story of Rose Marshall and her quest to not only avoid Bobby Cross, but to defeat him once and for all. The characters are set up beautifully and each short story dances across the years effortlessly, flowing back and forth from decade to decade, without getting hung up on chronological order. It's the underlying story that is important and tales about certain dates are told when they matter. I also really like the fact that the stories are a fairly quick read, such that you can pick the book up, read a few chapters or sections within a chapter, and put it back down again. Seanan McGuire is a gifted writer and, if you enjoy a good ghost story, you should definitely check out Sparrow Hill Road to get acquainted with Rose, The Girl in the Green Silk Gown, especially in anticipation of the release of the next book with that exact title, coming very soon.
