Lady in Blue: A Ghostly Tale, by Diane Catherine Nelson

In 1742, Hepzibeth Harding works at the Blackhorse Tavern on Long Wharfe, pouring pints for sailors and dreaming of someday owning a tavern of her own. But everything changes the day Captain John Strange walks through the door. Their entanglement leads to tragedy, and after her untimely death, Hepzibeth—strong-willed in life and even more so in death—refuses to move on. Bound to the home they once shared, she haunts its halls for centuries, tormenting John Strange and every soul who follows.

Then, in 1972, ten-year-old Emilee moves into the old house. For the first time in generations, Hepzibeth is seen—not as a ghostly menace, but as something more. What begins as a haunting becomes an unexpected bond that may finally set them both free.

Inspired by author Diane Catherine Nelson’s own childhood summer in a historic Rhode Island home—where she and her grandfather both encountered a mysterious lady in blue—this novel weaves supernatural mystery with historical fiction. Lady in Blue: A Ghostly Tale is a story of unfinished dreams, unlikely friendships, and the strange grace that lingers in places where the past refuses to rest.