Authors Joseph Barnett and Jane Congdon

So begins the story of Mr Joe: Tales From A Haunted Life (Bettie Youngs Books, September 2013) co-authored by siblings Joseph Barnett and Jane Congdon, the author of It Started with Dracula: The Count, My Mother, and Me.

 

Joseph Barnett’s introduction to ghosts began as a child a few days after his beloved grandfather passed. As he was combing his hair in the bathroom mirror his Grandpop suddenly appeared.

 

Every family has its secrets and Joseph Barnett’s is no exception.It has been documented that the decision to consciously conceal secrets thought to be shameful can affect individuals and families for generations. Often identities are shaped by experiencing or learning something shockingly new. The child of an alcoholic mother and a distant dad and Joe coped with a boyhood of dread and broken promises by hiding and running away. Ghosts are a metaphor for Joseph Barnetts troubled life.

 

As an adult, Joseph Barnett didn’t give much thought to the departed until he became a school custodian in a midlife career change. Joe had no idea that his first assignment, working nights in a kindergarten school, would give new meaning to the term “graveyard shift.” 

 

Mr Joe: Tales From A Haunted Life is much more than a ghost story. With haunting themes such as family secrets that need to be shared, personal journeys that need to be explored, illness, poverty, and the ability to re-frame one’s life with self-understanding and self-love, its a beautiful story of redemption that deserves retelling. The book will haunt you long after it’s finished.