It was intriguing to follow Helen in her mission to discover everything there is to know about Hattie and her descendants, and interesting to see her relationship with Nate alter somewhat as they go through the stress of building their home. The story is told in the alternating perspectives of Helen and Olive. Meanwhile, their teenaged neighbor Olive relentlessly searches the bog for the elusive treasure, hoping that finding it will result in her missing mother returning home. Newcomers Helen and Nate are unaware of the legend when they move to the area, learning about it only after experiencing several unexplained events that leave them feeling uneasy. They say Hattie’s ghost roams the bog, luring unsuspecting victims into its depths, never to be seen again, and people are warned to stay away from the area when darkness nears.

At the end of it, two mysteries remain-the location of the Breckenridge “treasure” (if it even exists) and what happened to Hattie’s daughter after her mother’s death.ĭecades later, the subject of Hattie and her treasure has dominated the imagination and gossip of local residents. The Invited draws you in right from the start, with a prologue from 1924, told in Hattie’s perspective, relating the events that lead up to her death.

Hattie wants something from Helen, and she can’t rest until she gets it. Hattie’s tragic story becomes merged with the house when Helen used materials related to Hattie (such as a wooden beam made from the oak tree where she was hanged) to decorate the interior of the house she’s building, unwittingly inviting Hattie in. Helen, formerly a history teacher, is intrigued when learns about Hattie Breckenridge, a woman who lived and died there nearly a century ago. Helen and Nate abandoned their city lives for rural Vermont, where they will build their dream home on their new property, amidst the woods and the nearby bog.

The invited mcmahon