New Orleans, a city of mystery and magic, of secrets and dreams, and a history drenched in both love and the deepest of heartache.
When ballet dancer Clara Campbell arrives in New Orleans, lonely and homesick, she is immediately captivated by the story of Windisle Plantation and the tragic tale that is said to have transpired beyond its gate. Legend has it that it is abandoned by all living souls, but to Clara’s great surprise, it is not a ghost she hears through the stone wall surrounding the property, but a flesh and blood man. A scarred stranger with a pain deeper and darker than the churning waters of the Mississippi river that flows beside his self-imposed prison.
The ruined man behind the wall hides himself from the world. The last thing he expects is to find a friend in the selfless girl who speaks to him through the cracks in the rock. The girl who keeps returning week after week. The girl who makes him wish for things he has long since given up on. The girl who strikes both fear and hope within his wounded heart. But there can be no future for them, no life beyond Windisle, for no one knows better than him that monsters only live in the dark.
The Wish Collector is the story of shame and triumph, of loneliness and love, and the miracle of two hearts connecting despite the strongest of barriers between them.
The Wish Collector
“For now they were just a boy and a girl, sitting on opposite sides of a wall, a layer of thick stone between them, but their hearts connected nonetheless. And for now, he would enjoy the moments they had.”
A ballet dancer befriends a mysterious man who hides himself from the world—his secrets and that of the plantation where he resides, punctuate a story brimming with magic, love and heartache.
Clara Campbell moves to New Orleans to pursue her aspirations as a ballet dancer, and despite feeling homesick, is entranced with the magic and myth of New Orleans. One story immediately captivates her… the tragic tale of love at Windisle Plantation. Legend says a wish may come true if you slip a note through the weeping wall, but instead she finds a man behind the stone façade—a scarred man who’s not left the grounds in many years.
Jonah Chamberlain pays his penance in the dark, hidden from a world that would recoil at his appearance, a world to which he had done irreparable harm. Ruined and ashamed, he never expected to befriend a girl across the wall, who week after week speaks to him through cracks in the rocky façade.
“As if by magic, for just a moment in time, he’d not been hideous and deformed, ruined, but something good and… mysteriously enchanting.”
Through their conversations, the true story of Windisle comes to light. But to Clara, the story doesn’t ring completely true, there seems to be more than meets the eye.
Propelled by her intensifying interest in a tragic love story from the past, as well as her deepening feelings for the mystery man, Clara is swept away into a tale of her own making… one likely to end in heartbreak.
“He knew it couldn’t last, but he didn’t let himself think too much about that while he was with her. When it ended, as it would, he would deal with it.”
Unraveling in both past and present narratives, and penned in her emotive style, Mia Sheridan draws us into a story that feels wholly enchanting. It has a modern-day Beauty & the Beast/Phantom of the Opera sentiment that adds to the allure and pull of the narrative.
At its core, however, the story explores the connection between two lonely people who find solace in each other. Clara becomes a lifeline for Jonah, who has forsaken all hope, who feels underserving to even dream it. And with Jonah, Clara has found a beauty and love she never expected.
THE WISH COLLECTOR is an evocative story of forgiveness and redemption, of love lost and love found, of friendship and hope under dim circumstances.
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