Ghosted By Mo Fanning

‘Ghosted’ is the latest book by Mo Fanning.

Professional Santa Silas French fills out the same application as always for his regular stint at a New York department store. Ellen Gitelman hangs her jacket behind the counter at the East Side Diner and smoothes out her waitress uniform, as she waits for the coffee pot to stop percolating. A double whammy of bad news leaves Silas jobless, with no money to pay for a planned trip to reconcile with his estranged gay son Joey in Florida. Cutbacks at the diner cost Ellen her job. A chance tip from his local bar gets Silas a job as Santa on a cruise ship that happens to be docking in Florida, where Joey lives with his husband and kids. Ellen heads to a cafe across the street and spots a bulletin board ad selling tickets for a cruise. Her riotous friend Julia volunteers as travel companion. The MS Viking just happens to be carrying 3000 gay men in the mood to party. What could go wrong? Silas soon finds himself involved with some unsavoury business and meets a potential new love in the form of Ellen. Over the course of the Christmas Holiday cruise, the pair slowly learn that what they thought they were seeking isn’t really what would make them truly happy, and that they are in control of their own choices.

Both Silas and Ellen are at a crossroads in their lives. Taking a gay cruise, they hope this will provide them with a second chance, Silas is hoping to reconnect with his gay son and family and hopes playing Santa Claus on a gay cruise will redeem whilst Ellen is hoping to fight the cancer that is ravaging her body.

The pair of them form an unlikely friendship as they bond over broken hearts, shattered lives and what if’s. They are lovely characters and it was touching and fun to join them in this cruise as they got into mishaps and learnt about each other and themselves. I liked Silas, he was a born actor pretending his life was much better than it really was and it did for heartbreaking reading at times as he tried to reach out to his son Joey, only to be pushed back. His heart never fully mended after his wife Nancy passed away and he finds solace in his sister-in-law’s arms. Going on the gay gives him the opportunity to take stock of his life and the prejudice and resentment that he harboured against his own son. Ellen is also a lovely character, hoping that the cruise will help her ignite her passion for life and not leave her bedridden and missing out.

Tenderly written and packed with wit and warmth. Set upon the open sea, ‘Ghosted’ is a story about self-discovery, forgiveness and grief that makes for heartfelt reading.

You can buy ‘Ghosted’ from Amazon and is available to buy from good bookshops.