The Warm Hands of Ghosts: A Novel

The Warm Hands of Ghosts, a national bestseller by Katherine Arden, is a haunting and lyrical historical novel with a speculative twist, set during the final years of World War I.

In 1918, former field nurse Laura Iven has been discharged from service after an injury, mourning the reported death of her beloved brother Freddie, who supposedly fell in the trenches of Flanders. But when she receives his belongings, strange inconsistencies make her question the official story. Refusing to believe he’s gone, Laura returns to Belgium as a volunteer nurse, where she hears eerie rumors of haunted battlefields and a mysterious hotelier whose enchanted wine can make soldiers forget their pain.

Meanwhile, in 1917, Freddie miraculously survives an explosion and finds himself trapped with a wounded German soldier, Hans Winter. Against all odds, the two enemies form an unlikely bond and escape the battlefield, eventually encountering the same enigmatic figure who offers them refuge—and perhaps something far more dangerous.

As Laura searches for the truth and Freddie grapples with the thin line between life and death, the siblings’ journeys intertwine in a tale of grief, memory, and the supernatural, exploring whether the human soul can truly endure the horrors of war—or if some ghosts should never be awakened.