A calm fell over the attic as the invaders left it to its peace. On the window sill a large bird ruffled its feathers and shook its black head. It came back to a restful perch and watched with beady eyes as three ghosts appeared; a grayish apparition leaning into a cane and dragging his bent body toward a sparkling vision of an ethereal man and woman dancing in the dark. In this second novel of what is to become the Hollister House Trilogy, Eve Hollister and her family and friends settle into the beautifully restored Victorian mansion to celebrate their fi rst Christmas together, confi dent that the house is no longer haunted. But when Eve and Sippie visit New Orleans that confi dence is quickly shattered as lingering ghosts manifest and more of the mysterious Hollister family curse is revealed. By taking the reader on an amazing journey through the romantic French Quarter and colorful carnival season of Mardi Gras, before traveling back to the Deep South of Mississippi with all its gothic imagery, Hollister House {The Banyan Tree Awakens} brings the fantastic fantasy world of Hollister House to a higher, spellbinding level, leaving the traveler begging for more.