Jerome, Arizona is my favorite town. Midway between Phoenix and Flagstaff, it clings to the side of Cleopatra Hill overlooking the Verde Valley. A town that grew up around copper mines, Jerome was once the largest city in Arizona. But when the mines closed at the end of World War II, Jerome became a ghost town.
In the 1980s a few artists moved into the empty houses, and the town began to come back to life. Claiming the title “largest ghost town in America,” Jerome is now a thriving tourist community of about four hundred residents. While some of the old houses and hotels have been reclaimed for art galleries, shops, and restaurants, many structures still sit empty.
During the thirty years I lived in Flagstaff, Jerome became a special getaway for me. I spent many happy hours poking through shops and climbing Cleopatra Hill. So when I decided to take my dream of becoming a fiction writer seriously, Jerome was a rich setting to draw on. One afternoon as I wandered up a steep street, a story started in my imagination. Antiques expert Marty Greenlaw ran out of an old Victorian house calling for help. Hammer in hand, historian Paul Russell came out of the vacant ruin of a house across the gravel road to see what had happened.
As I got to know these two characters, I discovered they were both trapped by the past: Marty because she couldn’t remember how her sister died when they were both children, Paul because he couldn’t forget his wife died in a car crash when he was driving. As I considered how to help these characters get free, a favorite verse came to mind. “One thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me…” (Philippians 3:13-14 NRSV). Marty and Paul needed to leave their personal ghosts behind so they could reach for a future together.
I had almost finished the first draft of the romantic suspense/mystery The Copper Box when I realized I was writing about my own personal ghosts. Paul’s struggle with guilt over the death of his wife was my struggle with guilt over a long-ago divorce. Marty’s fear she had killed her little sister mirrored my fear that because of the divorce I hadn’t been the mother my thirty-something daughter needed while she was growing up.
As I helped these characters leave their personal ghosts behind, God helped me get free of my own. When I finished writing The Copper Box, I felt at peace with that lost marriage and my daughter’s vanished childhood. I was ready to press on toward whatever goal God calls me to. Perhaps you have a personal ghost or two. If so, Jerome, Arizona is a great place to leave them behind.
Jerome, Arizona: largest ghost town in America
Antiques expert Marty Greenlaw comes to Jerome to face the horror that haunts her dreams: Did she kill her little sister twenty-two years ago?
Historian Paul Russell is in Jerome to face his own horror: Was the car crash that killed his wife his fault?
Their lives become intertwined when an old lady dies on a long staircase in a moldering Victorian house. As Marty and Paul search the house for a small copper box Marty believes will unlock the mystery, accidents begin to happen.
Someone else wants the copper box—someone willing to commit murder to get it. As Marty and Paul face the shadows in the house and in their lives, they must learn to put the past behind them to be free to live in the present and reach for the future.
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Professor Emeritus, Northern Arizona University, Suzanne J. Bratcher lives in the foothills of the Ouachita Mountains of central Arkansas with her two rescue cats, Scamp and Mini Pearl. A passionate reader since her first encounter with Dick and Jane, she delights in spinning adventure tales set in the majestic, mysterious Southwest. She is the author of The Copper Box, The Silver Lode, and Kokopelli’s Song. When she’s not writing, she enjoys reading, quilting, and watching the many birds that come to her feeders. Visit her webpage. Follow her on Facebook and on Instagram.
It was a good book. Leaving our ghosts behind is a challenge. It took me years until I read how Sheila Walsh did it. Seeking the healing only Jesus could do in my heart really was my key. I’m glad you were able to do it too. Our great Healer has so many wonderful ways to do it doesn’t He?
I’m so glad Jesus meets each of us in different ways! I’m glad you found peace.
Suzanne, Copper Box is one of my favorite reads. I love the characters, love the setting and love the writing. Ha. I am a fan!! I have ghosts too, and they are hard to leave behind. I cling to Phi. 3:13-14 also, but sometimes forget to put my trust in God. Those are the days I sink into depression and grief. God is good, and just as He pulled Marty and Paul toward wellness, He pulls me upward. Thanks for such a great story.
Thanks for reading and commenting! I sometimes forget faith is a gift from God that we can pray for. When I find myself dropping back into depression, I try to remember to pray for faith. I’m so grateful for God’s grace.