Fic Rec Fridays 2019 - part 18

The Ghost And Mr Baggins (76700 words) by perkynurples
Chapters: 12/12
Fandom: The Hobbit - All Media Types
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Bilbo Baggins/Thorin Oakenshield
Characters: Bilbo Baggins, Thorin Oakenshield, Frodo Baggins, Sam Gamgee, Hamfast Gamgee, Beorn
Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Ghosts, Haunted Houses, Alternate Universe - Historical, Alternate Universe - The Ghost And Mrs Muir Fusion

Summary:

They say that everything can be cured by saltwater - sweat, tears or the sea. Bilbo Baggins chooses the last option, taking his recently orphaned nephew and moving to the charming Oak Cottage, overlooking England’s grislier shores. The house charms him instantly, and though he knows nothing at all about the sea, or about making ends meet on his own so far from everything he’s known his whole life for that matter, he’s quite determined to stay, and see his nephew get better, odd sounds in the night be damned. He’s living in a modern world, after all, and the nonsense he’s been hearing about the house being haunted by its former owner, the mysterious Captain Durin, is just silly superstition… isn’t it?

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I read this over summer holiday a few years back, and although I don’t remember it as a cheerful read, it’s delightful in many other ways, some of them heartbreaking.

But where to begin? Perhaps the house. The Oak Cottage is written as so real and so lovely I would live there in a heartbeat. And the house comes with a ghost. And ghostly domestic bickering, or dare I say companionable snark.

Also there’s a moving, well-paced, slowly unraveling mystery with enough twists and turns to keep you tapping that Next Chapter button.

And no matter how much it hurts, I can’t help admiring the devious way the canon tragedies are interwoven into the historical reality of this particular AU.

In short, it’s a moving, expertly crafted tale of love and loss and daring -- and patience rewarded. And if I said I didn’t cry over it, it would be a gross lie. But they were not all sad tears. Enjoy!