Damariscotta author Shannon Parker’s latest novel, “The Rattled Bones,” centers around Rilla Brae, a 17-year-old lobster boat captain who recently lost her father. While out at sea, Rilla sees a ghostly girl walking along the shores of Malaga Island, a haunting that stays with her throughout the novel.

Parker will talk about “The Rattled Bones” at St. Andrews Village, Emery Lane, Boothbay Harbor on Thursday, Jan. 11 at 10 a.m. The public is welcome to join and the event is free.

While unearthing years of buried secrets in “The Rattled Bones,” Rilla Brae is haunted by ghostly visions tied to the tainted history of a mysterious Maine island in this compelling novel.

Maine-bred, independent Rilla Brae is no stranger to the deep. She knows the rhythms of hard work and harder seas. But when she experiences the sudden death of her father, the veil between the living and the dead blurs and she begins to be haunted by a girl on a nearby, uninhabited island. The girl floats a song over the waves, and it is as beautiful as it is terrifying. Familiar and distant.

Then Rilla meets Sam, a University of Southern Maine archeology student tasked with excavating the very island where the ghostly girl has appeared. Sam sifts the earth looking for the cultural remains of an island people who were forcibly evicted by the state nearly a hundred years ago until the two discover a tragedy kept silent for years. And it's a tragedy that has everything to do with Rilla's past.

Parker is also the author of “The Girl Who Fell.” She has traveled to more than three dozen countries and plans to visit many more. When Parker is not writing, she helps at-risk families gain literacy and citizenship skills.

For those planning to attend, please RSVP by calling 633-0920 so that St. Andrews Village can plan for space and refreshments.