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The Ghost Writer
John Harwood
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9780156032322 Trade Paperback
0156032325
$14.00
384pages
Available
Trim Size:
5-5/16 x 8
Copyright Year:
2004
Territory:
US, C, O (-EU)
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Read an Excerpt
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Synopsis |
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A tantalizing tale of family secrets hidden in spine-tingling ghost stories -- that have started to come true
Growing up in a small Australian town, Gerard Freeman loves to hear his mother talk about her idyllic childhood in an English country manor. But she swears that she will never return to England, and refuses to tell him what happened to her family, though she is clearly terrified of some invisible yet ever-present threat. One hot afternoon, he waits until she is napping, then creeps into her bedroom to break open the drawer that’s always locked, the one that he hopes holds all her secrets. . . .
Twenty years later, Gerard has not left home – he works as a librarian – but he lives for just two things: his English penfriend Alice, for whom he yearns with all his heart, and the ghost story he found in his mother’s drawer all those years ago. Written by his great-grandmother Viola, it hints at the terrible crime that haunted his mother, and, finally, destroyed her. And as Viola’s chilling tales lead him to London, Gerard realizes that the stories might hold the key to finding Alice as well as unveiling his family's mystery – or are they leading him directly to the untimely death they seem to foretell?
Harwood’s deliciously clever debut never loosens its grip on us as it moves from Gerard's present-day detective work to the macabre world of Viola's supernatural stories, from Australia to London, from the safety of books to the terror of a ghost story come alive. Astonishingly assured, compulsively readable, The Ghost Writer shows us just how dangerous family skeletons – and stories -- can be.
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Praise |
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"Harwood's debut is a haunting literary gothic, a slow-building suspense thriller. Lyrical, labrynthine. An atmospheric paranormal thriller with many surprises."
Booklist,
"''The Ghost Writer," is a first-class creeper, a literary ghost story in the Victorian tradition."
Boston Globe,
"A compelling ghost story and an auspicious debut."
Denver Post,
"Intricate and engrossing. Harwood raises the ghost of the Victorian ghost story. One ghoulishly absorbing read. B+." <br>
Entertainment Weekly,
"Compulsively readable. A wonderful debut, evoking a century's worth of family history, by a multitalented and artistically ambidextrous newcomer."
Kirkus,
"Spooky and gripping, a chilling tale sure to make your spine shiver on even the hottest summer day."
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel,
"A creepy literary mystery. A terrific debut, very accomplished and assured."
Murder Ink Bookstore Newsletter,
"The Ghost Writer" is a grand Victorian tale in which Gerard becomes increasingly certain something wicked his way comes.
New York Daily News,7/4/2004
"Combines suspense that keeps readers up with a literary voice that allows them to respect themselves in the morning."
Publishers Weekly,
"Sly nods to spooky literary spinsters - James' Miss Jessel, Dickens's Miss Havisham - set the tone for this confident debut."
PW,
"By the last page, all loose ends have been tied up, but the uncanny still clings to everything."
Laura Miller,Salon.com,
"You can't help being dazzled by Harwood's inventiveness, especially his sure-footed mastery of prose style. [An] entertainingly accomplished first novel."
San Jose Mercury News,
"A fabulous, very spooky ghost story in the classic mode that will remind some people of A.S. Byatt's "Possession."<br>
Laura Miller,Talk of the Nation,
"As a mystery, The Ghost Writer is irresistible, pushing all the genre's gothic buttons and casting a convincingly Dickensian pall."
The Guardian,
"An elegant homage to the Victorian ghost story tradition. Like Dickens's The Pickwick Papers, Harwood makes your flesh creep."
The Times of London,
"An exceptionally inventive first novel."
The Weekend Australian,
"Harwood has written a smart, stylish and mesmerizing book."
Washington Post Book World,
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Biography |
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JOHN HARWOOD divides his time between London and Victor Harbor, a small town on the coast of South Australia. He has published works of biography, political journalism, satire, and poetry. The Ghost Writer is his first novel.
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General Subjects |
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Fiction- Mystery & Detective/General
Fiction- General
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Harvest Books
An imprint ofHarcourt Trade Publishers
A
Harcourt Education Company
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