All the Beloved Ghosts

By Alison MacLeod

SHORTLISTED FOR THE 2017 GOVERNOR GENERAL'S LITERARY AWARDS

Acutely observed, evocative collection of short stories from the Man Booker Prize-longlisted author of Unexploded, blending fiction, biography and memoir

Hovering on the border of life and death, these stories form a ground-shifting collection, taking us into history, literature and the hidden lives of iconic figures.

In 1920s Nova Scotia, as winter begins to thaw, a woman emerges from mourning and wears a new fur coat to a dance that will change everything. A teenager searches for his lover on a charged summer evening in 2011, as around him London erupts in anger. A cardiac specialist lingers on the edge of consciousness as he awaits a new heart – and is transported to an attic room half a century ago. In an ancient Yorkshire churchyard, the author visits Sylvia Plath's grave and makes an unexpected connection across time. On a trip to Brighton, reluctant jihadists face the ultimate spiritual test. And at Charleston, Angelica Garnett, child of the Bloomsbury Group, is overcome by the past, all the beloved ghosts that spring to life before her eyes.

Precise, playful and evocative, these exquisitely crafted stories explore memory, the media and mortality, unfolding at the line between reality and fiction. Written with vigorous intelligence and delicate insight, this collection captures the surprising joys, small tragedies and profound truths of existence.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
• Release date: Mar 9, 2017
• ISBN: 9781408863770

Alison MacLeod

Alison MacLeod is the author of three novels – The Changeling, The Wave Theory of Angels and Unexploded, which was longlisted for the Man Booker Prize 2013 – and two story collections. She is the joint winner of the Eccles British Library Writer's Award 2016 and was a finalist for the 2017 Governor General's Award. She was Professor of Contemporary Fiction at the University of Chichester until 2018, when she became Visiting Professor to write full-time. She lives in Brighton.

Reviews for All the Beloved Ghosts

[charl08-1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

One of the best collections of short stories I've read in some time. Unlimited by continent or age, the protagonists consider questions of time, love and jihad. The author managed to make me smile and well up within a few pages. With a young man caught up in the London riots, I hoped he would find his new girlfriend, whilst in another tale Chekhovian meta-narrative disappeared a dog for two would-be philanderers. A prospective jihadi finds Joy (capitalisation deliberate) on Brighton pier instead of taking a flight to Turkey. In Yalta, Chekhov is followed whilst in turn of the century Canada,a young woman risks dancing with a member of the band. The kind of book that makes you go searching for an author's back catalogue.This was a Netgalley ARC.

[beamis12 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

3.5 Life, death and aging are the common themes. The prose is gorgeous, elegant and is one of the strong point in these stories, showcasing a wide range of viewpoints. The authors own connection to her subject is explored in two stories, Sylvia wears pink the Underworld, referring of course to Sylvia Plath and Dreaming Diana:twelve frames. Of those two the Princess Diana was easier to understand and the one I liked best. In one story a man remembers certain events in his life while waiting for his new heart to be delivered. Loved the first story, The Thaw, was probably my favorite story in this collection. The author explores the influence of Chekhow on her own short stories by featuring four shorts pertaing to him.All in all a good solid collection, some stories easier to relate to then others, so a mixed effort in my mind. As I said though reading this just for the prose was worthwhile.