The Attic Tragedy

By J. Ashley-Smith

Sylvie never called them ghosts, but that's what they were—not that George ever saw them herself. The new girl, Sylvie, is like a creature from another time, with her old-fashioned leather satchel, her white cotton gloves and her head in the clouds. George watches her drift around the edge of the school playing fields, guided by inaudible voices.When George stands up for Sylvie, beating back Tommy Payne and his gang of thugs, it brings her close to the ethereal stranger; though not as close as George would have liked. In the attic of Sylvie's father's antique shop, George's scars will sing and her longing will drive them both toward a tragedy as veiled and inevitable as Sylvie's whispering ghosts.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Meerkat Press, LLC
• Release date: Jun 9, 2020
• ISBN: 9781946154491

Book preview

Praise for The Attic Tragedy

Ashley-Smith debuts with a gorgeous, melancholy coming-of-age novella about girlhood and ghosts. . . . This eerie, ethereal tale marks Ashley-Smith as a writer to watch.

—Publishers Weekly

"A beautifully written book about desire, pain, and loss, haunted by glimmerings of the supernatural. The Attic Tragedy manages to do more by intimation and suggestion with its fifty-three pages than most novels manage to accomplish over their several hundred."

—Brian Evenson, author of Song for the Unraveling of the World

"J.Ashley-Smith doesn't put a foot wrong in this chilling, devastating story. The Attic Tragedy is hard to read in the best possible way."

—Kaaron Warren, award-winning author of Into Bones Like Oil and Tide of Stone

"J. Ashley-Smith's stunning The Attic Tragedy follows the friendship between two young outcasts, Sylvie and George, as they navigate the treacherous years of high school and after. With piercing, clear-eyed sympathy, Ashley-Smith depicts a relationship centered on the secrets of the living and the dead. Sylvie knows and voices the histories of the spirits attached to the objects in her father's antique shop; George wrestles with the emotions raging within her and which find their outlet on her skin. Acutely observed, frequently surprising, this is fiction of the highest order."

—John Langan, author of Children of the Fang and Other Genealogies

"Lyrical and melancholy, The Attic Tragedy is a dark and poignant study of what it means to love and to be loved, to lose and to be lost. Ashley-Smith conjures a compelling, haunting tale that will stay with you like a ghost long after the last page is read."

—Alan Baxter, award-winning author of Devouring Dark and Served Cold

"The Attic Tragedy is full of heart and darkness, both endearing and terrifying. These pages open like a raw wound. You don’t read this story. It bleeds into you, and it leaves a scar on the way in."

—Sarah Read, Bram Stoker Award© winning author of The Bone Weaver’s Orchard and Out of Water

"The Attic Tragedy is beautifully engrossing, elegant, and lavish in the traditions of ornate architecture: J. Ashley-Smith’s exquisite words are its sculpted stone blocks; his layers of resonant emotions their subtle coloring treatments; his backdrop of ghosts those detailed flourishes that drive all expressive design to be admired for impression and refinement."

—Eric J. Guignard, award-winning author and editor, including That Which Grows Wild and Doorways to the Deadeye

"Softly shrouded in smoke and shadow, Ashley-Smith’s The Attic Tragedy cuts close to the bone. Startling, pointed, and powerful."

—Lee Murray, three-time Bram Stoker Award© nominee and author of Into the Ashes

"With The Attic Tragedy, J. Ashley-Smith proves himself an elemental writer of great talent. Emotions are bushfires. Foggy mountains shadow streets where violence festers. Dust, the microbes of otherness, settle over empty rooms that are never as empty as you think they are. This attic is a place of patchwork-detail where characters are forced to question their legacies, and I was held captive by their frightening revelations. A moody, melancholic read that I can’t recommend highly enough."

—Aaron Dries, author of House of Sighs and A Place for Sinners

"J. Ashley-Smith’s short novella, The Attic Tragedy, is a sharp and delicate jewel that both shines beautifully and cuts deeply. Focusing on the friendship of two girls, it slowly unveils a deep sense of strangeness and dread, both puzzling and fascinating. Masterly crafted, it will please all lovers of Shirley Jackson, who will be thrilled to find again this mix of humanity, beauty and cruelty."

—Seb Doubinsky, author of Missing Signal and The Invisible

THE ATTIC TRAGEDY. Copyright © 2020 by J. Ashley-Smith.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be used, reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means without prior written permission from the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law. For information, contact Meerkat Press at [e-mail].

One line from The Oresteia by Aeschylus, translated by Robert Fagles

Copyright © Robert Fagles 1966, 1967, 1975, 1977

ISBN-13: 978-1-946154-48-4 (Paperback)

ISBN-13 978-1-946154-49-1 (eBook)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2020938666

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

Book cover and interior design by Tricia Reeks

Printed in the United States of America on acid-free paper

Published in the United States of America by

Meerkat Press, LLC, Atlanta, Georgia

www.meerkatpress.com

To K, for the enduring love of stories locked in strange old things.

Dear gods, set me free from all the pain.

—Aeschylus

Prologos

Sylvie never called them ghosts, but that’s what they were.

The day we became friends, she walked me through the darkened rooms of her father’s antique

Reviews for The Attic Tragedy

[DaisyTeragram · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Wow, I don't really know what to say about this book. It wasn't what I was expecting, at all. It's very dark. It's billed as a lesbian story, but I didn't really see anything lesbian about it. And there are some really traumatic moments. The writing is hard to understand at times. I'm American, and I didn't always know what some of the British or Australian terms meant. It's a bit of a ghost story, but not really. And I have no idea what the part about the specialist was about. I felt for the main character, but didn't really understand. I don't think this story was really very effective at anything.

[Ashly Sydenstricker · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

I didn’t like anything about it. The characters and plot were quite boring. Nothing about this story felt fully fleshed out.

[dawnash-113438 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I received a copy in exchange for an honest review. This is a well written novella and I felt like it would have benefited from being a longer story, to give more impact to the character development. That being said, its a darker story working through identity/coming of age/finding yourself. A touch of supernatural along the way, which I was looking for to be more involved in the storyline. Again, would like to see this deepened and lengthened to add more to the depth all around.

[fred_mouse · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A little surprised that something this short was published on its own. Dark and nasty in a number of ways; fascinating world building, strong characterisation, beautiful writing

[janarose1 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

George, an unpopular, chubby girl, struggles with her gender, social identity, and sexuality. When she meets Sylvie, she is instantly attracted to her odd and peculiar personality. After standing up for Sylvie, and beating back the bullies, they are drawn together.This was a novella, and I felt that it did not have enough details to make the story interesting. Sylvie felt like a half formed character. She had possibility, but it was never really fully developed. The story hinted at things, but that was all. It felt like nothing really happened. Overall, a bust.

[whybehave2002 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I received this from LibraryThing in exchange for an honest review. It's a novella that I read in one day. I think it could be made into a full novel and fill in a lot of gaps about Sylvie that have been left. As a young adult book I think the relationship between the characters is representative of high schoolers or even middle schoolers today. I would love to see what this book could do with more 3 dimensional characters.

[reading_fox · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Odd, disturbing, well written, novella regarding self identity. Features some strong triggers for those of likely to be effected by those themes. Sort of a YA finding yourself story.

[opheliedepoortere · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

How could you sum up a life – a whole life – with just a few words? How could you even try?There’s a new girl in town, Sylvie, and she is not like everyone else. George (Georgina) watches her around the school, fascinated… After an unfortunate incident they become friends. But George wants more than the friendship Sylvie can offer.In the attic of Sylvie’s father’s antique shop, between the ghosts and hidden gems of other people’s previous lives, their friendship grows. But will that be enough… This was not the story I thought it would be, it was something much better. It is difficult to put my thoughts and feelings here to paper (or better said, screen). I have read it a month ago and still have trouble explaining other than to say it is a beautiful story. It is very well written and in its beauty there’s also a little sadness. However, it is a sadness that will leave you with a warm, soft feeling.*Thanks to Meerkat Press for the digital copy of this book in exchange for my honest feedback.

[hostie13 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This review was written for LibraryThing Early Reviewers.I do not usually go out of my way to read dark fiction but I must confess The Attic Tragedy had me not wanting to put the book down.This story is a tragedy, yet it opens the readers eyes to topics we may not deal with in our day to day lives. Potential readers should be warned some of the topics it covers are rape, self-harm, school bullying, depression, rape, lesbianism, and suicide. There is also mention of drugs and assault. That sounds heavy and it is, but the author has written the story in such a way it helps us understand not recoil.The other point potential readers should be aware of is the indication of a supernatural feel about the story with the description of Sylvie’s gift in the precis. When she touches an object in her father’s antique shop she can feel the history of the item. Sadly, this aspect doesn’t really develop, and it is what attracted me to the story in the first place.It is also a story of unrequited love and how the relationships in our friendships can change over time.George is overweight, friendless, and bullied. She is a sad girl lacking self-respect and self-confidence. Sylvie is the new girl at school. Their friendship begins when George saves Sylvie from being sexually assaulted.The tables are turned when Sylvie rescues George from an assault by the boys who had first attacked her.For George, the friendship develops into love for Sylvie; an unrequited love.Sylvie moves away to attend university while George works in the antique shop waiting for Sylvie’s return. When that finally happens, things are not the same and George is heartbroken. Overall, it is a very emotional story. The heart wrenching topics are not always pleasant to read about but we can’t put our heads in the sand. They do exist and I for one feel more empathy to sufferers.A tough read but still rated at 4*

[atimrogers-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I received this novella as an electronic ARC from the publisher because I had reviewed an earlier book they had published. The Attic Tragedy had less magic (or horror) in it than I expected, but a provided a fairly deft mix of coming-of-age and coming-to-accept yourself, in which two teens cross in the midst of their journeys to find themselves. This is clearly a story with LGBTQ themes, but don’t let that knowledge pre-define it for you: The Attic Tragedy is a story of two girls fighting their individual demons while they struggle to find their paths forward in life. Their brief friendship catalyzes each search, but in very different ways. A touching, well-written piece.

[linda.a. · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

“Sylvie never called them ghosts, but that’s what they were” … from this opening sentence, I felt immediately drawn into this story, intrigued to discover how this apparently supernatural element would influence the story-telling. However, it quickly became clear that this was to be no traditional “ghost” story rather, it would explore how we are all shaped by our past experiences and losses, and how these continue to “whisper” to us throughout our lives. Through his exquisitely drawn characters, not just George and Sylvie but also all the peripheral ones, whose behaviour influenced how the girls’ friendship developed, and subsequently changed, the author took me on an emotionally-charged, often very disturbing journey. I’m reluctant to go into too much detail about this because I don’t want to spoil the wonderful subtlety and poignancy of the story-telling as it reveals the deeply-felt emotions of young women coming to terms with who they are, as well as their developing, often confusing, sexuality. I think that the shared, erotically-charged nature of the early months of George and Sylvie’s friendship, and how this changed, leaving George heart-broken and bereft, was handled with an impressive sensitivity and restraint by the author.This emotional honesty and integrity extended to his exploration of some very dark themes, including self-harming, sexual violence, homophobia, bullying, suicidal thoughts. Although each of these was explored in a powerfully visceral way, at no point did I feel that there was anything gratuitously explicit about his portrayals – a difficult balance to achieve, but one which the author achieved in an admirably sensitive way. The author’s characterisations were so evocative that I’m sure the voices of George and Sylvie will continue to whisper to me, ensuring that their stories will not be forgotten, instead acting as a powerful reminder of how our memories can conjure up our ghosts from the past. Sometimes these will be painful, but the good ones can offer hope, can enable us to gain strength from them and to use those insights to create a more optimistic future for ourselves. “Dear god, set me free from all the pain” a foreword quote from Aeschylus, serves as a reminder throughout the story that pain is part of living and cannot be avoided. It is particularly resonated throughout George’s story, capturing her moments of profound despair and her search for relief from her all-encompassing emotional pain. Does she achieve this? You’ll need to read the book to find out! When I finished this book, I felt I was experiencing such an emotional-overload that I needed to take time to reflect on it before writing this review but, as I settle down now to do so, several days later, I feel I’m still reeling from the impact of this very powerful, poignant and profoundly sad story. I’m full of admiration for the author’s ability to create such multi-layered complexity within just fifty-three pages – a perfect demonstration of how the end result of less really can result in being so much more! However, although short, this shouldn’t be seen as a fast-read because it encompasses a range of themes and emotions which encourage reflection. I recently listened to a talk by an author who spoke of how reading slowly and reflectively enables the “magic” in stories to happen in “the spaces in-between” which are thus created. J. Ashley-Smith’s eloquent prose, with not one word feeling wasted, encouraged me to constantly reflect on what I was reading and the magic did indeed happen. So, please don’t rush your reading of this story, allow time for the magic to happen for you too. With many thanks to Meerkat Press for an ARC of this story and the opportunity to read this very special story.

[mishker-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Sylvie is new to the school. Her old-school clothes and head in the clouds demeanor make her an easy target for boys like Tommy Payne and his gang. George knows what Tommy will do to a girl like Sylvie. When George intervenes on Tommy's attack of Sylvie the pair become fast friends. Sylvie accepts George with all her quirks and faults. George accepts Sylvie's strange gift of knowing the background of the antiques at her father's shop with a simple touch. As life moves on, Sylvie goes to University far away. George stays and works in the antique shop waiting to desperately rekindle the feelings that they shared in school.The Attic Tragedy is a short story about friendship and how it changes us over time. The unique elements of Sylvie's gift brought me into the story, but isn't the main focus. I would love to have a gift like that, to know the history of objects with a touch. The stories Sylvie shared were amazing whether they were sweet, heartbreaking or silly. Since this is a short story, the timeline moves quickly and the characters are carved out along the way. I do wish there was more information about Sylive's gift and George's background. The real focus, however, is on the value of friendship and how it affects us, even if the friendship changes. Overall, a unique story with elements of the paranormal and acceptance.This book was received for free in return for an honest review.

[angelajmaher · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This is poignant and beautifully written. A tale of identities found and lost, of emotion, inlaid with a delicious hint of something otherworldly.I wouldn't call this a feel-good book, and there are certainly scenes that will be triggers for people, but this is a little gem of dark toned prose.