A Fine and Private Place

For nineteen years, the reclusive Jonathan Rebeck has made an abandoned mausoleum in a Bronx cemetery his secret home, his only regular companion a cynical, talking raven named Edgar. Jonathan possesses a unique gift: he can communicate with the newly dead as they pass from life into the ethereal unknown, offering comfort, an understanding ear, and even a game of chess. His quiet, isolated existence is profoundly disrupted, however, by the appearance of two spectral lovers, Michael and Laura, whose impossible romance blossoms amidst the graves. As Jonathan, along with a mysterious cemetery security guard named Mrs. Klotz, becomes entangled in the ghostly couple's journey, they are all compelled to confront the true distinctions between life and death, love and loss, and the eternal choices that shape existence. Peter S. Beagle's debut novel is an elegiac and enchanting exploration of connection, hope, and finding happiness in the most unexpected of places.