For nineteen years, Jonathan Rebeck has hidden from the world within the
confines of the Bronx's Yorkchester Cemetery, making an abandoned
mausoleum his secret home. He speaks with the newly dead as they pass
from life to wherever spirits finally go, providing them with comfort,
an understanding ear, and even the occasional game of chess.
But Mr. Rebeck's reclusive life is soon to be disrupted. An impossible
love has blossomed between two ghosts at Yorkchester Cemetery, and
Rebeck finds himself drawn to a living woman. Helped along by a cynical
raven and a mysterious security guard, these four souls must learn the
true difference between life and death and make choices that really are
forever.
Told with an elegiac wisdom, Peter S. Beagle's first novel is a timeless
work of fantasy, imbued with hope and wonder. This updated edition
contains the author's final revisions and stands as the definitive
version of an enduring modern classic.