Anelegantlyhair-raisingcollectionofEdithWharton’sghoststories,selectedandwithaprefacewrittenbytheauthorherself.NohistoryoftheAmericanuncannytalewouldbecompletewithoutmentionofEdithWharton,yetmanyofWharton’smostdedicatedadmirersareunawarethatshewasamasteroftheform.Infact,oneofWharton’sfinalliteraryactswasassemblingGhosts,apersonalselectionofhermostchillingstories,writtenbetween1902and1937.In“TheLady’sMaid’sBell,“theearliesttaleincludedhere,aservant’sdedicationtohermistresscontinuesfrombeyondthegrave,andin“AllSouls,“thelaststoryWhartonwrote,anelderlywomantreadsthepermeablelinebetweenlifeandthehereafter.Inallherwriting,Wharton’sgreatgiftwastomercilesslyilluminatethemotivesofmenandwomen,andherghoststoriesneverstrayfarfromthepreoccupationsoftheliving,usingthesupernaturaltoinvestigatesuchworldlymattersasviolencewithinmarriage,thehorrorsofaging,therotattherootofnewfortunes,thedarknessthatstaresbackfromtheabyssofone’sownsoul.Thesearestoriesto“sendacoldshiverdownone’sspine,“nottoterrify,andasWhartonexplainsinherpreface,hergoalinwritingthemwastocounter“thehardgrindofmodernspeeding-up“bypreservingthatineffablespaceof“silenceandcontinuity,“whichisnotmerelytheprerogativeofhumanitybut--“inthefunoftheshudder“--itsdelight.ContentsAllSouls’TheEyesAfterwardTheLady’sMaid’sBellKerfolTheTriumphofNightMissMaryPaskBewitchedMr.JonesPomegranateSeedABottleofPerrier
