Description
Book SynopsisA story set in Prague that crosses the lines between the living and the dead. The great love of your life is dead, but that doesn’t stop him from communicating with you—or luring you to join him in the afterlife. To remain safe in this world, you accept the help of a professional medium who develops his own emotional agenda.
The Ghost Trio that emerges takes us to pre- and post-World War II Prague where a poignant and chilling love triangle finds its resolution. There we meet great Czech creators of the past including Leoš Janácek and Karel Capek. Inspired by the ghost stories of Henry James and Daphne du Maurier, Clyde Derrick introduces three characters whose passions defy time and the accepted boundaries between the dead and the living. The author, who has lived in and visited purportedly haunted sites in advance of writing this novella, contends that this story and its characters found him. Meanwhile, his portrayal of two Pragues—one poised to fall to Hitler’s army, the other muted by Communist oppression—offers us insights into the past and reminds us to stay vigilant against dangerous politics.
The Ghost Trio is a spiritual excursion in which we ponder the limitations and hazards of romantic love as well as the possibility of other lives in other times.
The Ghost Trio is the winner of the 2020 Omnidawn Fabulist Fiction Chapbook / Novelette Contest, chosen by Molly Gloss.
Trade Review"A couple is haunted by spirits who take them through 20th-century history in Derrick’s novella. . . . An engaging historical ghost story." * Kirkus *
"This is an irresistible and original ghost story that moves seamlessly through time and space as it unfolds the history of a brilliant, troubled Czech musician and his lost love. It’s a lyric as intricate and passionate and mournful as Beethoven’s Ghost Trio." -- Molly Gloss, judge of the Omnidawn 2020 Fabulist Fiction Chapbook / Novelette contest
"A fabulous literary page-turner, Clyde Derrick’s short, and wonderfully disturbing
The Ghost Trio will make you rethink everything you thought you knew about identity, the human spirit, and the possibilities of love and partnership. Even if ghost stories aren’t your thing, you’ll be haunted by these audacious ghosts and befuddled humans long after the final, satisfying page" -- Karen Karbo, author of The Diamond Lane
