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Joplin's Ghost by Tananarive Due

Joplin's Ghost

A Novel

Tananarive Due

S&S/Saga Press · Print & ebook · September 19, 2006

*From the author of The Reformatory—A New York Times Notable Book of 2023* In this chilling historical novel that's part love story, part ghost story, a female singer's life spins horrifically out of control as a long-dead music legend chooses her to continue his legacy.

HorrorGhost StoriesBlack Historical Fictionblack
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Who it’s for
A singer’s rising career meets a ghostly claim on music, memory, and identity.
Themes
Music and artistic legacy, Finding one's own voice, Life and mortality
Pacing
Fast

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For younger readers: Tone Deaf, Jazz, Free Piano (not Haunted)

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About this book

*From the author of The Reformatory—A New York Times Notable Book of 2023* In this chilling historical novel that's part love story, part ghost story, a female singer's life spins horrifically out of control as a long-dead music legend chooses her to continue his legacy. When Phoenix Smalls was ten, she nearly died at her parents' jazz club when she was crushed by a turn-of-the-century piano. Now twenty-four, Phoenix is launching a career as an R&B singer.

Continue reading

She's living out her dreams and seems destined for fame and fortune. But a chance visit to a historical site in St. Louis ignites a series of bizarre, erotic encounters with a spirit who may be the King of Ragtime, Scott Joplin. The sound of Scott Joplin is strange enough to the ears of the hip-hop generation. But the idea that these antique sounds are being channeled through Phoenix? Her life is suddenly hanging in the balance. How will she find her true voice and calling? Can the power of her own inner song give Phoenix the strength to fight to live out her own future? Or will she be forever trapped in Scott Joplin's doomed, tragic past? Stunningly original, Joplin's Ghost is a novel filled with art and intrigue—and is sure to bring music to readers' ears.

A Haunted Sound

A singer’s rising career meets a ghostly claim on music, memory, and identity.

Come here for

  • A collision of R&B ambition and ragtime history
  • A chilling blend of love story and ghost story

Expect

  • Music, fame, and a spirit pressing into one singer’s future
  • An eerie struggle over whose legacy will endure

Where it sits

Ghost Stories71%
Horror56%
Black Historical Fiction39%

Percentages are BookFrontier’s reading of the book.

Publisher categories

  • Horror
  • Suspense
  • Black Erotica
Authors
Tananarive Due
Publisher
S&S/Saga Press
Published
September 19, 2006
Format
Print & ebook
Theme
Music and artistic legacy · Finding one's own voice · Life and mortality
Reading lane
Horror