A New Novel

On By Mick CanningIn A Persistence of Ghosts, books, Fiction, India, publishing, writing

Well, it’s certainly been a while. Two complete revisions and countless edits – a total of ten years in the making! Just as well I don’t create series (unless you count the zines).

(cover mock-up)

So, the lowdown. The title of the book is A Persistence of Ghosts, and it is set in India, as was my first novel. But where the first novel was set on the North India plains, in a small village, this one is set in a fictitious hill station in the foothills of the Himalaya. Whereas the first one had an entirely Indian cast, this one deals with the British community who stayed on after Independence and their interactions (or not) with the Indians there. I’m planning on a release date of 18th August, although I might yet bring that forward (or push it back if the proof copy shows up a lot of errors!).

The tease:

After Independence in 1947, Stephen Chapman’s family are one of the few British families who decide to stay on in India. Life in the peaceful Northern Indian hill station of Khodiganj goes on much the same as before, yet in 1951 his parents make the sudden decision to return to England and afterwards refuse to even talk about their time out there. Then in 1988 Stephen returns to Khodiganj, determined to find out the reasons for their sudden leaving, even if those reasons might have been better kept hidden. And during the following weeks he finds he is drawn inexorably into the small English diaspora remaining there, with their own secrets and ghosts.

34 thoughts on “A New Novel”

  2. luca zani's avatar luca zani

    This was a really enjoyable read! Great work. I’d love for you to check out my latest work at lucazani.ink, if you’re interested! Appreciate any feedback.

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  12. That sounds really interesting. I never knew till I was an adult that my school friend’s father was born and brought up in India, he was so very English! After a serious troop train crash in WW2 he found himself taken to England by his widowed mother and sister.

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