Anyone’s Ghost (Hardback)

The lonely life of fifteen-year-old Theron David Alden is transformed when he meets Jake. Older, cooler, more confident and startlingly beautiful, Jake likes the same bands, the same drugs, and has the same drive to oblivion.

Over the course of two decades, Theron and Jake get high, drift apart, and are brought hurtling back together, until a final collision tears them apart forever.

Theron wants Jake, and he wants to be Jake. But is Jake brave enough to want him back?

A gorgeous modern love story about the lives that change us, and the loves that haunt us, Anyone’s Ghost will break your heart.

Author: August Thompson

Hardback Published 8 October 2024 320 pages

Read and Recommended by Hendri:

"n rural New Hampshire, fifteen-year-old Theron David Alden meets seventeen-year-old Jake. Both have divorced parents and they share everything one summer—metal music, pot smoking, drunk driving, and petty theft. Theron, who struggles to know who he truly is, can't distinguish between his adoration and romantic attraction toward his new older friend. Before Theron finds the answer, a car accident separates them. Six years later, Jake appears at the doorstep of Theron's apartment in New York. But he is no longer the teen Theron used to know. With a Goldman Sachs look, Jake has become an aspiring musician determined to build his career and has also married a woman. Meanwhile Theron has an open relationship with his girlfriend Lou and a series of sexual contacts with random guys, but still feels unsure what he is looking for romantically. His sexual encounters with men often leave him feeling repulsed about himself. Could Jake’s sudden return into Theron's life provide an answer - unlock his suppressed desires and love from the unforgettable bond that they formed years ago? Anyone's Ghost is a coming-of-age queer novel with a universal theme of teenage angst and loneliness and two boys who don't have the language to name their feelings. This debut novel is perfect for fans of Hanya Yanagihara's A Little Life and Douglas Stuart's Young Mungo!"

'You know those books that you take with you everywhere? That you won’t stop talking about to your friends? That bring it all back? That change you? Anyone’s Ghost is that book' - Junot Diaz, author of The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao

'An overwhelmingly beautiful love story. This book will make you cry’ - Jonathan Safran Foer, author ofEverything Is Illuminated