The Night of All Souls

Philippa Swan’s erudite homage takes a page from Wharton’s unheralded ghost stories: the author is resurrected in an anteroom to the afterlife, and given a novella about a woman who works at the Wharton museum in Massachusetts. Edith must decide whether to publish or burn the work, revisiting her own writing in the process. It may have the trappings of a ghost story, but the most appealing element of Swan’s novel is its submerged literary appreciation of Wharton’s oeuvre, delivered in tandem with lively elements of biography, and shades of the wit and style for which Wharton was renowned.

Cameron Woodhead, Sydney Morning Herald

A highly entertaining read

Newmarket

In this wildly imaginative novel, Pulitzer Prize winning novelist Edith Wharton (1862-1937), long dead, finds herself in a warm, atmospherically lit drawing room, waiting to see who will join her for the evening. . . . Edith is revealed in all her complexity. Not just the suffering wife of a disturbed husband but a passionate lover, intelligent and articulate writer and garden designer, widely travelled and admired by many. The novel is a glimpse into how life goes on after us; the characters are unaware of what the others did and said after their deaths, until events are disclosed to them through the novella and Mrs Gerould's uncanny revelations. The Night of All Souls is a refreshing, absorbing novel. The chance to see one's life after death, to recreate the narrative and see it as a newly rounded thing is a fascinating concept.Edith Wharton is newly minted within these pages, finally broken free of the constraints of the society in which she lived.

Louise Ward, NZ Herald

There’s a story within a story as well, as her former publisher (also long-dead, but don’t ask!) has sent her a novella proposed for publication, which features a modern woman volunteering at Edith’s old home, The Mount in Massachusetts, then visiting Italy in Edith’s footsteps. A most unusual story, if a little slow to establish itself, but worth the effort.

Good Reading Magazine