[Review] The Ghost - Arnold Bennett

Title of Book : The Ghost
Author : Arnold Bennett
Publisher : Nonsuch Publishing

First published in 1907, The Ghost was the first of many "fantasias on modern times" written by Arnold Bennett. These illustrated his ability to produce not only realistic novels, perfected in his portrayals of provincial English life set in the Staffordshire scenery of his childhood, but also more sensational stories, written after his move to London where he developed a far more cosmopolitan interest. A supernatural story, The Ghost tells the tale of a beautiful opera star, Rosetta Rosa, whose beauty seems to cast a spell upon all those who meet her. When Carl Foster, a young doctor, sees Rosa at a London opera, and is instantly captivated, he soon finds himself plagued by mysterious happenings, and begins to see a malignant, spectral figure everywhere he turns. When another man enraptured by Rosa mysteriously dies, Carl begins to wonder whether loving her could bring with it a deadly curse. Moving between London and Paris, this fast-paced story draws the reader into a ghostly world of twists, turns, drama, and suspense.

I read The Ghost as a part of monthly keyword reading challenge and to celebrate the scary month. The Ghost is a story about Carl Foster, a young doctor who was introduced to Rosetta Rosa, a beautiful opera singer, by his cousin. An incident happened at the opera and as a doctor, Foster had to help the injured man, Alresca. He then become a good friend with Alresca and Rosa. After the incident, he continuously encountered a mysterious man who seemed like following him. When he about to learn the truth, Alresca died and he became more intimate with Rosa. It was then he knew that Rosa’s cursed and he had to choose between love and death.

I don’t read a lot of horror books because I could get scared easily even though I’m always intrigued by them. I thought The Ghost is not so scary and has a lot more of drama side than the horror side. It does have more of the drama side, but the ghost part did scare me a bit. This book could give me a creep and imagining that there’s a ghost out there ready to hurt whenever and wherever it can, scares me.

I like the characters in this book especially Carl Foster. I think he’s an adorable young doctor. He looks so naïve and his love for Rosa is sincere. Rosetta Rosa is also an intriguing woman. At first she looks like those arrogant opera stars but as the story goes, I learn more about her. Her life is interesting and she has quite complex background.

As for the ghost, even though there’s not much of its appearances, the ghost could leave an impression on me. I didn’t really expect this book to be a very scary book, but at least the ghost successfully gave me creeps every time he appeared on the scene. All in all, The Ghost is quite entertaining. I think The Ghost is a good read for those who wants to experience a bit of creepiness.