Jolly Corner

The Jolly Corner, first published in 1908, is often hailed as a masterful ghost story, second only to The Turn of the Screw. The tale follows Spencer Brydon, a 56-year-old American who returns to New York after spending 33 years in Europe, where he has seemingly achieved little while living off his inherited properties. As he rekindles his friendship with Alice Staverton and engages in the potential development of a property, he begins to confront the life choices that have shaped him. The ghost he encounters represents the life he might have lived, leading to a haunting and thought-provoking exploration of identity and possibility that culminates in an unsettling yet ambiguous conclusion.