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A Fine and Private Place

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A Fine and Private Place

By: Peter S. Beagle, Neil Gaiman - introduction
Narrated by: Neil Gaiman
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About this listen

Jonathan Rebeck is homeless. Bankrupt. He has dropped out of society and has been living quietly in a local cemetery, under the care of a raven who is quite good at stealing sandwiches.

Far from being lonely, however, Jonathan is able to converse with the ghosts around him, and finds himself following two new spirits, Michael and Laura, as they fall in love with each other. He becomes invested in, and part of, their cautious romance. But the circumstances behind Michael's death are slipping from his memory, and the further from life they drift, the closer the loss of love feels.

When a visiting widow stumbles across Jonathan in his graveyard home, will the living world begin to intrude on this fine and private place?

Peter S. Beagle's legendary, beautiful debut novel is filled with all his characteristic warmth and humanity. With a new introduction by Neil Gaiman, A Fine and Private Place is a timeless classic from the author of The Last Unicorn.

©2023 Peter S. Beagle (P)2023 Orion Publishing Group Limited Fantasy Fiction Genre Fiction Magical Realism Magic Paranormal
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𝕬 𝕱𝖎𝖓𝖊 𝖆𝖓𝖉 𝕻𝖗𝖎𝖛𝖆𝖙𝖊 𝕻𝖑𝖆𝖈𝖊, by 𝕻𝖊𝖙𝖊𝖗 𝕾. 𝕭𝖊𝖆𝖌𝖑𝖊 ♟️🥪 𝕻𝖆𝖗𝖆𝖓𝖔𝖗𝖒𝖆𝖑 𝕽𝖔𝖒𝖆𝖓𝖈𝖊 & 𝖀𝖗𝖇𝖆𝖓 𝕲𝖍𝖔𝖘𝖙 𝕱𝖆𝖓𝖙𝖆𝖘𝖞 👻🗽🌲

𝕬 𝕱𝖎𝖓𝖊 𝖆𝖓𝖉 𝕻𝖗𝖎𝖛𝖆𝖙𝖊 𝕻𝖑𝖆𝖈𝖊 (1960) by 𝕻𝖊𝖙𝖊𝖗 𝕾. 𝕭𝖊𝖆𝖌𝖑𝖊 is an 𝖀𝖗𝖇𝖆𝖓 𝕲𝖍𝖔𝖘𝖙 𝕱𝖆𝖓𝖙𝖆𝖘𝖞 novel about 𝕵𝖔𝖓𝖆𝖙𝖍𝖆𝖓 𝕽𝖊𝖇𝖊𝖈𝖐, a bankrupted man living in New York's fictional 𝖄𝖔𝖗𝖐𝖈𝖍𝖊𝖘𝖙𝖊𝖗 𝕮𝖊𝖒𝖊𝖙𝖊𝖗𝖞, sustained by a witty raven that steals him sandwiches. 𝕽𝖊𝖇𝖊𝖈𝖐 converses with the cemetery's ghosts as they fade away, losing their memory and thoughts, but his life changes when he mentors two new spirits. 𝕸𝖎𝖈𝖍𝖆𝖊𝖑, a teacher, and 𝕷𝖆𝖚𝖗𝖆, a shop clerk, who fall in love 💚🖤🤎

𝕿𝖍𝖊 𝕽𝖊𝖈𝖑𝖚𝖘𝖎𝖛𝖊 𝕷𝖎𝖋𝖊: For 19 years, 𝕵𝖔𝖓𝖆𝖙𝖍𝖆𝖓 𝕽𝖊𝖇𝖊𝖈𝖐 has lived in a mausoleum, having dropped out of society, content to chat with the deceased rather than the living. He is tended to by a raven that thieves him baloney sandwhiches and pieces for his chessboard 🥪♟️

𝕿𝖍𝖊 𝕷𝖔𝖛𝖊𝖗𝖘: 𝕽𝖊𝖇𝖊𝖈𝖐 helps two spirits, 𝕸𝖎𝖈𝖍𝖆𝖊𝖑 𝕸𝖔𝖗𝖌𝖆𝖓 (uncertain if he was murdered or committed suicide) and 𝕷𝖆𝖚𝖗𝖆 𝕯𝖚𝖗𝖆𝖓𝖉 (killed by a truck), navigate their unexpected romance in the afterlife 👻

𝕴𝖓𝖙𝖗𝖚𝖘𝖎𝖔𝖓 𝖔𝖋 𝕷𝖎𝖋𝖊: 𝕽𝖊𝖇𝖊𝖈𝖐'𝖘 isolation is interrupted by a living woman, 𝕲𝖊𝖗𝖙𝖗𝖚𝖉𝖊 𝕶𝖑𝖆𝖕𝖕𝖊𝖗, a lonely widow who stumbles upon his secret home, fostering a new connection with life 💍

👻 𝕿𝖍𝖊 𝕷𝖔𝖛𝖎𝖓𝖌 𝕯𝖊𝖆𝖉 👻

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A delightful little story that I’ve been waiting to be released for some time now, it very much puts me in mind of a Studio Ghibli story (and I would love to see them adapt it) and I can also easily see how Neil Gaiman calls it a massive influence upon his work. Quite unbelievable that this was written when Beagle was just 19.

Worth the wait.

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As always, Peter Beagle writes gorgeous, lyrical, gentle stories. My only issue is that the details list Neil Gaiman as the narrator, which is incorrect. Gaiman wrote an intro but did not narrate. The narrator is ok, but I was distracted by some of the pronunciations.

Lovely story but the narrator is NOT Neil Gaiman

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