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Night Side of the River

Dazzling new ghost stories from the Sunday Times bestseller

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Night Side of the River

By: Jeanette Winterson
Narrated by: Jeanette Winterson, Vicky Licorish
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About this listen

Brought to you by Penguin.

A masterful and eerie collection of ghost stories from Sunday Times bestselling author Jeanette Winterson

Our lives are digital, exposed and always-on. We track our friends and family wherever they go. We have millennia of knowledge at our fingertips.

We know everything about our world. But we know nothing about theirs.

We have changed, but our ghosts have not. They've simply adapted and innovated, found new channels to reach us. They inhabit our apps and wander the metaverse just as they haunt our homes and our memories, always seeking new ways to connect.

To live amongst us.

To remind us.

To tempt us.

To take their revenge.

These stories are not ours to tell. They are the stories of the dead - of those we've lost, loved, forgotten... and feared. Some are fiction. But some may not be.

©2023 Jeanette Winterson (P)2023 Penguin Audio

 Anthologies & Short Stories Biographical Fiction Genre Fiction Ghosts Horror Short Stories Haunted Scary Fiction Paranormal

Critic reviews

In the stories Winterson is at her best, unsurprisingly, when doing new things with the form
A thought-provoking collection of short stories, interspersed with memories of her own unexplained encounters with the paranormal… The theme that runs through all the stories is loss and how it haunts the living
Thought-provoking... A captivating and chilling collection examining grief, revenge and how technology can breach the boundary between life and death
Spine-chillingly good
Jeanette Winterson brings the classic gothic literature theme into the 21st century by imagining what happens when the undead have to find modern ways to reach out to us... This collection is as hair-raising and suspenseful as it is witty and thought-provoking
Winterson the artist at her most potent, melding the viscerally real with the lavishly supernatural
I loved Night Side of the River. Jeanette Winterson is one of the wittiest writers around today… I can't think of any other writer who can treat death and horror with such lightheartedness and pragmatic cheerfulness but without losing the cold-yet-cosy frisson that comes with all the best ghost stories. MR James would be very happy! (Natasha Pulley, author of The Watchmaker of Filigree Street)
A collection of ghost stories that range from campfire-level spooks to speculative reflections on the meaning of life.. As challenging and entertaining as anything undertaken by this endlessly ingenious writer
At the height of spooky season, turn off the lights and immerse yourself in the spine-tingling delights of this frighteningly modern ghost story collection. Blurring the lines between nonfiction and campfire tale, this one imagines what would happen if there really was a ghost in the machine
This collection is as hair-raising and suspenseful as it is witty and thought-provoking
All stars
Most relevant
really enjoyed this, some very interesting ideas of what living in a metaverse would mean, do we need our bodies etc. also lots of stories that would lend themselves to a black mirror or mark gatiss production.

thought provoking

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I don't usually like short stories as they often don't have enough time to develop characters and themes properly. not an issue with JW. what a writer. plenty to keep you thinking long after you've finished reading.

fantastic.

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JW wonderful as always, this is a book full of fascinating ideas, and perfect for ponderings in the run-up to Samhaine.

Full of Wonders

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Particularly loved Simon and William, beautiful! Only slight annoyances are accents and lack of pause between stories.

Original Ghost Stories

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There are only a couple of dodgy accents and I enjoy hearing JW’s wonderful accent any how. I loved meeting the narrators and at times, found myself still and reflective, so drawn in by the evocation of ordinary grief.

Fabulous stories, interesting and moving at times

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