by Mitch Jayne
Best Books of 2007 - St. Louis Post Dispatch / Gold Medal Winner - Independent Publisher's Association
In 1951 Steve Clark accepts a teaching job in a one-room school in the Missouri Ozarks and moves with his pregnant wife Lacey to the colorful backwoods community of Indian Glade. There they are surrounded by Ozark characters who are absorbed with old customs and beliefs and school children who speak in Elizabethan terms.
The Clarks move into what they consider an ideal house, but are forewarned by the locals that, “The last folks lived there claimed it weren’t natural…”
Steve and Lacey encounter their “unnatural” inhabitant and attempt to unravel the mystery of the “fiddler’s ghost”, who becomes more lifelike as they discover his time-travel connection to music.
"The world of literature, novels and tales is teeming with ghosts aplenty. But you never met a ghost like this one before. He's too good to be true, but too true to be make-believe."
- Donald Harington, Reciepient of Oxford American Life-time Achieviement Award, Professor, University of Arkansas.
"Fiddler's Ghost is the rarest of books. I could hardly put it down. It's full of suspense and plot turns. Only Mitch Jayne could write a novel with a perfect understanding of the music and dialect of the Missouri Ozarks."
- Michael Patrick, Historian, Folklorist, University of Missouri
Here's a Mitch Jayne song inspired by the book. Enjoy!
Mitch Jayne (lyrics) Marc Rennard (music) Dan Randant (vocals)
Be sure to check out Mitch Jayne's website!