Books of Wonder

A Fine and Private Place

A Fine and Private Place - Main image
$12.72 $18.99 In stock

Category: Teens YA

This classic ghost story from the author of The Last Unicorn follows Jonathan who’s been living in a cemetery with a raven as his only friend amongst the newly dead until he discovers a pair of ghostly lovers bearing an extraordinary gift—the final chance for his own happiness.

For nineteen years, Jonathan Rebeck has hidden from the world within the confines of a Bronx’s cemetery, making an abandoned mausoleum his secret home. He speaks with the newly dead as they pass from life to wherever spirits finally go, providing them with comfort, an understanding ear, and even the occasional game of chess.

But Mr. Rebeck’s reclusive life is disrupted. An impossible love has blossomed between two ghosts at Yorkchester Cemetery. Helped along by a cynical, talking raven and a mysterious security guard, these four souls must learn the true difference between life and death and make choices that really are forever.

Told with an elegiac wisdom and beauty, Peter S. Beagle’s first novel is, “One of literature’s most beautiful works about ghostly times and places...told with wit, charm, and a sense of individuality” (The New York Times Book Review).

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Customer Reviews (4.8 / 5 · 5 reviews)

Robert W. ★★★★★

I wasn’t sure a YA ghost story could feel this profound, but the way Beagle weaves the raven into Jonathan’s daily conversations with the spirits gave me chills. It’s melancholy yet oddly comforting, perfect for a quiet afternoon read.

Joseph ★★★★★

Peter Beagle’s prose in this one is so quietly luminous that I found myself rereading whole paragraphs just to soak in the cemetery’s twilight mood, and the way Jonathan’s conversations with the raven blur the line between loneliness and belonging felt achingly real. It’s a slow, gentle story that d

Sebastian ★★★★★

The raven as a companion is such a unique touch—it makes the cemetery feel alive in a way I didn’t expect. I finished it in one sitting, and the way the ghosts slowly reveal their stories kept me hooked until the last page.