Old Ghosts by Rashida Murphy (with Bloodwood by Karleah Olson)

Presale information: Orders will be despatched the week beginning 24 August.

Before India’s Independence in 1947, a princess and her English mother are kidnapped and held captive for nearly thirty years by bandits. Recounted with unflinching honesty by Princess Chandini, her story captivates and illuminates a turbulent period of brutality and oppression.

Rashida Murphy’s vivid writing creates a layered portrait of resilience amidst unthinkable trauma.

Based on historical research, Old Ghosts plays with postcolonial tropes of hybridity, displacement and silencing, situating the privileged in danger and allowing the dispossessed a voice.

Old Ghosts is one of two winners of the inaugural Double-Take Novelette Award, which celebrates two manuscripts between 7,500 and 17,500 words – longer than a short story but shorter than a novella – a novelette.

Published as a tête-bêche concept – French for ‘head to tail’ – the book has two front covers with separate stories meeting from opposite ends in the middle. You choose your entry point, and both choices reward you.

While we’re promoting each novelette as its own entity, please note that by buying Old Ghosts by Rashida Murphy, you will also receive Bloodwood by Karleah Olson – because they are printed with one binding as a single book.
Visit Bloodwood by Karleah Olson to see what else is in store for you!