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We Are Only Ghosts

Jeffrey L. Richards

$39.99

Paperback

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English
Kensington Publishing
01 July 2025
An exhilarating, brutally candid saga about sexuality and war, tenderness and trauma, young passion and fierce hate, as a teenage boy's unexpected, complicated relationship with a Nazi officer in a WWII death camp is resurrected in 1960s New York City.

We Are Only Ghosts depicts queer desire against the horrors of death camps and the psychosis of those who got out alive-haunted forever by those who did not-balancing the violence and hatred of war and its aftermath with many poignant moments of tenderness and joy. For readers of A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara, The Heart's Invisible Furies by John Boyne, and Young Mungo by Douglas Stuart.

An exhilarating, brutally candid saga about sexuality and war, tenderness and trauma, young passion and fierce hate, as a teenage boy's unexpected, complicated relationship with a Nazi officer in a WWII death camp is resurrected in 1960s New York City.

We Are Only Ghosts depicts queer desire against the horrors of death camps and the psychosis of those who got out alive-haunted forever by those who did not-balancing the violence and hatred of war and its aftermath with many poignant moments of tenderness and joy. For readers of A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara, The Heart's Invisible Furies by John Boyne, and Young Mungo by Douglas Stuart.

New York City, 1968- The customers at Cafe Marie don't come just for the excellent coffee and pastries. They come for the sophisticated ambiance, and the illusion of being somewhere other than a bustling, exhausting city. Headwaiter Charles Ward helps create that illusion through impeccable service-unobtrusive, nearly invisible, yet always watchful.

It's a skill Charles honed as a young Jewish boy in war-torn Europe, when avoiding attention might mean the difference between life and death. But even then, one man saw him all too clearly-a Nazi officer who was both his savior and tormentor.

At seventeen, Charles was deported to Auschwitz with his family. There he was singled out by Obersturmf hrer Berthold Werden, who hid him in his home. Their entanglement produced a tortured affection mixed with hatred that flares to life again, decades later, when Berthold walks into Cafe Marie.

Drawn back into Berthold's orbit, Charles is forced to revisit the pain and the brief, undeniable pleasures of the life he once knew. And if he acts on his growing hunger for revenge, will he lose his only tether to the past-the only other witness to who he was and everything he endured-or find peace at last?
By:  
Imprint:   Kensington Publishing
Country of Publication:   United States
Dimensions:   Height: 210mm,  Width: 140mm, 
Weight:   369g
ISBN:   9781496742827
ISBN 10:   1496742826
Pages:   304
Publication Date:  
Audience:   General/trade ,  ELT Advanced
Format:   Paperback
Publisher's Status:   Active

Jeffrey L. Richards is an author and playwright. Originally from Oklahoma, he moved to New York nearly three decades ago and began writing seriously while enrolled in New York University. He now lives in New Jersey with his rescue dog, Andi, and can be found online at JeffreyLRichards.com.

Reviews for We Are Only Ghosts

Praise for We Are Only Ghosts “The well-woven narrative conveys Charles’s personal horrors of the Holocaust while delicately probing his messy entanglement with Berthold. Thanks to an unusual premise and complex morality, this stands out in the crowded field of Holocaust fiction.”- Publishers Weekly “I was mesmerized by this gorgeously written novel that explores the psychological cost of survival with unflinching honesty and unwavering compassion. We Are Only Ghosts will take you on a riveting journey through unimaginable loss and corrupted love toward its ultimate destination of healing and repair.” —Kim van Alkemade, New York Times bestselling author of Counting Lost Stars ""Told from the important and often overlooked perspective of a young gay man imprisoned in the Nazi concentration camps, We Are Only Ghosts evocatively portrays how the things that happen to us, both tragic and beautiful, shape who we are, and how we have the power to choose who we become in spite of our suffering. This gripping testament to the strength of the human spirit will both haunt and inspire you.” —Ellen Marie Wiseman, New York Times bestselling author of The Lost Girls of Willowbrook “Profound, moving, and absolutely timely, We Are Only Ghosts shows how our identity determines destiny. Charles is gay, Czech, Jewish; as a teenager, he was ghettoized and subjected to the depravity of the Third Reich. In adulthood he discovers the courage to confront the ghosts who return to haunt him, including that of the boy he himself had once been. I’m still pondering the questions posed by this touching novel.” —William di Canzio, author of Alec “Engrossing, unpredictable and unputdownable. Meticulously researched, this intriguing tale of obsession and revenge spans three decades and two continents. We Are Only Ghosts is a fascinating and intelligent novel that reads like a thriller—with complex, tragic characters you won’t soon forget.” —Kevin O’Brien, New York Times Bestselling Author of The Enemy at Home


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