This Is Not a Ghost Story: A Razor-Sharp and Tender Debut About Identity, Celebrity, and Finding Home

"A beautiful and subversive take on the afterlife, as razor-sharp as it is deeply moving." ―Jamie Ford, New York Times bestselling author of The Many Daughters of Afong Moy

Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter Amerie’s dazzling, satirical adult debut tells a compelling story of magical realism about a Black man who walks into the light…to find himself in Los Angeles, where he becomes an instant celebrity for being the first visible and verifiable ghost. 

John’s House provides all he needs. Surrounded by a vast, beautiful ocean under a void of sky, the House is John’s haven. He is alone, but never lonely; he is here now, but neither remembers nor longs for a before. In his House, John is safe and untroubled.

But then a terrible shadow creature breaks in―and it wants him out. Pushed from the House, John falls into the light…

And finds himself in modern-day Los Angeles, the first person to ever come back from the other side. Though he has no memory of his past life, or even how he died, everyone wants to know more about the Black man who has returned from the dead―is he the second coming? A hoax? Or something beyond explanation? Soon he has brand deals, TV interviews, and politicians aiming to use him for their agendas, yet all John wants is to go home.

But going home will require, most unfortunately, help. In search of a way back, John grudgingly joins forces with a mystic holding dubious qualifications, a hard-edged publicist bent on making him famous, and an aspiring actress who is unsettlingly familiar. With this ragtag found family of allies, John begins a journey to find his House on the ocean―but getting there will prove more complicated than he imagined, for it will require not only trusting in someone other than himself, but will mean uncovering painful truths about who John was in life and, perhaps most difficult, who he must become.

A gorgeous, tender story of hope, sacrifice, and what it means to be human, this unique take on the afterlife, This Is Not a Ghost Story introduces an astonishing new voice in literary fiction.

Amerie is a Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter, producer, and writer. The daughter of a Korean artist and an African-American military officer, Amerie was born in Massachusetts, raised all over the world, and graduated from Georgetown University with a bachelor’s in English. She is the editor of New York Times bestseller Because You Love to Hate Me (a Junior Library Guild Selection), author of the children’s book You Will Do Great Things, and recently founded Amerie’s Book Club, a book club that highlights diverse and unique perspectives and voices.