The Ghost of Sam Webster

by Craig Higginson

Writer Daniel Hawthorne is packing up his mother’s house in Johannesburg when he hears about the disappearance of Sam Webster, the beautiful daughter of his friend, the famous historian Bruce Webster.

When the body of Sam appears briefly on the banks of the flooded Buffalo River, Daniel decides to visit the Websters’ luxury lodge in the heart of Zululand. Under the guise of researching a new novel about his disgraced ancestor, the lepidopterist Lieutenant Charles Hawthorne, who fought in the Battle of iSandlwana, Daniel starts to investigate the reasons for Sam’s disappearance. The lines between loyalty and betrayal, love and hate, cowardice and courage, redemption and shame, soon become blurred as Daniel gets closer to the truth.

Written in Craig Higginson’s masterful prose, The Ghost of Sam Webster is at once a war novel, a murder mystery, a multi-layered love story and a robust reassertion of what it is to remain human during the most challenging times.

391 pages, Kindle Edition

Published September 1, 2023

About the author

Craig Higginson is an internationally acclaimed writer who lives in Johannesburg. His plays have been performed and produced at the National Theatre (London), the Royal Shakespeare Company, the Trafalgar Studios (on London’s West End), the Traverse Theatre (Edinburgh), the Stadsteater (Stockholm), Salisbury Theatre, the Citizens Theatre (Glasgow), Live Theatre (Newcastle), Next Theatre (Chicago), Theatre 503 and the Finborough Theatre (both London), the Market Theatre (Johannesburg) and several other theatres and festivals around the world.

Craig's plays include: Laughter in the Dark, Lord of the Flies, Truth in Translation (co-writer), Dream of the Dog, Ten Bush (co-writer), The Jungle Book, The Girl in the Yellow Dress, Little Foot and The Imagined Land. Novels include: The Hill, Last Summer, The Landscape Painter (UJ Main Prize winner), The Dream House (UJ Main Prize winner) and The White Room. His novels and plays have won several awards in the UK and South Africa.

Reviews

[Paige Nick · Rating 4 out of 5]

My first Craig Higginson.
The Ghost of Sam Webster.
Sure won't be my last. I thought it was great.

Beautiful world-class writing, set in South Africa, across a couple of different timelines. It has history (Charles Hawthorne and the battle of iSandlwana), a current day disappearance, murder, butterflies, family drama, family ties, love, betrayal, loss and sex.

In the blurb it says, '... is at once a war novel [NOTE FROM ME: don't be put off if you're not a fan of a war novel, i'm not and i enjoyed it nonetheless], a murder mystery, a multi-layered love story and a robust reassertion of what it is to remain human during the most challenging times.' It is all of this and more.

At one point i thought, oh, you know, this book somehow tonally reminds me of The Quality of Mercy by Siphiwe Gloria Ndlovu (easily one of my fave books from last year), then at another point I flipped to the cover and realised she had written the shout, which I hadn't noticed until then.

I can recommend this one.

[Sven Axelrad · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a book that offers both language and story, but I think what impressed me the most is the carefully crafted mood. There’s a stark and desolate feeling in the writing which Craig contrasts with glimmers of hope and much understanding. The result is vaguely McCarthian – think No Country for South Africans. I confess that I’m not usually drawn to novels with two separate timelines (past and present) probably because I usually prefer one over the other, but I found myself wrapped up in both this time. This is a very good book about butterflies and death, hope and family. Read it and you’ll see what I mean.

[Alistair Mackay · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5. Beautifully written. The interweaving stories (150 years apart) of the Webster family, of whom the father gives historical tours of the battlefields of Isandlwana and the daughter Sam goes missing in a night of torrential floods; Charles Hawthorne, a “famous coward” in the British army who fought at Isandlwana; and Daniel, a writer working on a book about his ancestor Charles, who visits the Webster family in the wake of Sam’s disappearance.

I really enjoyed this. It grapples with big themes - South African history, who has a right to the land, the cruelty and hypocrisy of war - without getting bogged down in them. There’s mystery in it, unexpected twists and turns, and some touching love stories.

[Mira · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’m struggling to describe The Ghost of Sam Webster.

When I’m traveling one of my favourite things to do is pick up books by local authors or authors I have not come across in book stores in India. When it comes to certain categories of fiction, there is a vast range of authors we simply do not hear of.

Writer Daniel Hawthorne’s mother passes away, he hears about the disappearance of the beautiful daughter of his historian friend, Bruce Webster. Drawn to the heart of South Africa’s Zululand (currently KwaZulu-Natal) he travels to the guest-lodge they run under the guise of researching a book about his disgraced ancestor, Charles Hawthorne.

What follows is a combination of mystery and something deeper, and infinitely darker. The story telling gives on the feeling of starkness, desolation and loneliness, shades of which reminded me of his countryman Coetzee’s Disgrace.

To be clear, this story is nothing like Disgrace but the flavour of the landscape and the sorrow of the characters feel similar.

I loved the character development and the description of each individual journey. The characters are rich, complicated and nuanced.

Although I liked the historical timeline as well, that of Charles Hawthorne and what drove him to do the things he did, I felt that it did not hook me as the murder mystery did - the two plots seemed unconnected until the very end. The descriptions were vivid, but the details on butterflies perhaps, a little excessive.

The ending is grey and not as neatly wrapped up as other “mysteries” might be - the twists and turns more a function of the family’s dysfunction than anything else.

I would say this is a 3.5 star read - good but not great. Higginson is a talented writer but the story did not draw me in as it could jane. Then again it is all subjective.

Happy reading!

[Michael Stanley · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Ghost of Sam Webster is a novel with a very broad scope. Historian and raconteur, Bruce Webster is the owner of the site of the battle of iSandlwana, one of the first battles between the British and the Zulus during the Anglo-Zulu Wars. His tours of the area and excellent story-telling style have turned the somber graveyard of thousands of soldiers into a successful tourist attraction.
During a violent storm, his daughter disappears, and a woman's naked body appears briefly in the raging Buffalo river before being washed further downstream. Everyone except her parents believes it to be the body of Samantha Webster.
A successful writer, Daniel Hawthorne, visits the Websters, whom he knows from previous visits to their farm. One of his ancestors, Lieutenant Charles Hawthorne, fought at iSandlwana and was accused of cowardice, mainly because he was one of the very few soldiers who survived the encounter with the Zulu army. Daniel imagines this story in a different way from the bare historical record, and in parallel with the modern day setting of the mystery on the farm, he starts writing what he calls his "ancestor book". That story on its own is would be a worthwhile novella, but set against the modern day tensions of the area it is stronger still.
Slowly, Daniel becomes involved with the darker sides of the Webster family and the relationships that have put it under great pressure, and he starts to identify the threads that lead to what happened to Sam.
Powerfully written with insight and sympathy, this is a fine novel.

[Krista Esta · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5
Olen reisidel võimalusel ostnud kohalike autorite raamatuid, nii tuli see teos minuga kaasa Lõuna-Aafrikast. Alguses tundub, et tegemist on lihtsakoelise põnevikuga, aga see tunne on petlik. Stsenarist Daniel, kes igapäevaselt teenib Johannesburgis leiba seriaalide kirjutamisega, kuuleb meediast, et tema sõprade tütar Sam on kadunud ja võimalik, et neiu laip leiti just ühest jõest. Sõbrad elavad Kwa-Zulu Natalis, kus neil on uhke puhkekompleks ehk lodge, pereisa Bruce toimetab seal ise ajaloogiidina, viies turiste vaatama Anglo-Zulu sõja kuulsamaid lahingupaiku. Daniel külastas neid aasta tagasi, kui asus kirjutama raamatut oma esivanemast Charlesist, keda peeti sama sõja argpüksist desertööriks - see lugu kulgeb vaheldumisi Sami kadumise looga.
Mõlemas loos joonistuvad välja Lõuna-Aafrika kui riigi ja sealsete inimeste elu - kus surm ja vägivald on igapäevane, kus siiski on lootust kõige lootusetuse keskel, kus minevikuvarjud ilmselt jäädavalt kõike mõjutavad. Autor Craig Higginson on eeskätt tuntud näitekirjanikuna (elas ja töötas kümme aastat Londonis), aga avaldanud ka mitmeid romaane, mis võimalusel tahan kunagi läbi lugeda.

[Charlie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a book about finding hope at the very times when hope feels out of reach. It absorbs a complex country, its haunted past and haunted present, and asks what it is to be human at a time when our humanity is most at stake. It’s funny and moving and wide-ranging and you come away from it somewhere restored.

[Alex · Rating 5 out of 5]

"An astonishing book - beautifully written and enthralling - that takes us from the azure gleam of a butterfly's wing to the roaring immensity of the Zulu army" Hamilton Wende

"A new novel by Craig Higginson is an event in the literary world. He is an extraordinary talent."

[Hugh Hawarden · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved the local flavour. I know the area well.

Very well written, great plot, and I'm still piecing it together now that I'm finished. Which is a post mortem process I always enjoy.

[Diane V-R · Rating 3 out of 5]

3,5 stars

[Nici · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautifully written. Set on a farm at the foot of Isandlwana,
Kwa Zulu Natal, this is part mystery, part history and very beautiful. I loved the setting and the South Africanis of it. There were a couple of typos which irritated me, but it was a lovely read.

[Ruth Engela · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5. Brilliant. I didn’t really get what happened to Sam, but then he explained that so many people go missing in this country … and it never gets resolved. The bog, the mud, the marsh of SA swallows us all up, esp white S Africans. Where do we stand? In a sort of primordial ooze where a new country is being birthed. And we keep losing our footing.