Polly's Ghost: A Novel

by Abby Frucht

"I only wish I ever had the chance to hug and kiss him, teach him his letters and numbers, the colors and shapes, the animal sounds, all the starts of the ways of the world that accompany a person through life like rocks in a hard stream, put there as if for crossing." In life, Polly Baymiller was a fierce and passionate woman ardently in love with her husband and her three sets of twins. Why should she be any different in death? Polly's Ghost begins when Polly, an ethereal, glimpses her nine-year-old son, Tip, for the first time since she died giving birth to him. He's the only baby she never got to hold, to kiss, or to guide from one uncertain moment to the next deliberate one, and it is Tip she has missed most fervently in the years she has spent learning to be a ghost. Love, Polly comes to realize, is not a state of mind but a way of being. One must act on the feeling in order to make it count. And act she does, taking bold steps from "above" to make sure that Tip has the courage and curiosity he needs to make his own precious way on Earth. Meanwhile, Polly -- drawn into and out of the earthly stories of the unfolding lives of other people -- follows her own path, away from a tormented ghostliness toward an abundant peace. It is a testament to Abby Frucht's talent that this novel explores so ecstatically and yet so bracingly that most sentimental of all subjects -- the relationship between mother and child. Polly's Ghost is a stunning successor to Life Before Death, which The Boston Globe hailed as a "breathtakingly beautiful story."

Genres: Fiction

368 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2000

Reviews

[Angela Gauldin · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book was all over the place and barely held my attention. Too many characters were randomly introduced that added little significance to the plot.I got Polly’s purpose, however, it was neither defined or executed very well, or maybe to the reader her powers just seemed weak as water. I mean for crying out loud she is a ghost! Her ghost was disappointing to say the least. Oh, and what the heck is an X shaped man, can someone clarify?

[Judith · Rating 3 out of 5]

Beautiful poetry and wry lines tucked inside this near-wretched ghost story. Things I didn't understand: a main character named Tip (amongst an ordinary-named cast: John, Johnny, Jack...) an "X-shaped man" and the appearance of a few additional ghosts that didn't add to the story at all. Interesting ideas, but the editing fell short of expectations (for an NEA supported work).

[Fishface · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was written from the point of view of, well, Polly's ghost, as she attempts to find out what happened to the child she died giving birth to. I thought the story spent far too much time on Tip's (the son's) sex life, and not nearly enough on what it was like for Polly to be dead but still watching her children grow up, unable to help or guide them.

[JayeL]

July 2015: not available on audio at Mechanics' Institute.
I couldn't get into the stream of consciousness writing of this book.

[Kristin · Rating 1 out of 5]

I SWEAR THIS BOOK TOOK ME 4 WEEKS TO READ!!!! UGH. HARD TO FOLLOW!

[Amy]

Very interesting premise, but the execution isn't there. It starts abruptly and I couldn't get into this one.

[Jennifer Hummer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Polly's Ghost is brilliant. Abby Frucht writes as delicately as fog rolling in. A very unique book.