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The Ghost Writer

265 statements
51 feature instances
11 referencing feature instances

The Ghost Writer	type	TVTItem
The Ghost Writer	label	The Ghost Writer
The Ghost Writer	page	TheGhostWriter
The Ghost Writer	comment	Advertisement:propertag.cmd.push(function() { proper_display('tvtropes_mobile_ad_1'); })The Ghost Writer is a 2004 psychological horror novel created by Australian poet and novelist John Harwood. The novel has won literary awards in Australia and major International Horror award.Gerard Freeman is a lonely, awkward child growing up in the little town of Mawson, Australia. With a distant father and an almost Friendless Background, Gerard finds solace in the stories his neurotic mother, Phyllis Hatherley, tells him of her childhood at an English country estate called Staplefield. One day, however, Gerard discovers a photograph of a beautiful, unknown woman and the manuscript of a ghost story written by his maternal great-grandmother, Viola Hatherley, who lived and died at Staplefield. Although Gerard is desperate for more information on Viola and Staplefield, his mother chooses to stop talking about them. This, of course, pretty much guarantees that Gerard himself will some day journey to England in search of his mother’s childhood home.Advertisement:propertag.cmd.push(function() { proper_display('tvtropes_mobile_ad_2'); })Gerard’s boring life seems to brighten a little when he, by chance, obtains a penfriend from England named Alice Jessell, a mysterious ill girl. Injured in the accident that killed both of her parents and confined her to a wheelchair, Alice refuses to either meet Gerard or send him a photo until she’s cured and walking again — something that she admits will require a miracle. How she looks is left to Gerard’s rich imagination, and he conjures images of a pre-Raphaelite beauty with milky skin and cascades of coppery hair. As Gerard grows into adulthood, his friendship with Alice is a growing constant in his life as is his obsession with Viola and Staplefield. When his mother dies, Gerard sets off for England in search of Staplefield and Alice, with whom he now fancies himself deeply in love.Advertisement:propertag.cmd.push(function() { proper_display('tvtropes_mobile_ad_3'); })This book is mostly written in first person narrative from Gerard's point of view, with the exception for letters from Alice and various stories within the story. These stories are the ghost stories written by the long-deceased Viola. They often turn up at the most improbable times and quite by chance. The ghost stories make up approximately one-half of this novel, and each is written in a distinctive style and voice that is quite different from Gerard’s first person narrative. The stories are both elegant and admittedly creepy.note The story's summary is partially credited from here.Not related with the film, which is actually movie adaptation of another novel The Ghost. Also, not to be confused with 1979 American novel of the same name.
The Ghost Writer	fetched	2023-02-24T04:11:35Z
The Ghost Writer	parsed	2023-02-24T04:11:35Z
The Ghost Writer	processingComment	Dropped link to YoungerThanSheLooks: Not a Feature - UNKNOWN
The Ghost Writer	processingUnknown	YoungerThanSheLooks
The Ghost Writer	isPartOf	DBTropes
The Ghost Writer / int_126ce03c	type	I Was Quite a Looker
The Ghost Writer / int_126ce03c	comment	I Was Quite a Looker: Phyllis, of Younger than She Looks variety.
The Ghost Writer / int_126ce03c	featureApplicability	1.0
The Ghost Writer / int_126ce03c	featureConfidence	1.0
The Ghost Writer	hasFeature	The Ghost Writer / int_126ce03c
The Ghost Writer / int_1aa49df	type	Mysterious Woman
The Ghost Writer / int_1aa49df	comment	Mysterious Woman: Phyllis fits this trope to a T, to the point that she hides away her past and dark secret. Even Gerard is afraid of her at times because of her mysteriousness.
The Ghost Writer / int_1aa49df	featureApplicability	1.0
The Ghost Writer / int_1aa49df	featureConfidence	1.0
The Ghost Writer	hasFeature	The Ghost Writer / int_1aa49df
The Ghost Writer / int_1adcd502	type	Sins of Our Fathers
The Ghost Writer / int_1adcd502	comment	Sins of Our Fathers: Cordelia's reaction when she learns that Ruthven de Vere, her paternal grandfather, is responsible for her grandmother's Facial Horror. There's also the sin of Gerard's mother, Phyllis, to Anne, for cheating with Anne's fiancé.
The Ghost Writer / int_1adcd502	featureApplicability	1.0
The Ghost Writer / int_1adcd502	featureConfidence	1.0
The Ghost Writer	hasFeature	The Ghost Writer / int_1adcd502
The Ghost Writer / int_1ba17583	type	The Ghost
The Ghost Writer / int_1ba17583	comment	The Ghost: Alice never appears in the story until the climax, and she only interacts with Gerard via letters before then. There's also Abigail Hamish, an old lady who claims she knows about Phyllis' childhood. They're the same person, Anne Hatherley.
The Ghost Writer / int_1ba17583	featureApplicability	1.0
The Ghost Writer / int_1ba17583	featureConfidence	1.0
The Ghost Writer	hasFeature	The Ghost Writer / int_1ba17583
The Ghost Writer / int_2504772e	type	Walking Spoiler
The Ghost Writer / int_2504772e	comment	Walking Spoiler: Anne Hatherley, Phyllis' long-dead older sister. Talking too much about her here will spoil the majority of the plot and her motivation throughout the story.
The Ghost Writer / int_2504772e	featureApplicability	1.0
The Ghost Writer / int_2504772e	featureConfidence	1.0
The Ghost Writer	hasFeature	The Ghost Writer / int_2504772e
The Ghost Writer / int_269e82c1	type	Death of a Child
The Ghost Writer / int_269e82c1	comment	Death of a Child: The first Gerard, the one born of Phyllis and Hugh's affair, died while still a baby.
The Ghost Writer / int_269e82c1	featureApplicability	1.0
The Ghost Writer / int_269e82c1	featureConfidence	1.0
The Ghost Writer	hasFeature	The Ghost Writer / int_269e82c1
The Ghost Writer / int_28114487	type	Bald of Evil
The Ghost Writer / int_28114487	comment	Bald of Evil: Alice/Anne's true form. In life Phyllis had tried to kill her by secretly exposing her to radiation from a Victorian-era fluoroscope. The radiation therapy and surgeries to save her from the cancer she developed left her head and hair destroyed but for one eye..
The Ghost Writer / int_28114487	featureApplicability	1.0
The Ghost Writer / int_28114487	featureConfidence	1.0
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The Ghost Writer / int_297ab1b9	type	Parental Abandonment
The Ghost Writer / int_297ab1b9	comment	Parental Abandonment: Alice claims her parents are killed in an accident which also caused her legs' disability. From "The Ghost" story, Cordelia's parents are dead and she and her sister are adopted by their paternal family. Gerard's father died rather very early in the story. His mother, Phyllis, also died right before the start of the novel's second-half.
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The Ghost Writer / int_297ab1b9	featureConfidence	1.0
The Ghost Writer	hasFeature	The Ghost Writer / int_297ab1b9
The Ghost Writer / int_2d7ef923	type	Mistaken for Cheating
The Ghost Writer / int_2d7ef923	comment	Mistaken for Cheating: From "The Ghost" story, and Played for Drama: Imogen de Vere is mistaken for cheating with her husband's friend, Henry.
The Ghost Writer / int_2d7ef923	featureApplicability	1.0
The Ghost Writer / int_2d7ef923	featureConfidence	1.0
The Ghost Writer	hasFeature	The Ghost Writer / int_2d7ef923
The Ghost Writer / int_2e8441c9	type	The Bad Guy Wins
The Ghost Writer / int_2e8441c9	comment	The Bad Guy Wins: Short of actually killing Gerald in their final confrontation, which he escapes by pure chance, Anne managed to pretty much sabotage and ultimately destroy the relationship between him and his mother by sending "The Revenant" to her, thus turning Phyllis into a paranoid wreck who believed Anne would kidnap him or worse if she let him leave the house. And of course, by manipulating him via "Alice", he essentially became her puppet for twenty-two years of his life. Before she dies, she also learns to her joy that the child Phyllis had with Hugh died in infancy—something she only learned thanks to Gerard's research.
The Ghost Writer / int_2e8441c9	featureApplicability	1.0
The Ghost Writer / int_2e8441c9	featureConfidence	1.0
The Ghost Writer	hasFeature	The Ghost Writer / int_2e8441c9
The Ghost Writer / int_2e8875f0	type	Misplaced Retribution
The Ghost Writer / int_2e8875f0	comment	Misplaced Retribution: Even though Gerard had nothing to do with Phyllis seducing Hugh or attempting to murder Anne, Anne still seeks to punish him.
The Ghost Writer / int_2e8875f0	featureApplicability	1.0
The Ghost Writer / int_2e8875f0	featureConfidence	1.0
The Ghost Writer	hasFeature	The Ghost Writer / int_2e8875f0
The Ghost Writer / int_3497a64e	type	Long-Distance Relationship
The Ghost Writer / int_3497a64e	comment	Long-Distance Relationship: Gerard and Alice. Not only do they only interact via letters, but also they never even see each other until the climax of the story.
The Ghost Writer / int_3497a64e	featureApplicability	1.0
The Ghost Writer / int_3497a64e	featureConfidence	1.0
The Ghost Writer	hasFeature	The Ghost Writer / int_3497a64e
The Ghost Writer / int_38bb862f	type	Don't You Dare Pity Me!
The Ghost Writer / int_38bb862f	comment	Don't You Dare Pity Me!: This is one of the reasons Alice says she refuses to include a picture of herself—it would have to be of her in her chair, and she doesn't want Gerard to think of her that way.
The Ghost Writer / int_38bb862f	featureApplicability	1.0
The Ghost Writer / int_38bb862f	featureConfidence	1.0
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The Ghost Writer / int_392e570c	type	Nocturnal Emission
The Ghost Writer / int_392e570c	comment	Nocturnal Emission: Sometime after he starts the pen-friendship romance with Alice, Gerard has an Erotic Dream where he has sex with her. When he wakes up, he found his blankets and pajamas wet. He then tells Alice about this in his letter. In her reply, Alice claims that she had a similar dream at roughly the same time.
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The Ghost Writer / int_392e570c	featureConfidence	1.0
The Ghost Writer	hasFeature	The Ghost Writer / int_392e570c
The Ghost Writer / int_3ac8baf	type	StoryWithinAStory
The Ghost Writer / int_3ac8baf	comment	Story Within a Story: Lots. As mentioned above, about half of the book is filled with them. However, only one of them is the mostly connected with Gerard and Phyllis, the story that simply titled as "The Ghost".
The Ghost Writer / int_3ac8baf	featureApplicability	1.0
The Ghost Writer / int_3ac8baf	featureConfidence	1.0
The Ghost Writer	hasFeature	The Ghost Writer / int_3ac8baf
The Ghost Writer / int_4063acfd	type	Woman Scorned
The Ghost Writer / int_4063acfd	comment	Woman Scorned: Anne, when she found out that Hugh was cheating on her with Phyllis. One interpretation implies it was involving Death by Woman Scorned, too.
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The Ghost Writer / int_4063acfd	featureConfidence	1.0
The Ghost Writer	hasFeature	The Ghost Writer / int_4063acfd
The Ghost Writer / int_48e8fe57	type	Happily Adopted
The Ghost Writer / int_48e8fe57	comment	Happily Adopted: From "The Ghost", Cordelia and Beatrice's parents are already dead and they live with their paternal grand-uncle, Theodore, and his sister, Una.
The Ghost Writer / int_48e8fe57	featureApplicability	1.0
The Ghost Writer / int_48e8fe57	featureConfidence	1.0
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The Ghost Writer / int_4a57732a	type	Friendless Background
The Ghost Writer / int_4a57732a	comment	Friendless Background: Gerard has had very few, if any, friends since his childhood.
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The Ghost Writer / int_4a57732a	featureConfidence	1.0
The Ghost Writer	hasFeature	The Ghost Writer / int_4a57732a
The Ghost Writer / int_4bb6d104	type	Shipping Torpedo
The Ghost Writer / int_4bb6d104	comment	Shipping Torpedo: Downplayed. Phyllis isn't supportive on Gerard's pen-relationship with Alice, but she doesn't actively try to wane their love, either.
The Ghost Writer / int_4bb6d104	featureApplicability	1.0
The Ghost Writer / int_4bb6d104	featureConfidence	1.0
The Ghost Writer	hasFeature	The Ghost Writer / int_4bb6d104
The Ghost Writer / int_590eb583	type	Domestic Abuse
The Ghost Writer / int_590eb583	comment	Domestic Abuse: From "The Ghost" story, Cordelia de Vere's paternal grandfather, Ruthven de Vere, was responsible for the Facial Horror that his wife, Imogen, suffered. One of the main reasons for this is because he's convinced his wife was cheating on him with Henry St. Clair. She's not, but he doesn't want to listen.
The Ghost Writer / int_590eb583	featureApplicability	1.0
The Ghost Writer / int_590eb583	featureConfidence	1.0
The Ghost Writer	hasFeature	The Ghost Writer / int_590eb583
The Ghost Writer / int_5d5cc3fd	type	Through the Eyes of Madness
The Ghost Writer / int_5d5cc3fd	comment	Through the Eyes of Madness: One of Viola's ghost stories involves this trope as said story's major plot point.
The Ghost Writer / int_5d5cc3fd	featureApplicability	1.0
The Ghost Writer / int_5d5cc3fd	featureConfidence	1.0
The Ghost Writer	hasFeature	The Ghost Writer / int_5d5cc3fd
The Ghost Writer / int_5f49ac76	type	Single-Target Sexuality
The Ghost Writer / int_5f49ac76	comment	Single-Target Sexuality: Gerard's Long-Distance Relationship with Alice dominates his life to the point where by the time the main action of the book begins, he doesn't have any other deep relationships, romantic or friendly. When revealing herself to have been "Alice" all along, Anne taunts him by pointing out how he could have had relationships with real women instead of chasing after his dream girl for over twenty years.
The Ghost Writer / int_5f49ac76	featureApplicability	1.0
The Ghost Writer / int_5f49ac76	featureConfidence	1.0
The Ghost Writer	hasFeature	The Ghost Writer / int_5f49ac76
The Ghost Writer / int_66479d0	type	Our Ghosts Are Different
The Ghost Writer / int_66479d0	comment	Our Ghosts Are Different: Anne is Type 1 (motivated by her desire to avenge her death).
The Ghost Writer / int_66479d0	featureApplicability	1.0
The Ghost Writer / int_66479d0	featureConfidence	1.0
The Ghost Writer	hasFeature	The Ghost Writer / int_66479d0
The Ghost Writer / int_6654b17b	type	Facial Horror
The Ghost Writer / int_6654b17b	comment	Facial Horror: From "The Ghost", Cordelia's paternal grandmother also suffers similar fate and she has to cover most of her face with a veil. Also, when Gerard meets Alice/Anne, her face is horribly deformed.
The Ghost Writer / int_6654b17b	featureApplicability	1.0
The Ghost Writer / int_6654b17b	featureConfidence	1.0
The Ghost Writer	hasFeature	The Ghost Writer / int_6654b17b
The Ghost Writer / int_73487cdb	type	Unseen Pen Pal
The Ghost Writer / int_73487cdb	comment	Unseen Pen Pal: Alice says she won't send Gerard a picture of herself because it would destroy his image of her—he'd just see her as a crippled girl. Of course the real reason is sinister.
The Ghost Writer / int_73487cdb	featureApplicability	1.0
The Ghost Writer / int_73487cdb	featureConfidence	1.0
The Ghost Writer	hasFeature	The Ghost Writer / int_73487cdb
The Ghost Writer / int_7464705c	type	Arc Words
The Ghost Writer / int_7464705c	comment	Arc Words: "Unto the third generation"
The Ghost Writer / int_7464705c	featureApplicability	1.0
The Ghost Writer / int_7464705c	featureConfidence	1.0
The Ghost Writer	hasFeature	The Ghost Writer / int_7464705c
The Ghost Writer / int_7aa858c1	type	Consummate Liar
The Ghost Writer / int_7aa858c1	comment	Consummate Liar: In one of her letters, Alice claims there isn't any kind of scar or wound on her face. Suuurreee....
The Ghost Writer / int_7aa858c1	featureApplicability	1.0
The Ghost Writer / int_7aa858c1	featureConfidence	1.0
The Ghost Writer	hasFeature	The Ghost Writer / int_7aa858c1
The Ghost Writer / int_88141a44	type	Heartwarming Orphan
The Ghost Writer / int_88141a44	comment	Heartwarming Orphan: From one of the letters, Alice's nurse claims Alice is this. From "The Ghost", Cordelia is also very kindhearted to her great-uncle / Parental Substitute.
The Ghost Writer / int_88141a44	featureApplicability	1.0
The Ghost Writer / int_88141a44	featureConfidence	1.0
The Ghost Writer	hasFeature	The Ghost Writer / int_88141a44
The Ghost Writer / int_8b568cb7	type	Posthumous Character
The Ghost Writer / int_8b568cb7	comment	Posthumous Character: Viola Hatherley has been long dead, but her ghost stories are somehow connected with Gerard and Phyllis. Also, Phyllis, for the second-half of the novel. Gerard is motivated to find out about her childhood background after her death. Also, Phyllis' sister Anne... until the novel's climax.
The Ghost Writer / int_8b568cb7	featureApplicability	1.0
The Ghost Writer / int_8b568cb7	featureConfidence	1.0
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The Ghost Writer / int_8ff8d545	type	Kissing Cousins
The Ghost Writer / int_8ff8d545	comment	Kissing Cousins: From "The Ghost" story, Cordelia's paternal grandmother, Imogen, and grand-uncle, Theodore, was romantically involved. Their relationship was broken up by her father, Horace Ward (Cordelia's great-grandfather), who strongly opposes it.
The Ghost Writer / int_8ff8d545	featureApplicability	1.0
The Ghost Writer / int_8ff8d545	featureConfidence	1.0
The Ghost Writer	hasFeature	The Ghost Writer / int_8ff8d545
The Ghost Writer / int_92f674e5	type	Revenge
The Ghost Writer / int_92f674e5	comment	Revenge: Anne Hatherley's entire motivation.
The Ghost Writer / int_92f674e5	featureApplicability	1.0
The Ghost Writer / int_92f674e5	featureConfidence	1.0
The Ghost Writer	hasFeature	The Ghost Writer / int_92f674e5
The Ghost Writer / int_98d3f973	type	Mama's Baby, Papa's Maybe
The Ghost Writer / int_98d3f973	comment	Mama's Baby, Papa's Maybe: Subverted. At first it seems that Gerard might be the child of Hugh Montfort, until you realize the numbers don't add up—Phyllis's affair was in 1949, and "our" Gerard was born in 1963 or -64. It turns out that the original Gerard died in infancy and ours was named after him. This means that Graham may be his real father after all.
The Ghost Writer / int_98d3f973	featureApplicability	-0.3
The Ghost Writer / int_98d3f973	featureConfidence	1.0
The Ghost Writer	hasFeature	The Ghost Writer / int_98d3f973
The Ghost Writer / int_9d080c44	type	Ice Queen
The Ghost Writer / int_9d080c44	comment	Ice Queen: Beatrice from "The Ghost" story is extremely cold, especially to her older sister. Also Phyllis, although she has a few defrosting moments to Gerard.
The Ghost Writer / int_9d080c44	featureApplicability	1.0
The Ghost Writer / int_9d080c44	featureConfidence	1.0
The Ghost Writer	hasFeature	The Ghost Writer / int_9d080c44
The Ghost Writer / int_9d12bbc1	type	Foreshadowing
The Ghost Writer / int_9d12bbc1	comment	Foreshadowing: Quite a few from Alice's correspondence. For starter, she states in her very first letter to Gerard that she lives not too far from, or perhaps around the same place as, Phyllis' childhood home. She also asks Gerard to give her his and his parents' photograph, but refuses to give her own photo to him. The first of Viola's stories, "Seraphina", is about a man who becomes entranced with the painting of a woman, falling deeper and deeper in love with someone who doesn't exist, until his life revolves around the painting. While exploring the Farrier house's library, Gerard happens to find couple of copies of books about radiation which seem to have been misplaced, showing that Viola's family had been interested in early x-ray experiments. Once you learn the twist, it turns out that misplacing wasn't so accidental.
The Ghost Writer / int_9d12bbc1	featureApplicability	1.0
The Ghost Writer / int_9d12bbc1	featureConfidence	1.0
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The Ghost Writer / int_a8a04f6f	type	And I Must Scream
The Ghost Writer / int_a8a04f6f	comment	And I Must Scream: Gerard finds a letter in the cellar which indicates that Phyllis ultimately locked Anne in the Farrier house's basement with no way out, allowing her to die of thirst. Not! Turns out that Anne faked the letter to mess with Gerard.
The Ghost Writer / int_a8a04f6f	featureApplicability	1.0
The Ghost Writer / int_a8a04f6f	featureConfidence	1.0
The Ghost Writer	hasFeature	The Ghost Writer / int_a8a04f6f
The Ghost Writer / int_b5171e10	type	Tragic Villain
The Ghost Writer / int_b5171e10	comment	Tragic Villain: All of Anne's evil deeds are are vengeance for her jealous sister seducing her fiancé and trying to kill her with radiation.
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The Ghost Writer / int_b5171e10	featureConfidence	1.0
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The Ghost Writer / int_b58c51d8	type	My Beloved Smother
The Ghost Writer / int_b58c51d8	comment	My Beloved Smother: Phyllis is fiercely overprotective and possessive on her son. She is the most responsible for her son's Friendless Background. She's afraid Anne will somehow find him and take him away from her—and in a way, she did.
The Ghost Writer / int_b58c51d8	featureApplicability	1.0
The Ghost Writer / int_b58c51d8	featureConfidence	1.0
The Ghost Writer	hasFeature	The Ghost Writer / int_b58c51d8
The Ghost Writer / int_b5b3599d	type	Amoral Attorney
The Ghost Writer / int_b5b3599d	comment	Amoral Attorney: Averted with Harry Beauchamp in "The Ghost" story. He is very kind to his client.
The Ghost Writer / int_b5b3599d	featureApplicability	-1.0
The Ghost Writer / int_b5b3599d	featureConfidence	1.0
The Ghost Writer	hasFeature	The Ghost Writer / int_b5b3599d
The Ghost Writer / int_b5bd58a3	type	Rich Suitor, Poor Suitor
The Ghost Writer / int_b5bd58a3	comment	Rich Suitor, Poor Suitor: From "The Ghost" story, Theodore is the poor suitor to his cousin and lover, Imogen Ward. Ruthven de Vere is the rich suitor, and he won her thanks to her father.
The Ghost Writer / int_b5bd58a3	featureApplicability	1.0
The Ghost Writer / int_b5bd58a3	featureConfidence	1.0
The Ghost Writer	hasFeature	The Ghost Writer / int_b5bd58a3
The Ghost Writer / int_c289826f	type	Double Standard Rape: Female on Male
The Ghost Writer / int_c289826f	comment	Double Standard Rape: Female on Male: It's actually rather hard to decide whether the first Gerard's conception was consensual or not. What's known is that Phyllis aggressively seduced her sister's fiancé, Hugh Montfort, leading to their affair and the first Gerard's conception. When Anne discovered this, Phyllis was naked and "on his top, riding on him", and he appears to be unmoving (unconscious?). Yet, Hugh is mostly blamed instead of Phyllis, who seduced him. He tried to apologize, Anne doesn't want to forgive him, and it's ambiguous whether Anne or Phyllis caused his death.
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The Ghost Writer / int_c289826f	featureConfidence	1.0
The Ghost Writer	hasFeature	The Ghost Writer / int_c289826f
The Ghost Writer / int_d3540d32	type	Life Imitates Art
The Ghost Writer / int_d3540d32	comment	Life Imitates Art: In-universe, many of the stories of Viola Hatherley seem to have remarkable relevance to Gerard's relationship with Alice, as many of them are about a character becoming obsessed with someone or something unreachable. With the reveal of Alice as Anne Hatherley, Phyllis's sister and Viola's other granddaughter, it seems that Anne was inspired by these stories to create an unreachable character for Gerard to become obsessed with as part of her revenge upon Phyllis. In the past, Anne happened upon "The Revenant" (written over a decade beforehand), and was struck to realize just how much the events in her life eerily paralleled it—down to falling in love with a man who'd come to her home to appraise some pictures. Try as she might to avoid the fates of Caroline and Beatrice, the man she loves is still seduced by her sister, just as in the story.
The Ghost Writer / int_d3540d32	featureApplicability	1.0
The Ghost Writer / int_d3540d32	featureConfidence	1.0
The Ghost Writer	hasFeature	The Ghost Writer / int_d3540d32
The Ghost Writer / int_d4f5426	type	Absence of Evidence
The Ghost Writer / int_d4f5426	comment	Absence of Evidence: When Gerard finds Anne's diary, he briefly finds it suspicious that even though Abigail Hamish claimed to have been Anne's best friend for years, there's not a single mention of her within its pages. But then again, Anne did leave her the Farrier house, so he figures it's nothing. It's not nothing—Abigail is an identity Anne assumed to fool him..
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The Ghost Writer / int_d4f5426	featureConfidence	1.0
The Ghost Writer	hasFeature	The Ghost Writer / int_d4f5426
The Ghost Writer / int_d62dd556	type	The Chessmaster
The Ghost Writer / int_d62dd556	comment	The Chessmaster: Anne spent around twenty years corresponding with Gerard as Alice, carefully leading him on the path to discovering the dark secrets of his family, ultimately planning to kill him.
The Ghost Writer / int_d62dd556	featureApplicability	1.0
The Ghost Writer / int_d62dd556	featureConfidence	1.0
The Ghost Writer	hasFeature	The Ghost Writer / int_d62dd556
The Ghost Writer / int_dcd423d2	type	Affectionate Nickname
The Ghost Writer / int_dcd423d2	comment	Affectionate Nickname: Phyllis' family referred her as "Filly."
The Ghost Writer / int_dcd423d2	featureApplicability	1.0
The Ghost Writer / int_dcd423d2	featureConfidence	1.0
The Ghost Writer	hasFeature	The Ghost Writer / int_dcd423d2
The Ghost Writer / int_e596f27b	type	Star-Crossed Lovers
The Ghost Writer / int_e596f27b	comment	Star-Crossed Lovers: Theodore and Imogen's relationship from "The Ghost" story are broken up by Imogen's father who strongly opposes their relationship.
The Ghost Writer / int_e596f27b	featureApplicability	1.0
The Ghost Writer / int_e596f27b	featureConfidence	1.0
The Ghost Writer	hasFeature	The Ghost Writer / int_e596f27b
The Ghost Writer / int_eba6a077	type	Cain and Abel
The Ghost Writer / int_eba6a077	comment	Cain and Abel: In the past Phyllis seduced Anne's fiancé and tried to kill her by exposing her to radiation from an X-Ray machine hidden in her room. Anne survived, but was horribly deformed by the radiation burns and the numerous surgeries necessary to keep the cancer from spreading across her head and body. When she finally dug up Phyllis's location, she sent her sister the manuscript for one of their grandmother's horror stories (in which similar events had occurred) in order to stoke her paranoia and started a Long-Distance Relationship with her teenaged son under an assumed name in order to manipulate his life, making Phyllis's last years miserable.
The Ghost Writer / int_eba6a077	featureApplicability	1.0
The Ghost Writer / int_eba6a077	featureConfidence	1.0
The Ghost Writer	hasFeature	The Ghost Writer / int_eba6a077
The Ghost Writer / int_f8600b	type	Cool Big Sis
The Ghost Writer / int_f8600b	comment	Cool Big Sis: From "The Ghost" story, Cordelia attempted to be this for her cold little sister, Beatrice. It doesn't quite work much because for no reason, Beatrice blames her sister for their parents' death. Also, Anne to Phyllis... initially.
The Ghost Writer / int_f8600b	featureApplicability	1.0
The Ghost Writer / int_f8600b	featureConfidence	1.0
The Ghost Writer	hasFeature	The Ghost Writer / int_f8600b
The Ghost Writer / int_f9439c84	type	Haunted House
The Ghost Writer / int_f9439c84	comment	Haunted House: Phyllis' childhood home. This is where the story's climax takes place.
The Ghost Writer / int_f9439c84	featureApplicability	1.0
The Ghost Writer / int_f9439c84	featureConfidence	1.0
The Ghost Writer	hasFeature	The Ghost Writer / int_f9439c84
The Ghost Writer / int_fd8edf01	type	Bit Character
The Ghost Writer / int_fd8edf01	comment	Bit Character / Flat Character: Gerard's father, Graham, has very little appearance and importance in the story and it's unbelievably easy to miss when he died. He died sometime in Gerard's mid or late teens.
The Ghost Writer / int_fd8edf01	featureApplicability	1.0
The Ghost Writer / int_fd8edf01	featureConfidence	1.0
The Ghost Writer	hasFeature	The Ghost Writer / int_fd8edf01
The Ghost Writer / int_fed93e1b	type	Dark and Troubled Past
The Ghost Writer / int_fed93e1b	comment	Dark and Troubled Past: It's complicated with Phyllis. One of plot points in the story is Gerard's attempts to discover her past right from her childhood.
The Ghost Writer / int_fed93e1b	featureApplicability	1.0
The Ghost Writer / int_fed93e1b	featureConfidence	1.0
The Ghost Writer	hasFeature	The Ghost Writer / int_fed93e1b
The Ghost Writer / int_name	type	ItemName
The Ghost Writer / int_name	comment
The Ghost Writer / int_name	featureApplicability	1.0
The Ghost Writer / int_name	featureConfidence	1.0
The Ghost Writer	hasFeature	The Ghost Writer / int_name
The Ghost Writer / int_name	itemName	The Ghost Writer

The following is a list of statements referring to the current page from other pages.

The Ghost Writer	hasFeature	Child by Rape / int_713135fe
The Ghost Writer	hasFeature	Consummate Liar / int_713135fe
The Ghost Writer	hasFeature	Erotic Dream / int_713135fe
The Ghost Writer	hasFeature	Facial Horror / int_713135fe
The Ghost Writer	hasFeature	Friendless Background / int_713135fe
The Ghost Writer	hasFeature	Haunted House / int_713135fe
The Ghost Writer	hasFeature	Long-Distance Relationship / int_713135fe
The Ghost Writer	hasFeature	Nocturnal Emission / int_713135fe
The Ghost Writer	hasFeature	The '60s / int_713135fe
The Ghost Writer	hasFeature	The '90s / int_713135fe
TheGhostWriter	seeAlso	The Ghost Writer

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