Andrew Smith’s new book, The ghost story, 1840 – 1920. A Cultural History, is a predominantly Marxist view of the influence of the economic crises of the period he has selected to study (1840-1920) on the ghost story and, conversely, the use of the language of the ghost story on economic theory of the time. In one of the later chapters, Smith himself describes the book as an exploration of ‘how a variety of socio-political concerns became articulated through a discourse of spectrality between 1840 and 1920’ (p. 169). Upon this economic foundation, Smith builds an interesting series of discussions in which Freud is ubiquitous while colonialism and feminism are solidly and usefully engaged. As Matt Foley, University of Stirling states in his recent review ‘There is, then, a certain awareness of the impossibility of reading the ghost as performing just one function and a suggestion of its multifacetedness as a literary trope.’ The selection of authors that Smith has chosen to focus include well known writers of the time such as Charles Dickens, M. R. James and Wilkie Collins and lesser known names such as Charlotte Riddell. Some readers may question the presence of a whole chapter focusing on Henry James in a book about the British ghost story but Smith justifies this adequately in his introduction to that chapter by anglicizing James convincingly enough.

Chapter 1 consists of a wide ranging discussion on the economics of the Gothic including an perceptive exploration of Marx’s use of Gothic language and symbolism to ‘demonise capitalism’. His account of the Stock Exchange is particularly interesting. However, much of this chapter is devoted to the gothic in general rather than to the ghost story specifically. Smith concentrates on explaining the economic theories themselves and spends very little time on linking that to specific ghost stories giving mostly general example and little textual proof from literature. The following textually focussed chapters suffer from this tendency a little but the ghost story is pleasingly present in the remainder of the book.

The following 8 chapters expand satisfyingly from the contextualizing overview of theories surrounding the ghost story, through a variety of textual analyses to the conclusion. I was particularly taken with his ideas on the movement to paper money in this period as one of the many financially destabilizing changes which led to the linking of the ghost with money. His discussion of Charlotte Riddell is inspiring. The relation of her work to the writing of Wilkie Collins and Charles Dickens and the difference in their attitudes to social and economic themes which he describes as a ‘critical engagement’ are very enlightening. I also admired his rather combative discussion of M. R. James and the fascinating glimpse into the dubious world of Spiritualism of the period (Chapter 5), particularly the section on The Book of the Golden Key and its debt to the works of H Rider Haggard.

It is perhaps bold of Smith to include a section on the anonymously published ‘The Ghost in the Bank of England’ in a chapter on Wilkie Collins when he himself confesses more than once that it has never been proved to be Collins’s work. There are also a few small factual errors, for example, Smith, when discussing Hoffman’s The Sandman, cites Nathaniel as the narrator of the story, a mistake which Freud too makes in his essay on ‘The Uncanny’ which momentarily throw the reader into doubts over the authority of his textual discussion. This is a temporary feeling though, the majority of the work is carefully considered and shows a wide-ranging knowledge of the texts and authors of his chosen period.

His structure is clear and his habit of summarizing what he will discuss at the beginning of his chapters and then producing a further summary at the end of each chapter, although slightly repetitive for the comprehensive reader, will doubtless be invaluable to the skim reading scholar searching for something particular. This is made more valuable because the index is rather scanty, although the bibliography is extensive and helpful. The ongoing popularity of the genre, coupled with Smith’s accessible and attractive style indicate that The ghost story, 1840 – 1920. A Cultural History is likely to appeal to a wide academic and popular audience.

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