This first novel by the author of the internationally best-selling biography of Chesterton, Wisdom and Innocence, is best described as a tale in the tradition of Chesterton or Belloc, or possibly as "Terry Pratchett meeting Umberto Eco in a journey through Sophie's World in the hunt for Thomas Aquinas." It charts a journey across Sussex in the company of three mysterious ghosts - Yore, the Ghost of Sussex Past (the thinly disguised ghost of Hilaire Belloc); Yo!, the Ghost of Sussex Present; and Yet, the Ghost of Sussex Future. En route, the three spirits have many misadventures and can seldom agree on anything, constantly arguing about the relative merits of tradition and modernity in relation to time and eternity. There is a surprise appearance by Tim, the Ghost of Time Uncompleted (the thinly disguised ghost of H.G. Wells) and the final chapter adds several twists to the tale.
If you are adventurous enough to follow in the footsteps of the Three Ys Men, you are cordially invited to accompany them on their journey. It is quite possible that you will awake from the dream, step out from the night and disappear into the sunrise.
The Three Ys Men, by Joseph Pearce.
200 pages, clothbound. ISBN 1 901157 02 4.
£9.95 ; $24.95 in the U.S.A.
Published by The Saint Austin Press.
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