The Ghost of Frédéric Chopin

The third book in the Walter Presents Library: a bewitching Prague-set mystery about a woman who claims to transcribe music from the ghost of Chopin

Prague, 1995: journalist Ludvík Slaný is assigned to make a documentary about a truly bizarre case. Věra Foltýnova, a middle-aged woman with no musical training, claims she has been visited by the ghost of great composer Frederic Chopin - and that he has been dictating dozens of compositions to her, to allow the world to hear the sublime music he was unable to create in his own short life.

With media and recording companies taking the bait, Ludvík enlists the help of ex-Communist secret police agent Pavel Černý to expose Věra as a fraud. Soon, however, doubt creeps in, as he finds himself irrationally drawn towards this unassuming woman and the eerily beautiful music she plays. Could he be witnessing a true miracle?

An intricately plotted mystery imbued with the dusky atmosphere of autumnal Prague, The Ghost of Frederic Chopin is an engrossing story of art, faith and the quiet accompaniment of the past.



Éric Faye is the prize-winning author of over twenty books of fiction, essays and travel writing. For his fiction he has been awarded the Deux-Magots Prize and the Grand Prix du roman from the Académie Française. The Ghost of Frédéric Chopin is his eleventh novel.