Eternal Flame

In Ghost Light, Joseph O'Connor explores what remains after a great romance has come to an end. Based on the real-life relationship between Irish playwright John Synge and his teen-aged muse, actress Molly Allgood, readers are taken on a journey through 1900s Dublin and 1950s London. Only a few years into their secret courtship, Synge dies, leaving young Molly alone to contemplate their love affair in the decades that follow. Through Molly's narration, we are told that a ghost light is the single luminescent left to burn in the theatre, always avoiding complete darkness. Synge's memory is Molly's ghost light and her constant companion during her downward spiral to alcoholism and destitution, but Molly herself is also a ghost light, the only flame left from a time gone by. O'Connor's prose makes for a very quick and engaging read, leading readers down the rabbit hole within his heroine's mind. HM