You Came Back: A Novel

Christopher Coake

Jan 2012 · Hachette+ORM

About this ebook

Thirty-something midwesterner Mark Fife believes he has successfully moved past the accidental death of his young son Brendan, as well as his subsequent divorce from his college sweetheart Chloe. He's successful, he's in love again, and he believes he's mastered his own memories.

But then he is contacted by a strange woman who tells him not only that she owns his old house, but that she believes it to be haunted by Brendan's ghost. Will Mark--who does not believe in ghosts--come to accept the mounting evidence that Brendan's is real? Will his engagement to his new love Allison be threatened by the reappearance in Mark's life of Chloe--who does believe? If the ghost is real, what can these two wounded parents do to help their son?

You Came Back examines the beauty and danger of belief in all its forms--not only belief in the supernatural, but in the love that binds parents and children, husbands and wives.

Ratings and reviews

The characters seem realistic. That's the best part. It seemed long and drawn out for it short 250 something pages. Thought I would never finish. Being it the author's debut, I would read another of his books.

I loved it even I couldnt decide the real "love" interest... Very realistic in feelings and emotions!

About the author

Christopher Coake is the author of We're In Trouble, which was chosen for the PEN/Bingham Award of 2005. In addition, Coake was among "Granta's Best of Young American Novelists" in 2007. His stories have been published in several literary journals. A native Hoosier, he received his M.F.A. in fiction from Ohio State University. He now lives in Reno, where he teaches creative writing at the University of Nevada.