The following version of this book was used to create this guide: Lewis, Jim. Ghosts of New York. West Virginia University Press, 2021.

Jim Lewis’ novel Ghosts of New York is written primarily from the third person point of view, with one chapter (“Johnny and Bridget”) written in the first person. Lewis utilizes the past tense throughout most of the narrative, although he turns to the future tense in several chapters. The novel comprises a series of interwoven stories set in New York City; the following summary adheres to a more linear mode of explanation.

The central narrative strand occupies much of the middle third of the novel. Mike, a graduate student in Manhattan, befriends a fellow student named Johnny. Johnny, who grew up in an unspecified West African country, is cultured, well-traveled, and deeply intelligent. One evening, as they drink in a bar together, Mike and Johnny meet a young woman named Bridget. Mike pursues a romantic relationship with Bridget, and they soon move in together. Mike and Bridget then begin to see less of Johnny. When they meet Johnny for a drink, Johnny and Bridget argue about his work. Mike later joins Johnny for dinner with Johnny’s mother. His mother is an accomplished and well-known activist in her home country. After a year together, Mike and Bridget break up after Bridget sleeps with another man. Years later, Mike, who has lost contact with Bridget and is now married, receives a package from her. Inside, he discovers a cache of love notes, written by Johnny for Bridget. Mike reflects on the relationship between himself, his ex-girlfriend, and his former best friend. Johnny, after leaving New York, rose to a leadership position in a rebel organization in his home country. He now awaits execution in a jail cell. In a photography book, Mike sees a picture of Bridget accompanied by an acknowledgement of her death.

In another story, told through chapters scattered throughout the novel, a woman named Stephanie returns to New York after living abroad for seven years. She is a photographer and has won a fellowship at the Carrier Institute in Manhattan. Her benefactor, Roger Coster, picks her up at the airport and provides her with housing and a generous stipend. Stephanie wanders around New York at night, taking pictures of the streets, buildings, and people. She discovers that Roger’s son recently died during a military mission in West Africa (presumably a mission to free Johnny from imprisonment). Stephanie has dinner with an old friend and discusses collecting her photographs for a show or a book. Through flashbacks, she describes her friendship with Bridget. Their friendship, though never fully romantic, was profoundly intimate. Stephanie took many pictures of Bridget, and they relied on each other for comfort and support. Stephanie reveals that Bridget contracted a severe illness and eventually died.

A third thread of the novel revolves around a talented young singer known as Caruso. His adopted father, Reggie, took him in after he was abandoned on the East Side of Manhattan. In his teenage years, Caruso serenades passersby on the street. Eventually, he secures a record contract and becomes famous. He dates a young woman named Lisa. Caruso becomes obsessed with a song called “Honey and Ashes” that he hears at a party. After translating and then rewriting the lyrics, he assembles a group of musicians and records a cover of the song.

The fourth main story in the novel centers on Benny Russell, an older shopkeeper who specializes in African artifacts. He stands on the edge of the Brooklyn Bridge and considers suicide. Benny reflects on his recent relationship with a woman named Jillian. After she came into his store several times, Benny asked her on a date. They slept together and became a couple. Benny hired her brother, Mickey, as a salesman in his store. Mickey lied to customers, refused to keep records of sales, and eventually bankrupted Benny’s business (Benny also mentions that Mickey sold a collection of African records to a store; this likely included the copy of “Honey and Ashes” that Caruso later hears at a party). During the ensuing legal drama, Jillian ended her relationship with Benny. The combination of financial and romantic ruin leads Benny to contemplate suicide on the bridge.

In the penultimate chapter of the novel, Caruso prepares to perform his new song, “Honey and Ashes,” at Washington Square Park in Lower Manhattan. A man cycling across the Brooklyn Bridge, en route to Caruso’s performance, notices Benny and encourages him to consider the physical pain of suicide. Stephanie walks toward the park, excited to take pictures of the bustling evening crowd. Suddenly, a blackout occurs across the city. Benny believes he has died, but then realizes he is still alive as police cars approach him. The musical equipment for Caruso’s performance cuts out as he takes the stage. Stephanie stands on Fifth Avenue amid the confusion caused by the blackout.

Lewis also includes several individual chapters, often written in the future tense, that deal with other stories and characters. In one such chapter, Lewis relates the story of Johnny’s mother visiting New York to deliver a lecture. She mentions that one of her lovers writes a song about her called “Honey and Ashes.” In another chapter, “The Winter Market,” Lewis paints a speculative vision of the future in which disease and destruction run rampant. A man named Hector searches for a rare medicine at an illicit drug market in Union Square. He meets a sick woman named Bridget, who gives him the medicine for free. Lewis also includes a list of deceased New York residents and their causes of death, a story about Mike’s roommate and his encounter with an older stranger, and a collection of quasi-psalms that grapple with life in the city.