Our Ghost Harry

A story for children and adults

“Make it a rule never to give a child a book you would not read yourself.”

           George Bernard Shaw

Origin

‘Once upon a time ....’ there was my dream to write a novel after I had already done several theatre plays.

In 2011 the outline of a story was ready. I had already done some preliminary work, such as a visit to the remand centre in Liestal – not as an inmate, of course! – and decided on the title of the book. But while I was teaching, I simply never found the leisure to start writing the book properly.

After retiring in summer 2019, I finally had the time to tackle my novel project. But as I had become a grandfather of two in the meantime, I decided to write a small booklet for my grandchildren first, before starting the ‘big novel’. I wanted to tell them the story of our house ghost Harry, that had accompanied my own children years ago. I planned to give them this little book on their fifth birthday. That gave me three years to write. Plenty of time – I thought.

Of course, a children's book must be illustrated. But with my artistic talent, which my art teacher had denied me years ago, that was completely beyond me. So, I was glad when a colleague recommended Markus Urfer, a painter and graphic artist from Basel. His pictures appealed to me, and so I visited him in his studio to win him over for my project even before I had written the first word of the story.

After he said yes, I retreated to Valais for a few days in August 2019, where I did a first draft of chapter one. I then wrote the final version at home. I maintained this working rhythm – draft away from home, final version at home – until I had finished writing the story in April 2021. In the meantime, our third grandchild had been born – and of course she had to be included in the story as well.

However, it was no longer a ‘little book’ and the story was no longer suitable for five-year-old children. The novel is now aimed at children aged ten and over and adults. 

Now began the frustrating and ultimately unsuccessful search for a publisher. I sent my thirty-page presentation dossier to almost forty publishers, but only received rejections – if I received a reply at all.

While waiting for a positive answer, I continued to work on the text. My wife, who received the manuscript for proofreading, corrected many errors and gave me helpful feedback on the language and content. I therefore rewrote individual passages again and again and improved the language and style of the text. 

When no publisher had shown any interest in the story by the summer of 2022, I decided to self-publish the book. So, the entire responsibility for the book, as well as the marketing, lay with me. Further rounds of proofreading followed, and Markus Urfer designed the book cover. Finally, in January 2023, I sent the text to Books on Demand, who prepared the typesetting and finally printed the book. 

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Summary:

‘Our Ghost Harry’ is the imaginative, touching, but sometimes also harrowing story of Harry, the ghost of Urquhart Castle. It combines reality, Scottish history and fiction to create an exciting tale aimed at children, young people and adults. It can also be well read aloud or narrated.

Contents

Sir Henry Lord Urquhart, the likeable and brave clan chief of the Urquharts, lives in his castle in the Great Glen on Loch Ness in the 13th/14th century. He fights alongside the Scottish kings against the invading English forces. His greatest heroic deed is the destruction of the dragon Ness, which has terrified the inhabitants of the Great Glen for centuries.

The early death of his beloved wife at the birth of their daughter leaves him so embittered that he withdraws from his children and finally makes his daughter die in agony because she disobeys him. For this he is cursed by his son and, after his death, is forced to haunt Urquhart Castle ‘until he repents and saves a girl's life’.

Enraged by this curse, the ghost takes revenge on the inhabitants of the castle with sometimes very vicious pranks. When Urquhart Castle falls into disrepair in the 17th century and becomes uninhabitable, Harry loses any chance of ever being released from his curse.

After three centuries of rest and reflection, Harry finally comes up with a desperate plan. He travels to Switzerland as a ‘stowaway’ with the young couple Peter and Jackie, who are illegally spending a night in the ruins. There he takes up residence in the newly built house of the young couple. When he first appears, he offers to protect the growing family as a friendly ghost in exchange for the occasional joke.

In the frame story, Peter, who has now become a grandfather, tells his grandchildren the story of his house ghost Harry before they go to sleep. In the inner story, Harry recounts various of his disgraceful and heroic deeds.

Can Harry be released from his curse and finally find peace after seven hundred years?