Ghost of a Chance: John Steffler's "The Afterlife of George Cartwright" and the Meaning of History.

This article focuses on author John Steffler's popular novel "The Afterlife of George Cartwright." The eponymous hero of the novel is himself a ghost who is saddled with memory. The eighteenth-century explorer, trader, and diarist George Cartwright who is the subject and principal narrator of Steffler's novel is, as the narrative repeatedly asserts, an actual historical figure. But as a ghost who bridges and therefore mediates between past and present, he is a figure of history. By living past his own death, Cartwright is given a second chance to learn from the mistakes he committed in life. The novel therefore operates as a sort of purgatorial quest for understanding and release.