Jennie Erdal worked for nearly fifteen years for the flamboyant, extravagant, larger-than-life “Tiger,” a London publisher, entrepreneur, and media personality. Officially, she was his personal editor. In truth, Erdal was his ghostwriter and alter ego. Under his name, she produced not only newspaper columns, business columns, and novels, but even love letters. In temperament, the two couldn’t have been more different. Yet their relationship weathered storms of all kinds, from temper tantrums to serious financial reversals, with a tenacious bond that is both a wonder and an enigma.
With effortless grace, gentle erudition, and wry humour, Erdal shows us vivid snapshots of an austere childhood in Scotland and of the London publishing world, peopled by the elegant and the “Oxbridge”-educated. She introduces us to a thoughtful girl who found her passion in language and the magic of words, a passion that led her by a series of chance events to the publishing house, and the strange, wonderful, and never-dull world of the inimitable Tiger.
As original as it is elegant and witty, Ghosting is a remarkable memoir — more than just one woman’s story, it is the tale of her double life, as well as a fascinating glimpse into the symbiotic relationship between two very unusual people.