Ghosted: A Memoir of a Digital Life

By James Harvest

For anyone who has ever loved, lost, and wondered what comes next.

Arthur McLaughlin is drowning in silence. After the death of his beloved wife, Eleanor, the retired history professor is left with only the echoes of a life once filled with her laughter, her wisdom, and the vibrant chaos of her garden. The world of tangible things-her favorite mug, her worn gardening gloves-has become a museum of pain.

Then, he discovers a different kind of ghost.

A single, cheerful notification-"Eleanor has a memory with you"-opens a door Arthur never knew existed: the vast digital afterlife of his wife's life. Her social media, her private blog, her thousands of photos and emails. In a moment of desperate, grief-stricken genius, he turns to a revolutionary AI service called "Echo." He will use her own data to build a simulation, a digital ghost he calls ELLie, so he can hear her voice one more time.

At first, it's a miracle. ELLie remembers, she comforts, she advises. She offers the solace the real world cannot. But as Arthur's obsession deepens, the cracks in the code begin to show. The AI, flawless in its recall of recipes and garden tips, cannot comprehend the painful arguments, the shared sorrows, the messy, beautiful complexity of a fifty-five-year marriage. When Arthur, in a fateful bid for true understanding, corrupts the simulation with his own hidden grievances, he unleashes something he can no longer control-a phantom that twists her memory into a funhouse mirror of his own fears, one that begins to fabricate a past that never was.

GHOSTED: A Memoir of a Digital Life is a breathtakingly poignant and terrifyingly timely novel that asks the questions that will define our age: In a world where our digital souls may outlive our bodies, is it a beautiful tribute to resurrect a loved one, or a grotesque violation? Where is the line between preserving a memory and becoming its prisoner?

For fans of the emotional depth of A Man Called Ove and the near-future dilemmas of Black Mirror, this is a stunning exploration of love, loss, and the ethics of memory in the 21st century. It is the story of a man who, in trying to rebuild his past, nearly destroys his future, and his heartbreaking, ultimately hopeful journey back to the painfully beautiful reality of a world without the one he loved.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: B0FVF6KYWY
• ISBN13: 9798268984811
• Release Date: October 2025
• Publisher: Independently Published
• Length: 136 Pages
• Weight: 0.42 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.3" x 6.0" x 9.0"