I read a book several years ago that was wonderful but I know I’ll describe it in a way that’s trashy and campy but it really was a good book. Here goes…
It starts out in the 30s with an older man who can’t find any of his loved ones. He lives in Poland, owns a business, has a wife and family. But he wakes up one day and they’re all gone. In fact, everyone in the village is gone. I think he has a vague memory of something happening just outside of town but can’t find any evidence. Then, after a while, he finds people living in his home and other people come to live in the village. He begins to fall in love with one of the ladies now living in his home. This goes on for some time and the reader really senses that something is wrong with the whole scenario. Time passes very strangely in the book. Well, it turns out that he died in a mass grave at the edge of town during an SS slaughter and his spirit has been living this other life after the town has been “cleansed” of its Jews. I can’t remember much more than that or how it ended. can anyone help?
Could it be A Blessing on the Moon by Joseph Skibell? The description doesn’t exactly match, but the part about the massacre, the people moving in, and him realizing he’s a ghost are all there:
SHAZAAM! That’s it! Oh, thank you! You’re right, my description was off…perhaps an amalgam of different stories. But I remember the cover was blue and had a moon on it.
I most humbly thank you for replying to my little thread. Even if you don’t have an answer.