The Phantom Carriage

Written in 1912, Selma Lagerlof's The Phantom Carriage is a powerful combination of ghost story and social realism, played out among the slums, in the transitional sphere between life and death. The vengeful and alcoholic David Holm is led to atonement and salvation by the love of a dying Salvation Army slum sister, who is under the guidance of the driver of the death-cart that gathers in the souls of the dying poor. Inspired by Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol, The Phantom Carriage remained one of Lagerlof's own favorites.