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The Lost Phoebe

Theodore Dreiser

First published 1927
Type Short Fiction
Length Short Story

Henry and Phoebe are married 48 years. Phoebe dies. Henry believes he sees her as a shadow every day and enjoys talking to her. One day he quarrels with her and she no longer comes. He sets off looking for her.

Borderline ghost story. Although Henry senses Phoebe's presence after her death, it is all subjective and the kind of thing that can be explained psychologically. First published in the Century Magazine, April 1916.

Date Publication Publisher Type Page
1927 American Mystery Stories Oxford University Press, USA Anthology 214
1939 Cover The Bedside Book of Famous American Stories Random House Anthology 601
August 1980 50 Great American Short Stories Bantam Books Anthology 171
1981 Cover The Treasury of American Short Stories Doubleday Anthology |202
1990 The Treasury of American Short Stories Dorset Press Anthology 202
July 2002 Cover Great American Short Stories Dover Publications Anthology 179