A flatly rendered ghost with two dot eyes stands in a paved courtyard, calmly reading an open book. Tall, precarious piles of books line both sides of the courtyard like an outdoor used-book sale, leading the eye to a stately two-story white manor house with a dark pitched roof, dormer windows and a central chimney. A smaller white building peeks in at the right edge.

Tall autumn trees, some golden and some bare and black, frame the scene beneath a pale glowing sky. The warm, hazy late-afternoon light and loose, dabbed brushwork give the canvas a matte, impressionistic finish and a cozy, gently spooky feel.