Ghost Girl, Banana
worldwide buzz and rave reviews for this moving and unforgettable story of family secrets
-
-
4.4 • 13 Ratings
-
-
- £5.49
-
- £5.49
Publisher Description
*** LONGLISTED FOR THE AUTHORS' CLUB BEST FIRST NOVEL AWARD ***
A GRAZIA BOOK CLUB PICK, Ghost Girl, Banana is a powerful debut novel about the family secrets unearthed by a surprise inheritance. Set between Hong Kong in the 1960s and London in the 1990s, and revealing the hidden life of a mother to her daughter, it asks questions of identity, race and belonging.
'A real nail-biter ... so winningly chronicled by Wharton' NEW YORK TIMES
'Ambitious ... readers won't be disappointed as Wharton ultimately resolves many mysteries in the book' GUARDIAN
'An astounding debut ... written with emotion and astuteness, this deserves to be on book prize lists' PRIMA
1966: Sook-Yin is exiled from Kowloon to London with orders to restore honour to her family. As she strives to fit into a world that does not understand her, she realizes that survival will mean carving out a destiny of her own.
1997: Sook-Yin's daughter Lily can barely remember the mother she lost as a small child. But when she is unexpectedly named in the will of a powerful Chinese stranger, she embarks on a secret pilgrimage to Hong Kong to discover the lost side of her identity and claim the reward. But she soon learns that the secrecy around her heritage has deep roots, and good fortune comes at a price.
'Genuine and joyously written' Platinum
'Brilliant' Hello!
'A gripping and evocative tale of family secrets, courage, adversity and love. Sook-Yin and Lily's stories are beautifully told and truly unforgettable . . . such accomplished storytelling and gorgeous prose. Brilliant' Emma Stonex
'An absolute wrecking ball of a novel. Ghost Girl, Banana is an enchanting, suspenseful journey through family, distance, money and betrayal. I loved it so much' Erin Kelly
'A story of family, love, redemption and belonging, told with such heart and empathy. Essential and utterly unforgettable' Fíona Scarlett
'Ghost Girl, Banana is an epic yet deeply intimate novel. I could feel the vibration of these women existing in the wider world; their stories are so skilfully shot through with the hum of change' Kate Sawyer, author of Costa prize-shortlisted The Stranding
'An intriguing, beautifully written study of the stories we inherit. I loved being in Lily and Sook-Yin's heads, my heart breaking for them . . . I loved it!' Nikki May
'Sparkling prose and a page-turning plot combined with wonderful storytelling . . . An absolutely dazzling debut' Julie Owen Moylan
'From the first pages, I was drawn into the worlds of Lily and Sook-Yin and the stories that bind them together across the years. Wiz is a master storyteller, weaving Lily and Sook-Yin's stories of belonging together with elegance and wit' Ronali Collings
'Fresh, funny, infuriating, heartbreaking - Ghost Girl, Banana is sure to be a massive hit. I adored it' Emily Koch
'Captivating characters and lucid prose' Melissa Fu
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
Ghost Girl, Banana, the confident debut novel from Wiz Wharton, unfolds over continents and generations, alternating between Lily—a young, mixed-race woman dealing with grief and other mental health problems—in 1997, and Sook-Yin—the mother whose memory she is chasing—in 1966. It’s Lily’s yearning to know more about Sook-Yin, who died when she was a small child, that drives her decision to travel from London to Hong Kong, as a condition of claiming a substantial inheritance from a mysterious benefactor. Meanwhile, Sook-Yin arrives in England to attend nursing school and soon finds herself a victim of unforeseen circumstances, sending her life spinning off in a new direction. The parallel and converging history of mother and daughter—their mirroring experiences with racism and struggles to find a place to fit in—raise thoughtful questions about identity and belonging, family and obligation. As Lily learns more about her mother and the secrets that have remained hidden for much of her childhood, she begins to shake out some of her own conflicts. Chief among them is her contentious relationship with older sister, Maya, whose perceived “perfection” contrasts harshly with Lily’s more shambolic existence. Wharton’s exploration of the social and political background to events in both timelines helps to provide context for the complicated factors that motivate Lily and Sook-Yin’s choices in life. This is a thoughtful family drama that magnifies the myriad challenges—both apparent and unspoken—that mixed-race children, and their families, must overcome.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Wharton's heartfelt debut centers on a British woman of Hong Kong descent trying to solve the mystery of her mother's death. In 1997 London, Lily, whose mother died years ago in a car accident, receives a mysterious letter about a half-million–dollar inheritance left to her by a Hong Kong banking magnate named Hei-Fong Lee. In 1966, Lily's mother, Sook-Yin Chen, is seen as a burden to her family and exiled from Kowloon, Hong Kong, to Britain to become a nurse. However, she fails her qualifying exam and instead finds work as a nanny. She meets Julian Miller, an entrepreneur who coerces her into sex under the pretense of helping her land a better job. When Sook-Yin becomes pregnant, Julian proposes to her, and she accepts for her financial security, but Julian's gambling and adultery threaten their marriage. Several years later, while visiting her family in Hong Kong, Sook-Yin reconnects with an old flame, Hei-Fong Lee, who leads her on a tumultuous journey of love and self-discovery. The letter in 1997 sends Lily to Kowloon to get answers about the mother she never knew. Despite a few muddled plot points, the pitch-perfect pacing and well-crafted protagonists will keep readers turning the pages. This is a writer to look out for.
