'Beautifully described and evocative, this is the somewhat desolate but delicately told story of a dysfunctional family and how they fare in the final outpost of the empire, Hong Kong, in the years prior to the handover... Sad, poignant yet compelling, this is an impressive debut"
--Sunday Times, New Zealand
Alice Safford is a lost soul. Raises in Hong Kong by her monstrous mother,Myrtle, and her high-ranking father, Ralph, Alice is neglected by her parents and indifferent siblings.
Twenty-five years earlier during the Japanese occupation, Lin Shui, a young Chinese girl, was raped and murdered. Now, as a'Hungry Ghost', she finds the perfect host from which to feed, returning with Alice to her home on The Peak. Together, entangled in the Safford's web of dark secrets and desperate lies, they unleash chaos.
Against a backdrop of political unrest and familial breakdown, Alice's ghostly entourage swells alarmingly. Craving peace, she flees to England, then France, only to find her mischievous 'Hungry Ghosts' have accompanied her.
With its dazzling array of characters and numerous twists and turns in fortune, TheHungry Ghosts is a rich feast for the imagmation and a novel quite unlike any other.