Hungry Ghosts by Anne Berry - first published 2009
In 1942 during the Japanese occupation of Hong Kong, a young Chinese girl called Lin Shui is raped and murdered by a Japanese soldier. In 1962 Ralph Safford is offered a job in Hong Kong working for the government and his family join him. Alice is the 3rd and youngest daughter. Her older sisters Nicola and Jillian don’t like her and neither does her mother. When she is 11 years old the ghost of Lin Shi joins her (possesses is too strong a word) and accompanies her everywhere from then on. A few years later Lin Shui is joined by some other ghosts – lost souls from Alice’s life. The ghosts cause trouble for Alice but they are more mischievous than malevolent. I think the story of Alice is good enough to stand on its own without the ghost element of the story. I couldn’t quite work out whether Alice was aware of the presence of the ghosts or not. 6/10
5th March 2011
