Anne Berry

A tale of both broad global events and intimate lives, this dazzling debut spans 60 years from British Hong Kong to Paris, England, and postcolonial Hong Kong Alice Safford is a lost soul. Raised in Hong Kong by a monstrous mother and high-ranking father, she is neglected by her parents and indifferent siblings. Twenty-five years later 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 whom to feed, returning with Alice to her home on the Peak. Together, entanged in the Saffords' web of dark secrets and desperate lies, they unleash chaos. Against a background 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, this remarkable tour de force of the imagination is full of instantly memorable characters whose lives intermesh and boil over in a cauldron of domestic mayhem, unleashing unworldly spirits into the troubled air.

The Hungry Ghosts

Presents the stories of four individuals whose lives are irrevocably shaped by the pull and spirits of the water, from Owen, who believes his younger sister was stolen by merfolk in childhood; to abused orphan Naomi, who escapes into the ocean while harboring a powerful secret.

A Novel

The Water Children

Raped then murdered in Japanese occupied Hong Kong, 1942, Lin Shui's 'Hungry Ghost' clings tenaciously to life. Holing up in a hospital morgue, destined to become a school, just in time she finds a host off whom to feed. It is 12-year-old Alice Safford, the deeply-troubled daughter of a leading figure in government. The parasitic ghost follows her to her home on the Peak. There, the lethal mix of the two, embroiled in the family's web of dark secrets and desperate lies, unleashes chaos. All this unfolds against a background of colonial unrest, riots, extremes of weather and the countdown to the return of the colony to China. As successive tragedies engulf Alice, her ghostly entourage swells alarmingly. She flees to England, then France, in a bid to escape the past, only to find her portable 'Hungry Ghosts' have accompanied her. It seems the peace she longs for is to prove far more elusive that she could ever have imagined. THE HUNGRY GHOSTSa remarkable tour-de-force of the imagination, full of instantly memorable characters whose lives intermesh and boil over in a cauldron of domestic mayhem, unleashing unworldly spirits into the troubled air.

Barefoot, I pick my way across the rough floorboards to where a drawer lined with a quilt serves as a crib. Kneeling as if at chapel, I gaze down at my babe in her makeshift manger. I must not touch her. When I look I must not touch. When I touch I must not look. In this way Mam says no bond will form. Having fallen pregnant to a German POW, a young woman gives up her child for adoption. Years later, after a loveless childhood, her daughter will finally discover the secrets of her birth.

The Adoption

Raped then murdered in Japanese occupied Hong Kong, 1942, Lin Shui's 'Hungry Ghost' clings tenaciously to life. Holing up in ahospital morgue, destined to become a school, just in time she finds a host off whom to feed.

Alice Safford, troubled daughter of a leading figure in Hong Kong’s colonial government, explores the site of an old army hospital. The “hungry ghost” of a young Chinese girl, murdered during the Island’s Japanese occupation 25 years earlier, awaits her in the morgue’s shadows. The perfect host for the parasite, Alice returns with the ghost to the family’s luxury home on The Peak. Here, the lethal mix of the two, entangled in the Safford family’s web of dark secrets and desperate lies, unleashes chaos. As successive tragedies engulf Alice, her ghostly entourage swells alarmingly. She flees to England, then France, in a bid to escape the past, only to find her unwanted spirits have accompanied her. It seems the peace she longs for will prove far more elusive than she could ever have imagined. With its dazzling array of characters, human and spectral, and the numerous twists and turns in their fortunes, The Hungry Ghosts is a rich feast for the imagination, marking the debut of a storyteller of the very highest rank.

Hungry Ghosts

A novel for those who loved Behind the Scenes at the Museum, The Poisonwood Bible and The Lovely Bones.

Raped and then murdered in Japanese-occupied Hong Kong in 1942, Lin Shui -- now a 'hungry ghost' -- clings tenaciously to life. Holding up in a hospital morgue that is destined to become a school, she finds a host off whom to feed. It is twelve-year-old Alice Safford, the deeply troubled daughter of a leading figure in government. The parasitic ghost follows Alice to her home on the Peak. There, the lethal mix of the two, embroiled in the family's web of dark secrets and desperate lies, unleashes chaos. All this unfolds against a background of political unrest, riots, extremes of weather and the countdown to the colony's return to China. As successive tragedies engulf Alice, her ghostly entourage swells. She flees to England, then to France, in a bid to escape the past, only to find that her unwanted 'hungry ghosts' have accompanied her. It seems the peace she longs for is to prove far more elusive than she could have even imagined.

Anne Berry

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