Scan barcode
A review by keysersuze
Ghost Girl, Banana by Wiz Wharton
4.0
This is the story of sisters, of family you wish you had and which you didn’t know you have. It’s about navigating painful family secrets and present day challenges.
Sook-Yin moves from Hong Kong to London in the 1960s, with a dream of becoming a nurse. She’s utterly bewildered in the culture change, grateful for the friend she makes and the friends from home who are also in London. She leaves behind her small family, including a mean spirited brother.
In a dual timeline, and 30+ years later, we meet Li-Li/Lily, Sook-Yin’s daughter. She’s got her own struggles, recovering from a recent bout of depression. Compared with her successful sister, Maya, she feels inadequate. This mirroring of mother and daughter continues throughout the book, in a thoughtful, subtle way.
Lily gets a mysterious letter, informing her that she’s inherited a large sum of money, from someone she doesn’t know. The caveat is that she needs to go to a specified address in Hong Kong, within the mourning period. Her sister Maya has had the same letter, and declares that she’s not interested in the cash. But Lily needs the money, her dream of becoming a concert pianist is no longer possible.
WIz Wharton’s writing is beautiful, and I could actually see this on screen as a miniseries - the contrast between London in the 1960s and Hong Kong on the eve of being returned to China, would be a really effective way to tell the story.
I thought it all wrapped up quite quickly - the last chapter or two seemed to be centred on tying up loose ends, in a little bit of a rush. It felt like it could have been a bit longer, as if there was something edited out or removed from the original narrative. I would have liked to have read more about the glamour in Hong Kong.
It reminded me of Yolk, specifically the relationship between the sisters. Also Brit Bennett’s The Better Half, and actually, Fleabag (the TV series), again, around the sister dynamic. This should definitely be more prominent on social media, and I’m surprised it’s not been promoted very much, I really enjoyed it.
Sook-Yin moves from Hong Kong to London in the 1960s, with a dream of becoming a nurse. She’s utterly bewildered in the culture change, grateful for the friend she makes and the friends from home who are also in London. She leaves behind her small family, including a mean spirited brother.
In a dual timeline, and 30+ years later, we meet Li-Li/Lily, Sook-Yin’s daughter. She’s got her own struggles, recovering from a recent bout of depression. Compared with her successful sister, Maya, she feels inadequate. This mirroring of mother and daughter continues throughout the book, in a thoughtful, subtle way.
Lily gets a mysterious letter, informing her that she’s inherited a large sum of money, from someone she doesn’t know. The caveat is that she needs to go to a specified address in Hong Kong, within the mourning period. Her sister Maya has had the same letter, and declares that she’s not interested in the cash. But Lily needs the money, her dream of becoming a concert pianist is no longer possible.
WIz Wharton’s writing is beautiful, and I could actually see this on screen as a miniseries - the contrast between London in the 1960s and Hong Kong on the eve of being returned to China, would be a really effective way to tell the story.
I thought it all wrapped up quite quickly - the last chapter or two seemed to be centred on tying up loose ends, in a little bit of a rush. It felt like it could have been a bit longer, as if there was something edited out or removed from the original narrative. I would have liked to have read more about the glamour in Hong Kong.
It reminded me of Yolk, specifically the relationship between the sisters. Also Brit Bennett’s The Better Half, and actually, Fleabag (the TV series), again, around the sister dynamic. This should definitely be more prominent on social media, and I’m surprised it’s not been promoted very much, I really enjoyed it.