Hungry Ghosts: A BBC 2 Between the Covers Book Club Pick

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_____________________________ * A BBC TWO BETWEEN THE COVERS BOOK CLUB PICK FOR 2023 * * LONGLISTED FOR THE WALTER SCOTT PRIZE FOR HISTORICAL FICTION 2024 * A shimmering slice of Trinidadian gothic THE TIMES An astonishing novel BERNARDINE EVARISTO Deeply impressive HILARY MANTEL The music was still playing when Dalton Changoor vanished into thin air... On a hill overlooking Bell Village sits the Changoor farm, where Dalton and Marlee Changoor live in luxury unrecognisable to those who reside in the farms shadow. Down below is the barrack, a ramshackle building of wood and tin, divided into rooms occupied by whole families. Among these families are the Saroops Hans, Shweta, and their son, Krishna, who live hard lives of backbreaking work, grinding poverty and devotion to faith. When Dalton Changoor goes missing and Marlees safety is compromised, farmhand Hans is lured by the promise of a handsome stipend to move to the farm as watchman. But as the mystery of Daltons disappearance unfolds their lives become hellishly entwined, and the small community altered forever. Hungry Ghosts is a mesmerising novel about violence, religion, family and class, rooted in the wild and pastoral landscape of 1940s colonial central Trinidad. A 2023 highlight for: Financial Times * Guardian * Evening Standard * Daily Mail * BBC News

Reviews

Immersive and beautifully written, it was impossible to put down * Independent *
Magnificent . . . A tale in the Gothic tradition: think Jean Rhyss Wide Sargasso Sea or Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy . . . A superlative book that deserves to win prizes * i *
Lush, lyrical . . . If you read it now, youll be able to brag about it when its on all the literary prize shortlists * Independent *
The language is as lush, moody and thrilling as the landscape . . . Electrifying * New York Times Book Review *
A barnstorming fable about the perils of upward mobility, set in the dog days of colonial rule in the authors native Trinidad . . . Told with riveting verve, this is a terrific novel, pegged to national as well as domestic strife, peopled by flesh-and blood characters and plotted to keep us on tenterhooks about the storys pole-axing finale * Daily Mail *
Hungry Ghosts reads like a Greek tragedy relocated to a gothic Caribbean setting worthy of Jean Rhys a story of cursed families and inherited vengeance, inexplicable horrors and impossible dreams and a country haunted, as Hosein reminds us, by the ghosts of the indentured . . . [A] sumptuous, brilliantly written novel * The Times *
A tale that throbs with the threat of danger, both emotional and physical Hungry Ghosts is a dazzling debut * Independent *
Rich in vocabulary and description, the novel situates characters in a meticulously detailed setting that evokes Middlemarch, with a similar empathy for human struggle . . . In scope and style its not far off a masterpiece * Financial Times, Highlights for 2023 *
A striking debut of violence, religion and family struggles set in 1940s colonial Trinidad * Guardian, Highlights for 2022 *
[Hosein's] story, often brutal, ultimately tragic, is nevertheless lit by a wide embrace reaching beyond place and people to the bedrock . . . Immersive, persuasive: an elemental portal to the Caribbean delivered in a distinctive voice * Kirkus Reviews (starred review) *
Both a family drama and an acute study of social structure . . . A highly recommended story of family and class divides that will break readers hearts * Library Journal *
The biggest, most frightening, beautiful and alive novel Ive read in as long as I can remember -- Evie Wyld
A vibrant portrait of Trinidad in the 1940s . . . [Hosein's] story, often brutal, ultimately tragic, is nevertheless lit by a wide embrace reaching beyond place and people to the bedrock. Immersive, persuasive: an elemental portal to the Caribbean delivered in a distinctive voice * Kirkus (starred review) *
In Hungry Ghosts, Kevin Jared Hosein takes a small place, a particular slice of Trinidad and writes it with the depth and scope that it deserves. And he does it because he knows it truly, deeply. The result is a story that is harrowing, fiercely beautiful and deeply human. I wont soon forget these characters or this story. I think we are going to be talking about this book for a long time to come -- Ayanna Lloyd Banwo
Hungry Ghosts is an astonishing novel linguistically gorgeous, narratively propulsive and psychologically profound -- Bernardine Evaristo
This is a deeply impressive book, and I think an important one. Its intensity, its narrative attack, the fascinations of its era and setting, make it impossible to tear the attention away. Energy and inventiveness distinguish every page -- Hilary Mantel
[Hungry Ghosts] is beautiful, biblical, vast in scope and power, ringing with an energy that blasts from the intricate language. Hosein is a new enormous giant of fiction -- Daisy Johnson

Author Bio

Kevin Jared Hosein is a Caribbean novelist. He was named overall winner of the Commonwealth Short Story Prize in 2018, and was the Caribbean regional winner in 2015. He has published two books: The Repenters and The Beast of Kukuyo. The latter received a CODE Burt Award for Caribbean Young Adult Literature, and both were longlisted for the International Dublin Literary Award. His writings have been published in numerous anthologies and outlets. He lives in Trinidad and Tobago.