Such a deep and emotional book on the power of belonging and family and connection. Really beautiful prose and narrative and would look out for more from the author

Thank you for allowing me to read the advance review copy of this book. However, the storyline was quite boring with not enough depth to the character. I found myself not empathising with any of them particularly.

Beautiful prose and perfect suspense, I couldn’t put this down. Great attention to detail.

Thank you for my copy.

I am absolutely delighted to share my thoughts on Ghost Girl, Banana, a beautifully crafted debut by @wizwharton 💛. As an huge lover of coming-of-age historical fiction, this novel captivated me with its profound exploration of family dynamics, identity, and what it truly means to belong.

The story intricately weaves the lives of a mother and daughter, with Sook-Yin’s narrative set against the backdrop of the final years of the “Chinese Windrush” in 1966, and her daughter Lily’s tale unfolding during the momentous 1997 handover of Hong Kong to China.

Lily has always struggled with her identity, having lost her mother at a young age and raised British but looking Chinese, often feeling like the titular “Ghost Girl” (a translation of a Chinese insult for biracial people). Lily is thrust into the past when she is unexpectedly named in the will of a powerful Chinese businessman. However, the inheritance comes with a stipulation: she must travel to Hong Kong to claim it. Lily, who only knows about Sook-Yin through the stories told by her seemingly perfect older sister, Maya, embarks on a secret journey to Hong Kong. This trip unravels an emotional and heartbreaking exploration of her family’s history and buried secrets.

In parallel, we trace Sook-Yin’s journey as a young woman from Hong Kong to London, where she is sent to train as a nurse on the other side of the world. As her life in England begins to unfold, she realizes, like many immigrants, that survival is never straightforward.

Wharton’s writing style is both lyrical and moving, painting vivid pictures of the two settings of Hong Kong and London. I read this book gripping and immersive story in just three days, and if I could I knew I would have done it sooner. Her prose is rich with detail, and the alternating timelines are seamlessly woven together, creating a cohesive and compelling narrative and I was equally invested in Sook-Yin and Lily’s journeys.

In addition to its exploration of identity and belonging, this novel unfolds as a rich family saga, delving into the intricate dynamics between mothers and daughters, as well as sibling rivalry.

Ghost Girl, Banana is a wonderful debut novel, and I love how Wharton portrays our universal quest for a place to call home. I eagerly await her next book.

Highly recommend!

A very interesting story of belonging and identity told from alternating viewpoints of a mother and daughter in different decades in both Hong Kong and London. Neither locale is very familiar to me, even as a reader, so I found the settings as fascinating as the family dynamics that propel the story. The author does a particularly good job of bringing Hong Kong to life in the years and days leading up to the handover from Great Britain to China. But all of that is background to two women who are fighting their own way to independence and self awareness. I was captivated.

I absolutely loved this, the author is so skilled in describing places and people I felt I knew every place and every person, likeable or not! I think this would make a brilliant film or mini series, it's such an interesting story with such interesting characters. Please make it happen

I loved this story and the two timelines - which the author goes so effortlessly between. The London and Hong Kong settings are brilliant and the main character, Lily is funny, strong, interesting and you're really rooting for her to get the answers she needs. Have recommended this to lots of people!

Powerful dual timeline novel exploring family dynamics, culture and identity.

Sook-Yin was forced to leave Hong Kong in the 1960s by an overbearing brother, where she trained to be a nurse and married an English man.

Thirty years later, her daughter Lily has been named in the will of a wealthy Chinese stranger. She remembers little of the mother who died when she was a child and, despite her sister's reticence, embarks on a journey to learn more about that side of her identity and heritage.

A wonderful debut.

This generational story was such an easy read because of the wonderful way it was written. It was also harrowing in some places. Some dual timeline stories are hard to follow but this was very good because of the plot. The characters were exceptional and you felt as if you knew them. Thoroughly recommend

A beautifully written family epic, told from the perspective of mother and daughter with 30 years separating their stories.

A beautiful and thought provoking tale split into a mother and daughter’s story. Very compelling and interesting. A part of history I wasn’t aware of so that added to this. Absolutely adored the characters and have bought this for my 2 best friends.

I thought this was a really powerful debut novel. I really loved the dual narrative between mother and daughter throughout and the settings of London and Honk Kong as central locations. Gripping and enthralling.

Ghost Girl, Banana

The novel is told over two timelines. In 1966 Sook-Yin moved from Hong Kong to London to become a nurse. In 1997, we meet Lily Sook-Yin’s daughter who is confronted by a mystery? Why has a stranger in Hong Kong left her a substantial sum of money in his will?
The dual timeline keeps you wanting more at the end of each chapter.
Although when I reached the final chapters, I was torn between reading faster (I wanted to get to the heart of what had happened) and slowing down. This is one of those amazing novels you really don’t want to end because the protagonists are incredibly relatable and likable.
This is a novel about family, identity, love, betrayal and the consequences of the choices we make.
Wharton ties up all the loose ends and reaches a heartbreaking but satisfying conclusion.
It is an absolutely beautifully written debut novel that leaves me looking forward to what more Wiz Wharton has to offer. .

I think I wanted to read this book primarily because of the location of the past timeline. The 1966 and around timeline is based in colonial Hong Kong as well as London, while the 1997 timeline is almost exclusively in Hong Kong.
We have two sisters who are extremely different, not just in temperament but in appearance. One of them resembles their Chinese mother, whom she does not actually have many memories of, while the elder is more like their English father. After the father's passing, contact is made from HK, and a substantial inheritance has been left to the girls. Lily uses this as an opportunity to finally find out things about her mother that she craves.
There are a lot of moving parts to this story. There is the chaos of arriving at a country which was in transition at the time (in 1997), the lack of preparation about what to expect and finally, the confusion about the past since very few who remember are left to talk.
I wanted to like this book more than I did. It has all the parts of dual-timeline narratives that I usually appreciate, but the manipulation by all the men in the narrative is never completely addressed or resolved, making it a futile action to even figure things out this late after all those years.
I did not get the 'feel' that I was looking for when it came to the city itself since it exclusively stayed far away from places I was more familiar with, although the conversation about the metro was a little nostalgic. The inclusion of the protests about the handover also did not fit with the rest of the story, and it should have worked for the complete picture, but it took away from the tension in the main narrative.
I liked the author's writing overall and would recommend this book to people who want to read about these particular times and places.
I received an ARC thanks to NetGalley and the publishers, but the review is entirely based on my own reading experience.

completely intrigued by the title and captivated by the story. Families, identity, time and place are all wonderfully addressed in this captivating and memorable tale.

I had a galley of this book for a while and put off reading it, not knowing what it was about but mistakenly thinking it was sad-girl Brit lit. How wrong was I!

Ghost Girl, Banana is a mother-daughter story set in London and Hong Kong, in a dual timeline from 1966-1977 and in 1997, at the time of the handover of Hong Kong by Britain to China.

It’s a story of identity, belonging, family secrets and sibling rivalry written in clean, crisp prose and in shifting chapters that at the beginning of the story are a little jarring, but give the story pace and power as it reaches its conclusion.

Lily Miller (or Li-Li) grew up in London, the misfit daughter of a Hong Kong mother (Sook-Yin, who died when Lily was young) and white English father. When Lily is unexpectedly named as a beneficiary in a will of a wealthy businessman from Hong Kong, Lily sets out on a pilgrimage to Kowloon to discover her mother’s past, what caused Sook-Yin to be exiled to London and ultimately her tragic passing.

With a deft and elegant style, the book addresses biracial identity and racism, and the difficulties women face carving out an existence and a future for their children when the men in their life are worse than useless.

I loved Sook-Yin’s story and her dogged perseverance when everything that could go wrong for her did go wrong. I also loved Lily’s first person narrative, and the way in which she found herself and listened to her inner voice, which others in her life had muted for too long.

At the end of the book, the author has a lovely note explaining how the book was inspired by her own mother’s diaries which she found only after her mother’s unexpected death.

The title of the book is derived from two racial slurs: In Hong Kong, Lily is called “gwei mui” or ghost girl, because she doesn't fit the mould of Chinese. Her mother is called “banana” by her family because while she's ethnically Chinese, she is perceived to have become westernised on the inside.

A moving, funny, fresh and intriguing story that many readers will warm to and find relatable. 4/5⭐️

Ghost Girl, Banana was published by @hodderbooks in May and is widely available. Many thanks to the author, publisher and @netgalley for the arc. As always, this is an honest review.

As a former Hong Kong resident, this book really spoke to me and I enjoyed so much about it. Now living in London, I felt I was able to relate to so much of it and also discover a new perspective as well.

A compelling and immersive novel following a young woman uncovering long buried family secrets on a pilgrimage back to the country of her mother's birth. Slightly uneven in execution but highly compelling, exploring themes of identity, belonging, expectations and deceptions..

Wow. This book was vivid, heartfelt and thought-provoking - a study of the complexity of familial relationships and belonging, that addresses so many big and important subjects - not least colonialism and race.

The narrative was deftly-plotted, compelling and beautifully-woven, oscillating between Sook-Yin's struggles in a new land and Lily's mental health difficulties.

It's the kind of writing that makes you want to grab for the highlighter on every page. I'm so glad for the success Wiz has seen with this book and am eagerly awaiting the next!

This is a wonderful debut; beautifully written, a story about family and finding answers. I really liked how the story was written; alternate POV chapters from Lily and Sook-Yin and different timelines. The chapters were nice and short. It worked well and it kept me focused.

I liked how the characters developed as the story unfolds, they’re definitely strong characters, it’s an intriguing storyline and I feel like the two stories just weave perfectly together.

I really liked the authors writing and how detailed everything is, it really did make the story come to life.

I’m definitely looking forward to reading more by this author. Fantastic debut!