This story is told from two perspectives. Sook-yin from a Hong Kong family who moves from her hometown Kowloon to England to be a nurse in disgrace to repair the honour of her family. Sook-yin’s perspective starts in 1966 towards the later years of the Chinese Windrush. Lily is Sook-yin’s youngest daughter who barely remembers her mother who died in an accident in her home town of Kowloon. In 1997 the year that Hong Kong is handed over to China a strange inheritance sends Lily to Kowloon to uncover her families secrets. Lily’s older sister Maya is against the idea of Lily going to Kowloon and insists that they do not need the inheritance but comes across very secretive. What secret is she hiding and will it ruin the sisters relationship.
I liked this book but did find it hard going at times with the chopping and changing in the middle of some chapters and was very confused initially as to the connection between Lily and Sook-yin. It was a heartwarming story though and well worth a read and I would highly recommend it.
Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for the advance copy in exchange for my honest review.

Uneven execution aside, Ghost Girl, Banana makes for a compelling and immersive spanning decades and continents, exploring identity, belonging, and the tribulations of two women, mother and daughter, as they attempt to survive family expectations and deceptions. Some minor reservations aside, this debut certainly succeeds in establishing Wiz Wharton as an author to watch as her writing is confident and her story is thematically rich. The chapters alternate between Sook-Yin’s one, which takes place in the mid-60s and early 70s, as she leaves Hong Kong behind to work as a nurse in England, and her youngest daughter, Lily, during Hong Kong's Handover to China in 1997.
We know that Sook-Yin dies while Lily is still young and that after her death her presence was in many ways erased from their household. Lily, who has always been made to feel like the messy ‘problem’ child, suffers greatly because of this but her sister, whose ‘adulting’ is far more successful, avoids talking about her. Their father has also recently passed away which leaves Lily and Maya completely alone…or so Lily thinks until she receives a letter informing her of an unexpected inheritance. Fulfilling the inheritance’s requirements Lily, unbeknownst to Maya, travels to Hong Kong, where she begins to uncover her family’s secrets and her mother’s connection to the bequeather of her mysterious inheritance. In Hong Kong Lily is overwhelmed, both by her mother’s history and struggles to feel like she belongs when time and again she is reminded of being an outsider, that is a ‘ghost girl’.

“My mother is from Kowloon.” Over the years I'd evolved into the present tense and used it now by default. I found it more accessible for strangers; people were more amenable to what they expected rather than the thing that might have been true.


In Sook-Yin’s chapters, we follow her as she journeys from Hong Kong to England where despite her best efforts she finds herself having to make the best of unforeseen circumstances that lead to taking a nannying position at a childhood acquaintance's household. Through her ‘employers’ she meets a white British man who promises her a working opportunity that however never comes to fruition. Rather, he pursues her and pressures her into going out with him. Even at a long distance Sook-Yin’s brother continues to berate her and sways their mother’s opinion of her (that she is a failure, a disappointment, good-for-nothing, etc.). Sook-Yin’s reputation and well-being are threatened by an unexpected pregnancy, which leaves her with little choice but to marry Julian. Julian is manipulative, often playing the part of a loving, or inoffensive at least, husband who makes one disastrous financial mistake after the other. They eventually move to Hong Kong where Sook-Yin is reunited with a boy she harbored feelings for, now a wealthy married man, who also happens to be friends with her brother. Sook-Yin’s brother seems determined to make her life hell as he continues to behave appalling towards her, berating her for having married a ‘colonizer’ and for having had children with a white man. His hatred for her is so strong that he seems intent on sowing discord in her marriage.
The story’s setting and sense of time are strikingly rendered, both in Sook-Yin and Lily’s chapters. That we get to follow their respective experiences in England and Hong Kong gives the novel a comparative dimension and it makes us more aware of the similarities and discrepancies in their circumstances and in the kind of opportunities that were available to them. Both are made to feel unwelcome wherever they go: from the racism Sook-Yin experiences once in England to the hostility aimed at her back in Hong Kong for having married a British man (and is derogatorily called a ‘banana’); whereas Lily is biracial, and unlike Maya, who ‘passes’ or at least has attributes that fit in more with Western beauty standards, is often made to feel as if she was an ‘exotic’ attraction.
The storyline did become repetitive towards the middle and the latter half of the novel, as by then we already know the lengths Sook-Yin’s brother will go to in order to make her life hell. Sook-Yin’s husband is awful and I think the story lets him get away with a lot, painting him as injudicious and naive as opposed to a gaslighting exploitative liar. He was gross. Curiously enough Lily, who doesn’t know her parents' marriage or the many ways in which her father manipulated and betrayed her mother, and should therefore in theory have remembered her father fondly or with some level of warmth, affection even barely thinks of him…which is weird given that he died recently. But his existence and death barely make a dent in her narration…which is odd. Her dynamic with Maya and her rich awful husband brought to mind Fleabag, and I wish more could have been done to make these characters more rounded. We are told Lily is a messy disaster but she just doesn’t come across that way. She also sounded strangely old-fashioned and I had to keep reminding myself that she was 25. I just wish she’d had more of a personality but the novel ends up utilizing her as a vehicle through which we can uncover Sook-Yin’s past. This made the novel rather reminiscent of those dual narratives type of books where a daughter or granddaughter comes across a diary, some letters, a photo, or inherits a house that shines a light on some family secrets.

“The first rule of life is pretending. It was all a charade. A big bluff. The most surprising thing, however, was that as much as these people had deceived her, they seemed to have deceived themselves too. Was this the secret to belonging? Her cynicism turned to curiosity.”


I wish that Sook-Yin’s fate and the whole drama involving her brother, her husband, and her childhood friend hadn’t been so drawn out and that maybe we had been given more of Lily and Maya together. In general, I was more interested in the this mother-daughters trio than the male characters, all of whom come across as bland. I think that having Maya's perspective would have benefitted the novel, a triptych structure, a la Francesca Ekwuyasi's Butter Honey Pig Bread, would have allowed for a more nuance exploration of the sisters' relationship. At the end of the day Maya's voice, her whole character, is pushed off page only in favor of an unnecessary 'twist/reveal'.

Still, Wharton's portrayal of Hong Kong and her depiction of Sook-Yin's experiences in England were striking. I also found Wharton's exploration of migration, belonging, self-sacrifice, and survival to be compelling. Other themes receive a more superficial treatment, and this may due in part to simplistic characterisation (especially when it came to 'bad' characters...).
Despite my criticism, I would still recommend this novel, especially for those who are keen on stories where a character embarks on a 'life-changing' journey. I, for one, really look forward to whatever Wharton will publish next.

1966: Sook-Yin is exiled from Kowloon to London with orders to restore honour to her family.

1997: Sook-Yin's daughter Lily can barely remember the mother she lost as a small child. But when she is unexpectedly named in the will of a powerful Chinese stranger, she embarks on a secret pilgrimage to Hong Kong to discover the lost side of her identity.

Well - this book certainly is a page turner! The reader gets invested in Sook-Yin's family very quickly and definitely wants to know what happened in the 30 years between the two parts of the book. In that way it 100% delivers what's promised on the tin.

My criticism is that the characters fall a bit flat and appear very one dimensional . I'd also say that the story is not always told in the most intuitive timeline.

If you're into quick reads and / or family mysteries, you'll find this one very enjoyable!

Laudable debut - assured writing with good character development, believable sense of place(s) and a compelling plot. The female protagonist was likable and funny. I look forward to reading more from this author!

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 Vanishing 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.

Written from 2 points of views in past and present the story and narrated as womens fiction this story gives a great insight into Hong Kong and its culture. It’s a book about secrets and what we will do to protect them. A different read for mr but one I enjoyed

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC.

I'll definitely be looking out for other books written by Wharton, as I really liked this one. Telling the narrative over two separate timelines worked really well, and accentuated the family secrets element of the novel. The only thing I wish the author had delved deeper into was the mental health aspect (TW: suicide) as I didn't feel like we got to grips with that element of the story. But for the majority of the novel, no punches were pulled, and the story was all the better for it.

With thanks to the publishers and NetGalley for an advance review copy.

This is an assured, insightful, fascinating glimpse into the divided world of the migrant experience.

Lily and her sister Maya are the children of Sook-Yin, a migrant from Hong Kong, and an English father, mainly brought up in Brixton but with interludes in Hong Kong. The narrative juxtaposes two timelines, telling the stories of Sook-Yin in the 1960s and Maya's in the run-up to the restoration of Hong Kong to Chinese rule in 1997.

Having suffered with depression for much of her adult life, and following a suicide attempt while at university, Lily is protected and supported by her sister to continue living in their old family home in Brixton following their father's death, Sook-Yin having died in an accident in Hong Kong when Lily was still a child. Lily is in something of a rut, too unwell to work, when she is notified of a mysterious and substantial legacy from a businessman in Hong Kong. The legacy is for half a million pounds, but with one condition attached: she will only get the money if she travels to Hong Kong to reconnect with her roots. Maya denies any knowledge of any similar legacy to herself and tries very hard to discourage Lily from digging any deeper, but Lily finds a letter from the same firm of solicitors with an identical offer and becomes curious both about the legacy and her sister's reasons for denying her part in it.

This is the cue for her to travel to Hong Kong and make contact with her uncle as well as her mother's old neighbours, while her mother's story is gradually revealed. In unravelling her past history, Lily begins to fill in some of the gaps that have been there all her life, while parallels between her experiences and her mother's are deftly drawn.

The difficulties of integrating in a new country, with imperfect knowledge of the language and very different cultural references, are economically and effectively portrayed in the account of Sook-Yin's forced emigration to England and her difficulties in navigating nurse training in a London hospital, and paralleled in Lily's experience of Hong Kong thirty years later. Her uncle is as secretive and manipulative with her as he was with her mother, as a fascinating story emerges of secrets, shame, guilt, violence and resilience.

The writing style is readable and lyrical, and the narrative device of alternating the storylines and letting the parallels emerge is faultless. This is an impressive debut and deserves a wide readership.

A brilliant read. Thought provoking, astoundingly brutal at times and a real page turner.

When a letter arrives telling Lucy she has an inheritance from someone she doesn’t know, her past and the past of her mother Sook Yin starts a rollercoaster journey to finding the truth about her family and the secrets they kept.

An amazing read!
I thoroughly absorbed each page, harrowing at times but a real page turner for me.

I did find the timelines slightly confusing the way the author swapped into different perspectives very quickly. Towards the end I was glad of the quick changes and needed to find out more.

I think i finished this book in 3 sittings.

This is the author Wiz Wharton's debut novel but I hope it won't be her last. What a great start to her career. Would definitely recommend and thanks to netgalley for the read.

This is a wonderful book about heritage, family and finding out where you belong.

Wiz Wharton’s descriptions of Hong Kong are incredibly evocative. The clash of cultures is perfectly encapsulated by the British handover of the territory to China.

One of the best books of 2023.

Thank you to Netgalley for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book, and it is one of the best reads of the year, quite harrowing at times but engrossing and hard to put down. A recommended 5 star read.

This was a very enjoyable story told in way that left me with a sense of completion.

The story opens with Lily a young woman with obvious mental health issues and a relationship with a much more successful older sister that is both dependant, resentful and loving. She is conflicted by the fact that while her blond sister 'passes' as English she has always been noticeably Chinese even though she is almost totally disconnected from her Chinese heritage. Her mother, Sook-Yin, died when she was very young and her father and sister refuse to engage on the subject, denying even her vaguest childhood memories.
Suddenly she receives a letter informing her that she and her sister have been left a significant inheritance by someone in Hong Kong. Despite her sister's efforts to dissuade her a series of unfortunate events led Lily to decide that she must travel to Hong Kong and uncover the mystery that surrounds her early childhood.

At first I was worried the story was going to be all about a 20-something ‘finding herself’, a 20-something who did not seem to be coping with life, making wrong choices at every turn and hurting those around her.
However, once she decides to travel to Hong Kong she develops more agency and gradually becomes less naïve, more insightful and more able to control the trajectory of her own life. (I may have murmured 'Go girl!' on a couple of occasions)

The women in this story are flawed but strong. The men are less admirable: one character is particularly unkind and heartless but all the men in this story are weak and selfish with the women left to cope with the consequences and sort out the mess.

The story is told in two alternating timelines. Lily's 'modern' timeline is set in July 1997 at the time of the Hong Kong handover and the historical timeline telling the story of Sook-Yin, Lily's mother, takes place in the late 1970s.
This element was particularly well done with each timeline providing the reader with information pertinent to the other timeline, while keeping me emotionally connected to the characters in both.

Even as we approached the 'denouement' I felt I knew what was going to happen not because the author had failed to conceal a surprise twist but because the events made sense according to the storyline and the evidence presented in the narrative.

Highly recommended for an excellent storyline, wonderful characters and the way the author includes insight in to the racism and culture clashes experienced in both timelines

Ghost Girl, Banana ,in two different timelines, tells the story of mother and daughter, both stories are about belonging and finding your own place, facing cultural challenges.
Sook-in is forced by her family to leave Hong Kong and move to the UK, she is hopeful when training as a nurse, but soon realises she will have to face many challenges living in a country, which is not her own. She marries and have two kids with a man who cannot be trusted.
Many years later, one of daughters Lily reconnects with her past after receiving an inheritance offer from someone who has recently passed away in Hong Kong, the only condition to get the money is that she must go to Hong Kong. So she does, despite her oldest sister, Maya, telling her not.
Here, Lily, discovers her family secrets and the true story of what happened to her parents whilst they were leaving in Hong Kong.

A truly beautifully written book.

A stunning written family saga. Set in two timelines in the 60's and 90's between Hong Kong and London the stories follow a mother and daughter. The stories blend together with heartbreaking secrets. A truly gripping, fascinating read and insight into the history of Hong Kong being handed back to China. A wonderful book.

This is a wonderful depiction of one family's story told between generations and between Hong Kong and England. We get Sook-Yin's story, forced to leave Kowloon in the 1960's, separated from her family and forced into situations and encounters which leave her confused and bewildered. In the 1990's we get her daughter Lily's story in London and the mysterious letter she receives naming her as benefactor to long lost family members back in Kowloon. I found it really interesting, lots if historical details from 1997 when Hong Kong was returned to China, how people felt at the time and what life was like for both women in the different time periods and their own identities. Loved the writing, woukd definitely recommend.

I was really looking forward to reading this, having seen quite a bit of hype around it.

The story is told over dual timelines, Sook-Yin in the 60s and her daughter Lily in the 90s. Sook-Yin moves to London to work as a nurse initially and we follow her as she tries to find her way through different jobs before ending up married to an Englishman due to unexpected pregnancy. Julian promises the world but seems to expect things to land at his feet with no effort or any expectation of a return from him.

In the UK we see how she is the victim of racism and discrimination (while her husband remains oblivious/pretends its not really happening) and after things come to a head there they move back to Hong Kong. Julian shows just how financially incompetent he is among other things and Sook-Yin is determined to provide for her daughters and create a safe space for them.

In the chapters with Lily we begin to understand how her memories of her mum have been slowly been eroded over time by her dad and sister. Lily looks like her mum whereas Maya is white-passing and this adds to Lily's feelings of isolation and being 'less than', especially as she considers Maya to be more successful.

When the mysterious letter arrives advising of an inheritance from a stranger which she must travel to Hong Kong to accept, Lily decides to take action and travels alone to find out more about her family, her mum and how she died.

I did not find this the easiest read, at times I struggled with the slow pace especially with Lily's chapters. I am glad I stuck with it as overall I did enjoy the story, it just did not engage me as much as I was expecting it to. I felt there were gaps that were never properly filled, such as Lily's relationship with her dad and how the discovery of his behaviour affected her memories/feelings toward him. We see a bit of her relationship with Maya towards the end, but I felt this could have been developed more.

I also felt Sook-Yin's brother was treated too leniently - when he finally admitted his reasoning for treating her so poorly there was no resolution. I guess I was hoping for some form of karmic intervention, but the same with Julian - he basically got away with his horrendous behaviour and learned nothing.

Lots of people have loved this book and I'm sure plenty more will - it just didn't engage me like I hoped it would.

I received an advanced reading copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to NetGalley, Hodder and Stoughton, and the author Wiz Wharton.
I really enjoyed this story, vividly told with interesting twists and a period of history I knew little about. Really gripping with surprising developments that kept things fresh and gripping. Would recommend! 4 stars!

Ghost Girl Banana is the story of Sook-Yin, newly arrived in Britain in 1966, cast adrift by her family and trying to find her place in an alien culture. It is also the story of her daughter, Lily, who is living a lonely, unfulfilling life in London in 1997 until a generous bequest from a stranger draws her across the world to Hong Kong on the eve of the Handover.

A gripping tale of identity, secrets, belonging, and the meaning of family, Wiz Wharton's debut novel contains all the elements of a family saga. The two narratives provide a satisfying mirror to each other: we see both young women struggling with complicated relationships with their families, and Sook-Yin's tentative arrival in London is reflected in Lily's bewildered return to Kowloon, a place she barely remembers.

The novel asks important questions about how family can be shaped by money, by weakness, by strength and by love, and how time, place and culture can affect one's path. In both stories, the reader sees how guilt and shame can tear families apart.

Both Lily and Sook-Yin are compelling narrators, and as their respective stories gradually unspool, the reader feels invested in each woman's quest to get to the heart of the secrets being kept from them. The fact that the reader knows Sook-Yin's fate from the outset makes her story heartbreakingly poignant, and I couldn't help hoping that she would get a happy ending nevertheless.

Both protagonists are fully realised, complicated characters, and I was interested to learn that the story was inspired by the author's own background; she discovered her mother's diaries describing her experience as a Chinese immigrant in Britain in the late 1960s, and - like Lily - was unable to find answers to her many questions since her mother had passed away some years earlier. Although Wharton describes Ghost Girl, Banana as 'a tribute rather than a memoir', it is clear that her mother's 'uncomplaining stoicism' inspired the way Sook-Yin weathered her travails, while Lily's feelings of not knowing where she fits in because of her Eurasian heritage reflect Wharton's own. (The title is a reclaiming of the racist slurs often levelled at people with similar backgrounds to theirs.) Anyone who has grown up feeling displaced, estranged from their heritage or straddling multiple conflicting cultures will be able to relate.

I did wish that the author had included the point of view of Sook-Yin's elder daughter, Maya, the 'golden child' who has experienced the world differently due to her proximity to whiteness (she has her English father's pale skin and blonde hair while Lily has her mother's darker colouring), and who, as the older daughter, gatekeeps Lily's memories of their mother. The relationship between the two sisters was interesting, particularly as a parallel for the relationship between Sook-Yin and her older brother, and I would have liked to have heard more of Maya's perspective on events.

Taking the reader on a journey which spans thirty years and two continents, Wiz Wharton's vivid prose captures the distinct settings with energy and attention to detail, taking as much care in her rendering of a run-down semi in the Home Counties as she does in her description of the vibrant, dangerous bustle of Chungking Mansions.

Setting Lily's half of the story at the time of the Hong Kong Handover gave a fascinating insight into a very specific moment in history, and Wharton touches on how many in Hong Kong felt at the time - fears about the erosion of culture, language, free speech once Hong Kong was ceded to China. As Lily attempts to figure out her own identity, the region itself is wondering how it will fit into the wider world. Likewise, Sook-Yin's story takes place at a time of social change in Britain.

Thank you to NetGalley and Hodder & Stoughton for the opportunity to read and review an ARC of this book.

This was a real surprise of a novel. Beautifully written and incredibly moving. I had no idea what to expect with this one, I love when that happens, when you have no expectations and a book quietly sneaks into you heart, Ghost Girl, Banana is such a book.

In 1966 Sook-Yin is forced to leave Kowloon for London. Thrown into a new world that wholly different to all she is used to, she has to find a way to make her own path. Years later in 1997 as Hong Kong is being returned to China, her daughter Lily has no real memories of her mother who died when she was a child. When she finds out she is named in the will of a stranger, Lily travels back to her mothers homeland and discovers all the things she did not know about her mothers past and in doing so herself too.

I loved this. I loved these characters, I loved the vivid detail of the settings, I loved the realness. A gorgeous book. Cannot wait to read whatever Wiz Wharton writes next.

4.4.4 stars