White Ghost Girls [Paperback]

Alice Greenway (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 5, 2006

Summer 1967. The turmoil of the Maoist revolution is spilling over into Hong Kong and causing unrest as war rages in neighboring Vietnam.White Ghost Girlsis the story of Frankie and Kate, two American sisters living in a foreign land in a chaotic time. With their war-photographer father off in Vietnam, Marianne, their beautiful but remote mother, keeps the family close by. Although bound by a closeness of living overseas, the sisters could not be more different — Frankie pulses with curiosity and risk, while Kate is all eyes and ears. Marianne spends her days painting watercolors of the lush surroundings, leaving the girls largely unsupervised, while their Chinese nanny, Ah Bing, does her best to look after them. One day in a village market, they decide to explore — with tragic results. In Alice Greenway’s exquisite gem of a novel, two girls tumble into their teenage years against an extraordinary backdrop both sensuous and dangerous. This astonishing literary debut is a tale of sacrifice and solidarity that gleams with the kind of intense, complicated love that only exists between sisters.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

For all its dreamy lyricism, this debut novel about two teenaged American sisters growing up in Hong Kong one summer boasts a satisfyingly complicated plot and a devastating conclusion. While their father is away photographing the war in Vietnam for Time magazine, 13-year-old Kate, the book's now adult narrator, and her big sister, Frances, revel in the simple life of Pok Fu Lam village. They swim in the harbor, dive for sea slugs and urchins, and listen to housekeeper Ah Bing's intense folk wisdom. ("Having babies is hard and sore," she tells them. "If you die, your spirit will sit in a pool of blood.") Their mother, on the other hand, spends her time pining for their absent father and painting watercolors that picture grassy western knolls. As Frances grows wilder that summer, Kate is forced to look more closely at their father's growing addiction to war reporting and their mother's lack of engagement with her surroundings and her family. Meanwhile, Vietnam, the Maoist cultural revolution and Frances's budding adulthood all threaten the "shipwrecked" sisters' intimacy. Along with death and sex, Greenway makes the illicit excitement of war and the sisters' opposing natures inextricably entwined. (Feb.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From School Library Journal

Adult/High School Kate and Frankie are American girls growing up in Hong Kong during the summer of 1967. Their father, a war photographer for Time magazine, can visit from Vietnam only sporadically. In the political turbulence of Mao's China and the United States's involvement in Vietnam, Hong Kong is hardly a safe haven, and their mother, overwhelmed by reality, retreats into the isolation of her painting. The sisters are supervised primarily by their amah, and when they decide to escape Ah Bing's watchful eye and explore the marketplace on their own, the consequences are devastating and far-reaching. As the summer progresses, Frankie becomes more and more reckless, and Kate must confront her ambivalence about her role as keeper of secrets and protector for her older sister. The author does a lovely job of exploring their relationship. Her sensuous prose evokes lush landscapes and languid afternoons. She masterfully interweaves peaceful physical beauty with the savage turmoil of war and paints an enthralling picture of the different ways that each family member responds to encroaching chaos. Despite the relatively short length of the novel, it is not a choice for reluctant readers, but teens who are interested in a different perspective on the Vietnam War era and enjoy being immersed in Eastern culture will find much to appreciate in Greenway's first novel. Kim Dare, Chantilly Regional Library, Fairfax County, VA
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 168 pages
• Publisher: Grove Press, Black Cat (January 5, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0802170188
• ISBN-13: 978-0802170187
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.5 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,024,586 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars sensual prose- compelling characters, August 23, 2006

By 

readermomamoma - See all my reviews

This review is from: White Ghost Girls (Paperback)

I LOVED this book. The language of the author is so beautiful- it feels like poetry. It is also very sensual- I could feel all of my senses participating in this book. Having never been to Hong Kong, I feel like I have experienced this city because of how beautifully this book is written. Not only was the book carefully crafted by its author in terms of its sensual descriptions, but the characters she created were compelling as well. Kate was someone I liked and Frankie was too- even with their flaws. I wanted so badly for things to be different for these girls (through the course of the story), but I was satisfied with how things ended. A beautifully crafted book with a good story and human characters- what more could a reader ask for?

24 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Must-read of a highly talented debutant, March 30, 2006

By 

Isabelle Rzehulka "Isabelle Rzehulka" (New York) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: White Ghost Girls (Paperback)

This is a jewel of a book. From the first paragraph I was drawn in by Greenway's beautifully light and succinct language. Having lived in Hong Kong myself, I could instantly see, smell and hear the mystical atmosphere of the former colony. But "White Ghost Girls" evokes Hong Kong's role as a sensuous backdrop even for those readers who don't know the city. The beauty of the book lies in its shortness. Every phrase is written, every word is chosen with extraordinary talent. The wonderfully poetic language might be perceived as inconsistent with the cruel and heartbreaking events that take place. Yet, it is essential to portray the fragile paradise in which the girls live their carefree lives as well as their relationships to their dreamy yet neglectful mother and their warphotographer father - all of which inevitably leads to disaster. "White Ghost Girls" is both a haunting story of two American teenage sisters experiencing an excruciating incident that changes their life forever, as well as an artistic portray of the cultural, political and social Hong Kong during the Vietnam War. I savored every single page.

10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Thoughtful character descriptions, December 21, 2006

By 

Loves to Read (Kansas) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: White Ghost Girls (Paperback)

What I liked best about this book is the way the author could describe how someone is feeling in the most understandable terms. What I didn't like about this book is sometimes I wanted more information. The author would write about an island or a beach or some location. But I am not familiar with Hong Kong or Vietnam so I didn't know where it was or if it was 10 minutes away or 6 hours. Also sometimes she would write of items that I didn't know about -- for example lychee fruit -- what does it look like? what does it taste like? do you peel it? etc. Sometimes I couldn't visualize the details in my imagination. But I did love the variety of characters and the rich descriptions of their feelings. It was a nice short book.