?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 From an unforgettable new
voice in Caribbean literature a sweeping story of two families colliding in 1940s Trinidad?and
a chilling mystery that shows how interconnected their lives truly are Trinidad in the 1940s
nearing the end of American occupation and British colonialism. On a hill overlooking Bell
Village sits the Changoor farm where Dalton and Marlee Changoor live in luxury unrecognizable
to those who reside in the farm's 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 all three born of the barracks. Theirs are hard
lives of backbreaking work grinding poverty devotion to faith and a battle against nature
and a social structure designed to keep them where they are. But when Dalton goes missing and
Marlee's safety is compromised farmhand Hans is lured by the promise of a handsome stipend to
move to the farm as a watchman. As the mystery of Dalton's disappearance unfolds the lives of
the wealthy couple and those who live in the barracks below become insidiously entwined their
community changed forever and in shocking ways. A searing and singular novel of religion class
family and historical violence and rooted in Trinidad's wild pastoral landscape and inspired
by oral storytelling traditions Hungry Ghosts is deeply resonant of its time and place while
evoking the roots and ripple effects of generational trauma and linked histories the lingering
resentments sacrifices and longings that alter destinies and the consequences of
powerlessness. Lyrically told and rendered with harrowing beauty Hungry Ghosts is a stunning
piece of storytelling and an affecting mystery from a blazingly talented writer.
