Novel set in 1940s TRINIDAD

7th February 2023

Hungry Ghosts by Kevin Jared Hosein, novel set in 1940s Trinidad.

Bloomsbury’s Lead Fiction Debut for 2023

This is a richly told story that transports the reader back to 1940s Trinidad. Dalton and Marlee Changoor live a pretty resplendent life overlooking the barrack, where several extremely poor families occupy a meagre space each and it is here that Hans and Shweta Saroop live, together with their son Krishna. Theirs is a truly hard, hand to mouth existence.

One day Dalton disappears and Marlee covers up his absence. She has no explanation for his disappearance and fabricates a story that he has gone to Guyana on a business trip, giving her time to gather her thoughts and maybe find out what happened. She has had a sense that things have not been right with him, but this is an extraordinary turn of events.

Then odd and alarming things start to happen, and Marlee feels anxious about her safety. Hans accepts a handsome wage to become the watchman at her house, thus ensuring a better future for his family. As the mystery of Dalton’s disappearance unfolds, Hans discovers that there are unanticipated consequences to his decisions and the trajectory of their lives is altered forever.

The elaborate prose of Hungry Ghosts mirrors the lush and verdant landscape of Trinidad, the author clearly loves the creative nature of writing, imbuing his prose with colour and richness. Some readers may find the story is over-written but I enjoyed the breadth of vocabulary (I learnt quite a few new words) and liked the attention to detailed prose. I also learned about the multicultural roots of the island and that the east Indian population comprise about half the population.

In ancient Hindu traditions, if you commit certain kinds of sins, you transform into a ‘hungry ghost’, where your appetite is large but your mouth small, which brings about a state of perpetual hunger and craving. Somehow, for some of the characters in the book, whatever they goals, they are never enough.

Tina for the TripFiction Team

Catch the author on Twitter @kevinjhosein

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