
Kevin Jared Hosein’s latest novel Hungry Ghosts is a remarkable achievement. Its story centres on a small community in rural Trinidad following the disappearance of Dalton Changoor, a wealthy and shadowy figure within the community. In the weeks following his disappearance, tensions rise. Personal histories resurface, threats are made and the whole community are forced to question if those around them are truly what they say they are.
What makes Hungry Ghosts so remarkable is its ability to function both as suspenseful thriller and beautiful, empathetic drama. As sensitive as it is brutal, Hosein explores the realities and complexities of 1940s Trinidad, combining those truths with heightened depictions of violence and threat. Mothers contemplate the loss of their children, young men explore their bourgeoning identities and blackmail notes are left in luxurious rooms.
Hosein combines rich, poetic description with stark, frank and often bleak examination, leaving the reader with an intricate and distinctly human portrait of a community attempting to survive, and individuals attempting to grow. Hedoes not present a world of easy answers, or clean-cut divisions between right and wrong. He offers something far more beautiful and painful than that. The novel has been described as an early contender for the Booker Prize; it’s easy to see why.
Hungry Ghosts, Kevin Jared Hosein (Bloomsbury)
Price: £11.89/£7.13 Ebook. Info: here
words HARI BERROW
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