Hungry Ghosts: A BBC 2 Between the Covers Book Club Pick

Product Information

An astonishing novel – linguistically gorgeous, narratively propulsive and psychologically profound' BERNARDINE EVARISTO A trio of tilapia approached Krishna’s hand. ‘And they don’t bite your finger?’ Krishna asked, leaning over to watch. Kevin Jared Hosein's title Hungry Ghosts has its origin in Taoism, Hinduism and Buddhism. According to the Concise Encyclopedia of Hinduism, hungry ghost, or preta"literally means 'one who has gone away from here' and is used to indicate the disembodied spirit of a dead person, especially during the first ten days after death." The word is also used to refer to a ghost, generally the spirit of a great sinner, whose unfulfilled desire or hunger compels it to wander in search of satiety, straddling the worlds of the living and the dead.

He is also the author of three works of fiction for young adults: Littletown Secrets, The Beast of Kukuyo and The Repenters. Littletown Secrets, his first book to be published, which he both wrote and illustrated in 2013, was awarded the title of Best Children's Book of 2013, by the Trinidad Guardian. [6] It was followed by The Repenters (2016), which was shortlisted for the Bocas Prize and longlisted for the International Dublin Literary Award and the OCM Bocas Prize. [1] [9] His 2018 book, The Beast of Kukuyo, won second place for the Burt Award for Caribbean literature. [1] Author Kevin Jared Hosein has noted that in Hindu tradition a hungry ghost is destined never to get what it wants because its mouth is too small to satisfy its appetite. This image is a metaphor that enhances the author’s portrayal of Trinidad and Tobago in the 1940s, when the island was lurching through the final stages of American occupation and British colonialism. The author employs graphically suggestive imagery and richly textured prose laced with patois that illuminate the struggles of a society on the cusp of self determination and heightened expectations. Mrs. Changoor agrees and then states her terms about night guarding, which she then doubles his pay. To that, he cannot say no, plus she is offering meals with the income, the outshed, and his return at first light. You attended an event with Trinidad-born Nobel winner V S Naipaul, who, when asked for a writing tip, said not to bother because most stories have been told. This opening quote from Hungry Ghosts is from the Hindu epic, the Mahābhārata. Some have been curious about it.

A deftly written novel with evocative, lyrical prose, vivid characterisation and a heartbreaking plot. This book takes on huge themes of masculinity, grief, forgiveness, domestic violence, class and social mobility. Yet, they are all expertly handled by Hossein and provide much food for thought. I would say that the richness of this novel was almost a little too much at times, giving me a slight sense of reader indigestion as I worked at trying to take everything in. You damn good at this,’ said Krishna, impressed. ‘Go ahead, give it a try,’ said Tarak, still giddy. We’re trying to figure it out as well. For me, the internet has given me access that might not have been possible 10 years ago. I also think [Jamaican writer] Marlon James helped us [writers from the Caribbean] when he won the Booker prize and a lot of publishers were looking for a follow-up. Not long after that, Kei Miller sold Augustown for six figures. The Bocas literary festival also helped a lot; I think they started in 2012. Before that the literary scene in Trinidad was a wasteland.

Tarak narrowed his eyes at Addy, another spasm in his shoulders. Krishna put a hand on his shoulder, trying to calm the boy’s laboured breathing. He remembered what his father had once told him – that you cannot let your enemies know you’re angry. They’ll know what’s coming if you do that. I was not surprised to find that the author is a poet. Yes, often the precision and load of language poetry demands will bring wonderful freshness of image and avoidance of cliché to a novel, when poets also are novelists. And for sure, Jared Hosein does this. But far too often. Hungry Ghosts is beautiful, biblical, vast in scope and power, ringing with an energy that blasts from the intricate language. Hosein is a new giant of fiction." — Daisy Johnson, author of Sisters and Everything UnderTarak turned to the dog. ‘He probably aint like thinkin bout it. Same way I aint like thinkin bout it.’ Tarak dropped the bag. Lunged at Addy. The two tilapia flopped out into the pangola grass. Shane rushed over. Yanked Tarak off. Tried to, anyway. Tarak was stronger than them both. Pulled Shane into the grime. Their shirts soaked and heavy with grey mud. Some days ago, when the rain come down hard like this, seem they leave one of them tie up near the ravine. The dog slip down, the leash still on him. He tread water till he realise the rain wasn’t stoppin. And I suppose he give up at a point.’

Three woman who join together to rent a large space along the beach in Los Angeles for their stores—a gift shop, a bakery, and a bookstore—become fast friends as they each experience the highs, and lows, of love. There are a number of well developed and interesting characters. Shweta and Rookmin are probably my favourite. Wonderful, talented, poetic writing. Filled with words, plants and animals I don't know, some of which I actually looked up. Hosein has (re)created an entire world for me out of the barely subsisting poor of Trinadad in the 1940's, families living out of single rooms on an estate that floods, rots, carries disease and is subject to invasion from enemies. I can't say whether this is an act of imagination or is faithful to the society of the time, but it is absorbing and thrilling. The story in itself is really quite depressing whereby one unhappy event leads to a more unhappy one. It all begins with the disappearance of the local "bigwig" Dalton Changoor. His wife, Marlene, is quite content not to see him return but when she starts being harassed she invents a more pressing reason for her handyman, Hansraj, to stay at her home. Once there the two begin an affair. This affects Hans' whole family and one disaster leads to another. So the novel opens with this divine call. This novel wasn’t an easy write and it’s not going to be an easy read—you may be tempted to leave many times. Because the world of Hungry Ghosts is hell. Awashed in bodies and blood. And you are about to walk side by side with its inhabitants: Krishna, Hansraj, Shweta, Marlee, Rustam, Rudra, Tarak, Niala, White Lady, and the others.What luscious, troubling, shimmering cloth Hosein has spun… Hungry Ghosts reads like a Greek tragedy relocated to a gothic Caribbean setting worthy of Jean Rhys — a story of cursed families and inherited vengeance, inexplicable horrors and impossible dreams and a country haunted, as Hosein reminds us, by the ghosts of the indentured…Hosein gives us no easy answers in this sumptuous, brilliantly written novel.

A barnstorming fable about the perils of upward mobility, set in the dog days of colonial rule in the author's native Trinidad . . . Told with riveting verve, this is a terrific novel, pegged to national as well as domestic strife, peopled by flesh-and blood characters and plotted to keep us on tenterhooks about the story's pole-axing finale It’s rare that a title sums up a book as succinctly as Hungry Ghosts, Trinidadian writer Kevin Jared Hosein’s magnificent first novel for adults. At the top of the hill is the comfortable, but isolated manor house of the farm owner and his beautiful, young and lonely wife.

It more likely to flood out with the rain comin tonight.’ Tarak let out a small titter, rubbed his cousin’s shoulders. ‘Don’t worry bout them, boy.’ Rich in vocabulary and description, the novel situates characters in a meticulously detailed setting that evokes Middlemarch, with a similar empathy for human struggle...In scope and style, it’s not far off a masterpiece." — Financial Times However, where Krishna goes to school is where everyone with money lives (and where everyone in this God-forsaken shanty would love to go). Bell Village, where it appears that Trinidad is reborn, stands the Presbyterian Church, proud and tall An unflinching exploration of quotidian existence in 1940s Trinidad. Hosein is especially good at portraying the difficulty of life in a brutal world, and the paradoxically beautiful moments that visit those who struggle to survive. This is a very sensual novel, teeming with life but also frequently focused on decay, disease, death, and rebirth. The writing is rich and vivid. The subject matter is often unpleasant, but I was very invested in the story of this diverse, complicated, resilient community.