Ghost Girl, Banana

Set between the last years of the “Chinese Windrush” in 1966 and Hong Kong’s Handover to China in 1997, a mysterious inheritance sees a young woman from London uncovering buried secrets in her late mother’s homeland in this captivating, wry debut about family, identity, and the price of belonging.

Hong Kong, 1966. Sook-Yin is exiled from Kowloon to London with orders to restore honor to her family. But as she trains to become a nurse in cold and wet England, Sook-Yin realizes that, like so many transplants, she must carve out a destiny of her own to survive.

Thirty years later in London, having lost her mother as a small child, biracial misfit Lily can only remember what Maya, her preternaturally perfect older sister, has told her about Sook-Yin. Unexpectedly named in the will of a powerful Chinese stranger, Lily embarks on a secret pilgrimage across the world to discover the lost side of her identity and claim the reward. But just as change is coming to Hong Kong, so Lily learns Maya’s secrecy about their past has deep roots, and that good fortune comes at a price.

 Heartfelt, wry and achingly real, Ghost Girl, Banana marks the stunning debut of a writer-to-watch.  

Genre: Literary Fiction

"From the first pages, I was drawn into the worlds of Lily and Sook-Yin and the stories that bind them together across the years. Wiz is a master storyteller, weaving Lily and Sook-Yin's stories of belonging together with elegance and wit." - Ronali Collings

"Captivating characters and lucid prose." - Melissa Fu

"An absolute wrecking ball of a novel. Ghost Girl, Banana is an enchanting, suspenseful journey through family, distance, money and betrayal. I loved it so much." - Erin Kelly

"Fresh, funny, infuriating, heartbreaking - Ghost Girl, Banana is sure to be a massive hit. I adored it." - Emily Koch

"An intriguing, beautifully written study of the stories we inherit. I loved being in Lily and Sook-Yin's heads, my heart breaking for them . . . I loved it!" - Nikki May

"Sparkling prose and a page-turning plot combined with wonderful storytelling . . . An absolutely dazzling debut." - Julie Owen Moylan

"Ghost Girl, Banana is an epic yet deeply intimate novel. I was rapt throughout, propelled by Wiz Wharton's taut, immersive prose. She swept me up in Sook-Yin and Lily's mirrored journeys of discovery, spanning decades and continents, but always I could feel the vibration of these women existing in the wider world; their stories are so skilfully shot through with the hum of change." - Kate Sawyer

"A story of family, love, redemption and belonging, told with such heart and empathy. Essential and utterly unforgettable." - Fíona Scarlett

"A gripping and evocative tale of family secrets, courage, adversity and love. Sook-Yin and Lily's stories are beautifully told and truly unforgettable . . . such accomplished storytelling and gorgeous prose. Brilliant." - Emma Stonex