This is a book I would probably never have chosen to read if it hadn’t been nominated for this year’s Walter Scott Prize, but although I didn’t love it, for reasons I’ll explain below, it’s a book I’m glad I’ve read. For a start, it’s set in Trinidad and I’ve only ever read one other novel set there – Fortune by Amanda Smyth, which was also shortlisted for the same prize a few years ago – and it was good to have the opportunity to learn more about the history and culture of that country.
The story takes place in the 1940s in and around Bell Village in central Trinidad. Thirteen-year-old Krishna Saroop lives with his parents in a sugarcane estate barrack, a ramshackle building with a leaking roof that is home to four other families. On a hill above the village is the Changoor farm where Dalton Changoor and his wife Marlee live in comparative luxury and where Krishna’s father, Hansraj – known as Hans – works on the land. When Dalton disappears without explanation one day, Marlee feels uneasy about being alone and asks Hans to stay on the estate overnight as a night watchman – and Hans agrees, grateful for the extra money she offers him in return. But as the days go by with no sign of Dalton coming home, Hans finds himself becoming increasingly attracted to Marlee and spending less and less time with his own wife and son.
Kevin Jared Hosein uses the disappearance of Dalton Changoor to explore the stories of Hans and Marlee and also Krishna and his mother Shweta, left behind in their squalid home while Hans spends his nights on the farm. Shweta is dreaming of a better life and at first is happy for Hans to take Marlee’s money in the hope that they can use it to buy a house of their own, but she changes her mind as she discovers that her husband is slipping away from her. However, Marlee is only one part of the problem; the relationship between Shweta and Hans has already been strained by the death of their first child, the ‘hungry ghost’ of the title.
If you think this sounds like a bleak novel, that’s because it is. I found it relentlessly miserable. Everyone has had an unhappy childhood, an unhappy marriage or both. We see people being abused, assaulted, blackmailed, murdered…even the animals don’t escape unscathed; there are some very graphic descriptions of the death of Dalton Changoor’s abandoned dogs, so be warned. I don’t usually have a problem reading books that tackle uncomfortable or challenging subjects, but I do like there to be at least a glimmer of hope and optimism and this particular book didn’t seem to have any. I don’t think there was a single character in the book that I actually liked.
Although I struggled to cope with the misery and sadness, obviously other people have enjoyed this book much more than I did and I would agree that it’s beautifully written. Kevin Jared Hosein was born in Trinidad and brings his island to life through his descriptions of the landscape, the birds and animals, the food, clothing and housing. He also captures the language and the speech patterns of the Trinidadian people and through the story of the Saroop family, who are of Indian descent, he explores the differences between the Hindu and Christian communities on the island. I can understand why it was shortlisted for the Walter Scott Prize and the fact that I didn’t like it probably means it’s going to win!
Book 18/50 for the Historical Fiction Reading Challenge 2024
She Reads Novels 
Oh dear. Still, it sounds interesting.
Well, you might like it better than I did. I hope so anyway!
You’re getting ahead of me on 2024. I still haven’t been able to find several from 2023. I finally had to buy three of them, my unfavorite Simon Mawer among them. But they haven’t emerged to the top of my pile yet.
I still have four to read from 2023. I’m doing better with this year’s list as some of the books were already on my TBR anyway.
I haven’t read any of them yet.
I’m not up for any story that’s so bleak or relentlessly miserable. At least not right now. At least the setting was a new one for you. I don’t think I’ve ever read a book set in Trinidad.
The setting was fascinating, but I definitely wasn’t in the mood for something so bleak!
It does sound interesting, but I’m with you – I like there to be something to contrast with the misery or it just becomes too bleak. And the dogs’ harrowing death is a no-no for me.
Yes, I think if there had been even a little bit of optimism to balance out the misery it would have made a big difference. And the descriptions of the dying dogs were so unnecessary!
Something interesting to note… I remember something Hosein said at his event at the Edinburgh Book Festival last year. An audience member had asked him if he had something against dogs and he replied that barrack men, women and children die violently in the book as well but most will care or preoccupy themselves more with the dogs than the humans. Which is how the Hindu residents were viewed as lower than animals by Christian colonial society. He also remarked that it was no coincidence that one of those dogs readers will sob more about was named White Lady.
The book also left a bad taste in my mouth after I read it but like you, I was glad I did in the end. It’s a very powerful and tragic piece of work, and I found the ending strangely moving with the sun coming up over half of the land and at least a few characters were seeking to break the cycle of abuse and violence.
Thanks for your comment, Roger. That’s very interesting – I hadn’t thought about it that way, but it does make sense.
Yeah, I am not in the right place for relentless bleakness right now.
Thanks for sharing your review with the Historical Fiction Reading Challenge