Ghost Town

Name: Ghost Town
Brand: Allen & Unwin
SKU: 9781787703919
Price: 34.0 NZD
Availability: OutOfStock

A haunting tale of murder, secrets and superstitions

By Kevin Chen

0.0 (0 reviews)

4.14

( 3,402 ratings, 727 reviews)

Summary

Ghost Town by Kevin Chen is a compelling exploration of identity and exile, weaving together the lives of several characters in a small Taiwanese town. The narrative delves into themes of family, alienation, and the inescapability of the past, as a prodigal son returns from abroad to confront long-buried secrets and tensions within a close-knit community. The novel intricately captures the intersection of personal history and cultural heritage in a poignant and thought-provoking manner.
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Format: Paperback / softback

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Book Hero Magic created this recommendation. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! IS THIS YOUR NEXT READ?

You might like this book if you enjoy exploring stories of individuals returning to their roots and uncovering family secrets. This novel weaves a narrative rich with cultural context, emotional depth, and a touch of intrigue, offering a compelling look at how the past shapes our present.

Ghost Town

A mesmerizing web of family secrets and countryside superstitions, the search for identity and clash of cultures, from the winner of the Taiwan Literature Award.

Description

'Rich and complicated.' - The News Lens

Ghost Town is a masterpiece of twenty-first century Taiwanese 'native soil' literature.' - United Daily News (Taiwan)

'Magical, fierce, pungent, and cruel.' - BIOS Monthly

Chen Tien-Hong, the only and desperately yearned for son of a traditional Taiwanese family with seven daughters, runs away from the oppression of his village to Berlin in the hope of finding acceptance as a young gay man.

The novel begins a decade later, when Chen has just been released from prison for killing his boyfriend. He is about to return to his family's village, a poor and desolate place. With his parents gone, his sisters married, mad, or dead, there is nothing left for him there. As the story unfurls, we learn what tore this family apart and, more importantly, the truth behind the murder of Chen's boyfriend.

Told in myriad voices—both living and dead—and moving through time with deceptive ease, Ghost Town weaves a mesmerizing web of family secrets and countryside superstitions, the search for identity and clash of cultures.

Book Hero Magic summarised reviews for this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! HOW HAS THIS BEEN REVIEWED?

Ghost Town by Kevin Chen is praised for its unsentimental, slyly humorous style and precise writing that captures the vibrancy and quirkiness of its characters. The novel is noted for its haunting portrayal of a Taiwanese family's struggles to escape poverty, enriched by insights into Taiwanese cultural issues. Reviewers highlight its magical, poetic nature, and it is celebrated as a rich, vibrant masterpiece of contemporary Taiwanese literature.

Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9781787703919

Publisher: Europa Editions (UK) Ltd

Format: Paperback / softback

Date Published: 25 August 2022

Country: United Kingdom

Imprint: Europa Editions (UK) Ltd

Contributors:

Translated by Darryl Sterk

Audience: General / adult

DIMENSIONS

Width: 135.0mm

Height: 210.0mm

Weight: 0g

Pages: 384

Collections

Fiction General Fiction Kevin Chen Literary Fiction

About the Author

Kevin Chen began his artistic career as a cinema actor, starring in the Taiwanese and German films Ghosted, Kung Bao Huhn, and Global Player. Now based in Germany, he is a staff writer for Performing Arts Reviews magazine. He's published several novels, essays and short story collections, including Attitude, Flowers from Fingernails, Three Ways to Get Rid of Allergies and other titles.

Darryl Sterk is a scholar specialising in the representation of Taiwan's aboriginal peoples in film and fiction, as well as a writer and literary translator specialising in Taiwan literature.