Ghost Girl, Banana

DEBUT Chinese British author Wharton presents the well-crafted story of Lily Miller; her older sister Maya; and the mystery behind a bequest of one million British pounds sterling (500,000 pounds each) made by a stranger named Hei-Fong Lee that the sisters can claim only by going to Hong Kong. The unfolding narrative focuses on the journey to England of Sook-Yin Chen, the sisters’ mother, her journey to England, and her life as a wife of Julian Miller and a young mother. In alternating chapters, readers follow Lily’s harrowing journey to Hong Kong prior to the handover to China in 1997 and her attempt to learn more about and connect with her Asian heritage and also striving to uncover the link between Hei-Fong Lee and her mother. Wharton is skilled at creating characters, and though the frequency of shifting storylines owing to short chapters can be a bit daunting, it doesn’t wholly deter readers from comfortably following the text.