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Hungry Ghosts

Winner of the 2024 Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction

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Hungry Ghosts

By: Kevin Jared Hosein
Narrated by: Don Warrington
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Bloomsbury presents Hungry Ghosts by Kevin Jared Hosein, read by Don Warrington.

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* A BBC TWO BETWEEN THE COVERS BOOK CLUB PICK FOR 2023 *
* WINNER OF THE WALTER SCOTT PRIZE FOR HISTORICAL FICTION 2024 *

‘A shimmering slice of Trinidadian gothic’ THE TIMES
‘An astonishing novel’ BERNARDINE EVARISTO
‘Deeply impressive ’ HILARY MANTEL

The music was still playing when Dalton Changoor vanished into thin air...

On a hill overlooking Bell Village sits the Changoor farm, where Dalton and Marlee Changoor live in luxury unrecognisable to those who reside in the farm’s shadow. Down below is the barrack, a ramshackle building of wood and tin, divided into rooms occupied by whole families. Among these families are the Saroops – Hans, Shweta, and their son, Krishna, who live hard lives of backbreaking work, grinding poverty and devotion to faith.

When Dalton Changoor goes missing and Marlee’s safety is compromised, farmhand Hans is lured by the promise of a handsome stipend to move to the farm as watchman. But as the mystery of Dalton’s disappearance unfolds their lives become hellishly entwined, and the small community altered forever.

Hungry Ghosts is a mesmerising novel about violence, religion, family and class, rooted in the wild and pastoral landscape of 1940s colonial central Trinidad.

A 2023 highlight for: Financial Times * Guardian * Evening Standard * Daily Mail * BBC News Caribbean Creators Ghost Haunted
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Critic reviews

Immersive and beautifully written, it was impossible to put down
Magnificent . . . A tale in the Gothic tradition: think Jean Rhys’s Wide Sargasso Sea or Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy . . . A superlative book that deserves to win prizes
Lush, lyrical . . . If you read it now, you’ll be able to brag about it when it’s on all the literary prize shortlists
The language is as lush, moody and thrilling as the landscape . . . Electrifying
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
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 . . . [A] sumptuous, brilliantly written novel
A tale that throbs with the threat of danger, both emotional and physical … Hungry Ghosts is a dazzling debut
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
A striking debut of violence, religion and family struggles set in 1940s colonial Trinidad
[Hosein's] story, often brutal, ultimately tragic, is nevertheless lit by a wide embrace reaching beyond place and people to the bedrock . . . Immersive, persuasive: an elemental ‘portal to the Caribbean’ delivered in a distinctive voice
Both a family drama and an acute study of social structure . . . A highly recommended story of family and class divides that will break readers’ hearts
The biggest, most frightening, beautiful and alive novel I’ve read in as long as I can remember (Evie Wyld)
A vibrant portrait of Trinidad in the 1940s . . . [Hosein's] story, often brutal, ultimately tragic, is nevertheless lit by a wide embrace reaching beyond place and people to the bedrock. Immersive, persuasive: an elemental “portal to the Caribbean” delivered in a distinctive voice
In Hungry Ghosts, Kevin Jared Hosein takes a small place, a particular slice of Trinidad and writes it with the depth and scope that it deserves. And he does it because he knows it – truly, deeply. The result is a story that is harrowing, fiercely beautiful and deeply human. I won’t soon forget these characters or this story. I think we are going to be talking about this book for a long time to come (Ayanna Lloyd Banwo)
Hungry Ghosts is an astonishing novel – linguistically gorgeous, narratively propulsive and psychologically profound (Bernardine Evaristo)
All stars
Most relevant
Atmospheric story set within a poor Indian heritage community in 1940s Trinidad. Okay narration, but not always clear enough and didn't always leave a slight pause between different story arcs and characters involved in different situations, which sometimes made it slightly confusing to follow. Overall though, an excellent book.

Atmospheric Story Set in 1940s Trinidad

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What an atmospheric story read so brilliantly, I listened to it twice in succession

Mesmerising

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A novel about what can happen when two families of different class strata become dangerously emeshed.

Set in 1940’s Trinidad at the beginning of colonial rule. The Saroops are dirt poor and live communally in a shed known as a Barrak, with flimsy partitions separating each family.
A lot of the men from the men from the Barrak work for the Changoors, the rich couple who live in a mansion up on the hill.

When Mrs Changoor's husband goes missing, she soon starts to manipulate the situation to her own advantage.
This was an interesting novel to read as it was set in a time and place a knew little about, and I learnt a lot. It explores class religion and power in a new, to me way. To say I enjoyed it would be the wrong word to use, as it is very dark, but I am very glad to have read it.

A Very Atmospheric Novel

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This is a very good novel beautifully performed by Mr Warrington. It really needs a wider audience

Brilliant

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Hungry Ghosts is a gripping and atmospheric novel that vividly captures Trinidad in the 1940s, immersing readers in its humid, restless environment and richly layered human drama. The story covers personal struggles with the broader social and economic tensions of colonial-era.

Every character, no matter how flawed or virtuous, feels real and deserving of understanding. You are drawn into their stories, wanting to know not just their fates, but the forces driving them.

Hungry Ghosts is a remarkable novel that captures the essence of 1940s Trinidad with detail and emotional depth. The performance is excellent and it’s a book that seems to linger in your mind,

Gripping novel.

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