Hungry Ghosts
Penguin(March 2006)
Sylvia longs for a baby. After two miscarriages and years of IVF treatment,
she is obsessed with finding a cure for her infertility.
On the brink of a nervous breakdown, she abandons her hospital job and buys
a derelict cottage on the Greek island of Crete. Here, in the clean air and
sparkling sea of the Aegean, she sets about purifying her body, convinced
that this will help her conceive.
But in the hypnotic heat and beauty of the island, her desire for a baby is
gradually eclipsed by a new obsession: to find out more about Martin, the
troubled young expatriate builder she hires to help renovate the cottage.
Where does he vanish to each night? Why does he keep his mother's ashes in
his red campervan? And why won¹t he talk about how she died?
Debbie Taylor's second novel is a sensual, disturbing and beautifully-crafted
tale of desire, loss and the healing warmth of the Mediterranean
sun.
"Fabulous, beautifully written, subtle, vividly colourful and beautifully constructed, with a marvellous sense of place and characters you can really believe in... A terrific book" -- Joanne Harris
"Think of Shirley Valentine on fertility drugs and you will get a sense of this troubling and elegantly written novel... By turns weird and compelling, this makes for a memorable story" -- Daily Mail
"Sensual, tactile prose and lovely descriptions" --Sunday Times
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