Wharton’s ambitious first novel extends beyond this complex family saga about immigrants’ trials and tribulations to interweave two narratives of mother and daughter like a double helix. While Sook-Yin’s secret history in the 70s is told in the third person, the novel is framed through Lily’s searching first-person voice. Ghost Girl, Banana is an epic yet deeply intimate novel. I could feel the vibration of these women existing in the wider world; their stories are so skilfully shot through with the hum of change’ Kate Sawyer, author of Costa prize-shortlisted The Stranding

Lily suffered the worst among the two daughter of Sook Yin. Maya, her elder sister was the successful one and Lily feeling like she fall short of expectations lives in gloom and depression, severely shutting herself and her hardship was hard to read sometimes. I applaud her courage for standing up to find the truth, to understand her life better, to seek for the lost connection, to actually wanting to live. This story also highlights on the independence of Hong Kong for being its own country from China. Still, Wharton's portrayal of Hong Kong and her depiction of Sook-Yin's experiences in England were striking. I also found Wharton's exploration of migration, belonging, self-sacrifice, and survival to be compelling. Other themes receive a more superficial treatment, and this may due in part to simplistic characterisation (especially when it came to 'bad' characters...). Suddenly she receives a letter informing her that she and her sister have been left a significant inheritance by someone in Hong Kong. Despite her sister's efforts to dissuade her a series of unfortunate events led Lily to decide that she must travel to Hong Kong and uncover the mystery that surrounds her early childhood. An intriguing, beautifully written study of the stories we inherit. I loved being in Lily and Sook-Yin’s heads, my heart breaking for them . . . I loved it!’ Nikki May My immigrant mother had died and left me with half an identity about as useful as a broken mug,” Lily says in London in 1997. Lost, depressed and feeling inferior to her elder sister Maya, Lily’s quest for her heritage is sparked when she is unexpectedly named in the will of a wealthy Chinese stranger. She faces the life-changing prospect of inheriting half a million pounds on the condition that she visits Hong Kong to sign the papers.Please forgive me when I say that what attracted me to this book was my assumption for its cute title - I mean, what could have gone wrong; it has ‘girl’, ‘ghost’, ‘banana’ - only to realise that they are actually racial slurs - derogatory terms. Lily Miller (or Li-Li) grew up in London, the misfit daughter of a Hong Kong mother (Sook-Yin, who died when Lily was young) and white English father. When Lily is unexpectedly named as a beneficiary in a will of a wealthy businessman from Hong Kong, Lily sets out on a pilgrimage to Kowloon to discover her mother’s past, what caused Sook-Yin to be exiled to London and ultimately her tragic passing. However, Lily was still remembering a little bit of memories of her life in Hong Kong as well as the flight returning to London after her mother’s sudden death. She felt like there was an unfinished business. Although Maya, her elder sister, kept saying there was nothing, Lily knew there were secrets that Maya and their father had kept and she needed to return to Hong Kong to find out. It is also a poignant tale that carries the themes of grief, sibling rivalry and searching for validations that each of the characters in the story seemed to be in a forage of. That is to find their strongest footings where their hearts were most content with. Wharton mentions that the book is inspired by her late mother’s diaries, and a reader can’t help wondering how it might have worked as a memoir. Nevertheless, her syncopated narrative suspense pays off. Once the mystery is solved, the cloud of self-doubt lifts and Lily triumphantly completes her project of self-growth. If you believe in strong closure in fiction, you’re in for a treat.

Its one of the best historical fiction I read this year and also the most enjoyable despite how heavy the themes are. The writing was so easy to follow and I actually like how the author kept the conversation or dialogue suited to the person who are speaking so it makes you more invested in the story.Set between the last years of the "Chinese Windrush" in 1966 and Hong Kong's Handover to China in 1997, a mysterious inheritance sees a young woman from London uncovering buried secrets in her late mother's homeland in this captivating, wry debut about family, identity, and the price of belonging.