The Girl With A Thousand Faces by Sunyi Dean
I would like to thank the author and Tor for an advance copy of this novel in exchange for a fair and honest review
Publisher - Tor US / HarperVoyager UK
Published - Out Now
Price - $29.99 hardback $14.99 ebook in US
£16.99 hardback £7:99 ebook UK
When Mercy Chan washes up on the shores of Hong Kong with no family, no money, and no memories, the only refuge she finds is the infamous, ghost-infested slum of Kowloon Walled City. Since then, she has rebuilt her life, working for the local triad as a ghost talker and dealing with the angry and bitter spirits who haunt the district. The filthy gutters and cramped alleyways of Kowloon have become her home.
But the past Mercy can’t remember isn't done with her. An unusually powerful ghost has infested Kowloon’s waterways, drowning innocents and threatening the district. It claims to know Mercy―and secrets from her past that are best left forgotten.
As Mercy is drawn into a deadly cat-and-mouse game with this malignant spirit, she begins to realize that the monster she fights within these walls may well be one of her own making.
You can’t have ghosts without someone or something being haunted. Yet that excellent word ‘haunted’ can be used for the non-supernatural things that lurk in the darks of our minds that weigh on us, drive us and ultimately perhaps scare us most of all. In Sunyi Dean’s excellent historical fantasy novel The Girl With A Thousand Faces what starts as a fascinating energetic battle of supernaturally powered characters becomes an elegant and bittersweet examination of family secrets, revenge and hope.
In the Hong Kong of 1975 Kowloon is a city within a city. Massive connected buildings with streets above streets, hidden rooms and most of the most dangerous or unwanted people in the city lurk here. The authorities tend to ignore it and let the Triads rule it. It’s also filled with ghosts who often have good reasons to cause havoc when that happens most of the most accomplished for clearing things up is Mercy Chen the seasoned ghost talker who can actually talk to ghosts and get to know what they need to move on. But results may not always be tidy. Mercy’s employer the feared Triad leader Cobra Lily has known Mercy for years and the two women become aware of a new threat to Kowloon but what appears to be ambitious developers is actually a much bigger and more dangerous threat not just to Kowloon but very much focused on Mercy herself
This is an absolute delight of storytelling. The first act focuses on Mercy and she is a fascinating force of nature - a refreshing fifty year old hard as nails tattooed between of ghosts who doesn’t take lip from anyone. Dean makes you really feel the complexity, humour and sadness of Mercy who very much owns the stage. She also has a ghost cat that named Bao that can be incredibly cute and then….not so much. As she and Cobra Lily deal with the new menace we get the feeling both women have seen and done things to get them to where they are and yet you respect them. Gangland violence, corrupt politicians and ghosts everywhere suggest we are in for a big 1970s style urban fantasy. Dean knows when to announce scares and violence to put people in danger and no character is safe with compelling first act cliffhanger that unsettles EVERYTHING!
And then this story really morphs from a punchy tale of potential demonic battles in grungy Hong Kong to a much bigger tale. Dean changes everything by pulling back the lens to explore Mercy and our new antagonist’s pasts. Tonally we shift as our characters are younger and more innocent but we feel more in a tale of folklore with islands of ghosts, family secrets and magic. There is a fantastic and delicate story shift here with a light touch of second person narration to unsettle the reader as our narrator gets to know things our other two characters would never be aware of and they have an impish and yet warm side to their storytelling that makes you feel for these people we meet who are not aware they are about to change each other’s lives so much.
Little clues from the 1975 section start to make sense but the revelation of who and why our characters got here is a fascinating reveal not just for its ingenuity but also how it makes us re-appraise all the characters we have met to date. A punchy ghost battle in the 1970s has become an eloquent bittersweet look at guilt, revenge and forgiveness but also mixed with more amazing ghosts and what they can do. There are secret histories here that build up this version of the world where ghosts are real and feared but also very useful especially in a war. Dean makes every one of the pages count and for a pacy time skipping story it has an unusual level of depth and substance that makes it a very immersive read. Deans writing is eloquent subtle and mythic in the later sections which suits the complex tale that now unfurls and is skilfully handled.
The Girl With A Thousand Faces will entertain, surprise and hopefully make the reader ponder the big questions of how our past and the trauma in them follow us, make us and need ultimately facing or we can be forever haunted. An excellent ghost story that I very strongly recommend!
