Sign in with Facebook
Loading...
33rd out of 59 books
—
39 voters
White Ghost Girls
Summer 1967. The turmoil of the Maoist revolution is spilling over into Hong Kong and causing unrest as war rages in neighboring Vietnam. White Ghost Girls is the story of Frankie and Kate, two American sisters living in a foreign land in a chaotic time. With their war-photographer father off in Vietnam, Marianne, their beautiful but remote mother, keeps the family close b...more
Paperback, 192 pages
Published
January 5th 2006
by Grove Press, Black Cat
Friend Reviews
To see what your friends thought of this book,
please sign up.
Community Reviews
(showing
1-30
of
914)
The writing in White Ghost Girls is exquisite, its language as rich and precise as a prose poem's. And unlike some prose-perfect short novels, this one also satisfies with story. The plot centers around a tragedy suffered by an American family living in Hong Kong during the Vietnam War (the father is a war photographer). Greenway evokes beautifully the dynamic, generous, possessive, manipulative, and hungry loves shared among spouses, parents, children, and especially siblings. The relationship...more
When I first read about this book, I thought I would love it: Hong Kong, family secrets, thoughtful and secretive teenagers, loss. Right up my alley, right? Then, as I read it, I really wanted to hate it, because Alice Greenway is writing about the things I tend to write about (family secrets, thoughtful and secretive teenagers, loss). And she does it sooo beautifully. Her prose is so taut that it almost hurts. But I couldn't hate it. It's stark and lyrical, yet pulsing with energy and raw pain....more
Interesting premise for the book but a little shallow for me. You really don't have to have good knowledge of the Vietnam war even though the story is written in that time. Two white girls (called white ghost girls in Hong Kong) live with their mother in Hong Kong while their father is a photographer who travels to Vietnam for 6 weeks at a time. The story gives a chronicle of the girls, how their lives are affected by the war, living in a foreign country, only having a part-time father, having a...more
White Ghost Girls by Alice Greenaway is a haunting story about two sisters growing up in Hong Kong. This is another book that I am still thinking about. The younger sister is the narrator and so we see the older sister's actions through a bit of a filter. It has me thinking about the details that were left out that would explain why the older sister acted the way she did. In addition, this author has a poetic way with words. Every once in a while I would stop and reread a sentence or paragraph n...more
I finished this book last night and am still attempting to put my feelings/thoughts into words. I saw this on the clearance rack at Borders and almost passed it by until I saw Isabel Allende (my most favorite writer) had actually reviewed the work so I bought it.....
White Ghost Girls is set in 1960's Hong Kong. The narrator is a 13-ish year old girl - Kate - whose family is living there because her father is a war photographer in Vietnam. He visits every six weeks and the rest of the time Kate l...more
White Ghost Girls is set in 1960's Hong Kong. The narrator is a 13-ish year old girl - Kate - whose family is living there because her father is a war photographer in Vietnam. He visits every six weeks and the rest of the time Kate l...more
A novel which takes you to enchanting worlds and dark depths. Essentially this is a very simple story of two sisters living in Hong Kong with their mother. The white ghost girls are the two sisters and the book tells the story for Frankie but Frankie's story is narrated by little sister Kate. The two sisters striking in their differences one feisty while the other fights a losing battle to tame and in her view "save" her sister. Events move out of the two sister's control and intense emotions mo...more
This is a story about sisters.... loss... pain...an American was in Vietnam all remembered through the eyes and heart of an adolescent girl. I am intrigued by the portrayal of the culture- sights and traditions of Hong Kong in the late 60's. Some the same as I remembeer it just 5 years ago... some describes a place I have never been to.
This book is heart warming and wrenching all at once. Here are two sisters coming of age in not so innocent times. Instead of worrying about things adolescent gi...more
This book is heart warming and wrenching all at once. Here are two sisters coming of age in not so innocent times. Instead of worrying about things adolescent gi...more
could not get into this no matter how hard i tried...the first page is nothing but questions and it lost me...i read to page 30, three times, but could never focus on the characters or the storyline
White Ghost Girls is set in Hong Kong during the 1960s. Frankie and Kate are two American girls living with their mother while their photojournalist father is in Vietnam photographing the war. Kate is quiet and shy. Frankie is rebellious, but also more insecure. Both are struggling to find a place in the worlds of each of their parents, but especially want to connect with their father.
Some of the prose is almost lyrical and haunting. And the Chinese obsession with ghosts foreshadows the tragic...more
Some of the prose is almost lyrical and haunting. And the Chinese obsession with ghosts foreshadows the tragic...more
This is a beautifully written but haunting story about two teenage American sisters living in Hong Kong during the summer of 1967. The author recounts the experience from the perspective of the younger sister Kate, who is overshadowed by her rebellious, risk taking sister, Frankie. Their father is a war-photographer in Vietnam and their beautiful but remote mother leaves her daughters supervision to their Chinese nanny. The girls find themselves in situations that are confusing and dangerous. Be...more
Picked up this book in anticipation of trip to China. While not really about China culture perse, it did provide some insights into life.
The book is very short and a quick read. It focuses on the life of two American Girls living in Hong Kong. I certainly learned that there is a lot about the history of China and Hong Kong that I am ignorantly unaware. The girls are clearly stuck between being children and becoming young women and are struggling internally with the struggles of coming to maturi...more
The book is very short and a quick read. It focuses on the life of two American Girls living in Hong Kong. I certainly learned that there is a lot about the history of China and Hong Kong that I am ignorantly unaware. The girls are clearly stuck between being children and becoming young women and are struggling internally with the struggles of coming to maturi...more
Well this book ended up being good. However, it was very slow getting started. I almost quit reading it several times because it skipped around so much. This book did not catch my interest until page 60 which I think is rather sad. Like I said, I almost put this book down several times, but the only thing that kept me interested (before page 60) was the fact that I knew something bad was going to happen and I wanted to find out what that something was. So yes this was an ok book, but definitely...more
This was a very unusual book. It was almost like being in someone's dream of reading their stream of conscience. At times it felt a bit obscene that I was inside this child's head and hearing about her experiences. It's a quick read, and I do recommend it because it is so unusual and about something I knew nothing about- Americans living abroad during the Vietnam War. Clearly the author had personal experience. I enjoyed reading things seen through a pre-teen/young teenager's perspective and bei...more
At first I was somewhat annoyed by the mature tone of Kate the child narrator; there was a faint imbalance between narrative complexity and the naive understanding of the little girl.
Midway I began to see how the novel resembles a poem, where images and emotions have dual meaning; one can interpret them from the child's or the adult (narrator) point of view.
There are several repeated phrases, and if I am not mistaken also a short passage at the end that echoes the opening paragraph of the book...more
Midway I began to see how the novel resembles a poem, where images and emotions have dual meaning; one can interpret them from the child's or the adult (narrator) point of view.
There are several repeated phrases, and if I am not mistaken also a short passage at the end that echoes the opening paragraph of the book...more
I wasted my time on this book. If there was a plot I missed it. Why I kept reading I’ll never know and why this is listed as a YA story I’ll never know. I thought it was but together poorly. It was written as facts all in short sentences that I had to force myself though. I didn’t like one character and hated all the choices they made, even the side characters. The only parts I liked were the descriptions of Hong Kong. The only time I’d ever pick up another Alice Greenway books is if its non-fic...more
At first, I was going to give up reading this book. Though it was written very beautifully, it seemed dull. Many of the war and Vietnam words I didn't understand. But after page 60...BAM! I couldn't put it down.
The story is about sisters Frankie and Kate who live in Vietnam with their parents. The family lives there because the father has to be over seas taking pictures of the Vietnam war. While both sisters are very close, they also compete for their dad's attention when he is home. Frankie (th...more
The story is about sisters Frankie and Kate who live in Vietnam with their parents. The family lives there because the father has to be over seas taking pictures of the Vietnam war. While both sisters are very close, they also compete for their dad's attention when he is home. Frankie (th...more
reading this with two others: "My name is Memory" & "Still Alice."
This is a SISTERS book, which is ultimately why I choose to read it.
Set in 1967 in Vietnam and Hong Kong, Frankie and Kate live with their mother in Hong Kong, while their father is a war photographer off in Vietnam.
"In this novel, the girls tumble into their teenage years against an extraordinary backdrop both sensous and dangerous. This is a tale of sacrifice and solidarity gleams with the kind of intense, complicated love...more
This is a SISTERS book, which is ultimately why I choose to read it.
Set in 1967 in Vietnam and Hong Kong, Frankie and Kate live with their mother in Hong Kong, while their father is a war photographer off in Vietnam.
"In this novel, the girls tumble into their teenage years against an extraordinary backdrop both sensous and dangerous. This is a tale of sacrifice and solidarity gleams with the kind of intense, complicated love...more
While I landed on two stars I think it's only because I'm an English teacher and I could appreciate the attention to detail in the setting, which is beautifully done.
The characters were pretty one-dimensional, the story (especially the twist at the end with Frankie) was uninteresting, except for the incident in the bazaar, which was not even developed to its potential. I think what made this book really hard to read was the fact that it's almost all setting with very little dialogue or characte...more
The characters were pretty one-dimensional, the story (especially the twist at the end with Frankie) was uninteresting, except for the incident in the bazaar, which was not even developed to its potential. I think what made this book really hard to read was the fact that it's almost all setting with very little dialogue or characte...more
I could relate to parts of this story, as I could imagine the place near the hillside graves where the girls played. Expatriates in British Hong Kong, two sisters with a bit of a rivalry (if I remember correctly) and not a happy story in the end. Yet I wouldn't have minded it continuing for a while. Although I remember reading the book, it has taken me a while to find the title again. {"white ghost" is a derogatory name I was called when I lived there, too}
I read this novel for the historical aspect, the setting being the Vietnam War. Instead of having your typical soldier's life on the battlefield story, you get the experience of how an American civilian, 2 young girls in this case, lived in Vietnam during the war while their father worked as a photographer there. The older girl rebels while the younger sister is constantly trying to save her from herself. This was a very short and easy read. Good for a weekend.
I knew in the book store that I would enjoy this one. Some books just have a way of talking to you before you even start them. Ms. Greenway has captured life in a beautiful heart wrenching way that is a must read I believe. Can't wait for more from her. Her writing is inspiring and captures you the first few pages. I love books like this, you can hardly wait to stick your nose back in them and read more. When the book is done you crave more.
I loved Alice Greenway's lush description of childhood in Hong Kong; I could feel the weather, see the landscape, and smell the cooking. But the story about the out of control older sister Frankie told by the younger, well-behaved sister Kate I just didn't care for. I could not understand how two girls could be allowed to grow up so wildly unprotected. My own little brother and sister attended the American School in Tokyo, so I know how wild little white kids can be overseas, and I know how loca...more
Good, but I wanted to to be so much better. Expat family, two sisters who are rivals, dad is correspondent during the Viet Nam War and mom really just wanted to paint. I was reading a book about China and the Cultural Revolution at the same time, so some of the history was interesting, and the prose was lovely, but I hated the modern day scenes and the whole book came up short for me.
So much of this book is beautiful poetry with short vignettes of the expatriate life in Hong Kong during the late 1960s. The scenes are lush and well-drawn, as well as the characters multidimensional. I would say the ending feels strange and maybe slight compared to what I felt was building, but the writing is able to prop up the lean plot and make up for any narrative flaws.
This was really beautiful and descriptive writing about Hong Kong, which I really enjoyed. It was also quite short - I finished it in just a couple hours. The story was intriguing but kind of maddening, as you can't really get into the tormented character's head... but I think that was the point. An interesting read, more for its setting than anything else.
This book was so beautifully written, I;'m really into reading about Asian cultures. My boss recommended this book because she thought it was really accurate and well written (she grew up in china so ummm... yeah). This book was really great anyone who likes books about Korea should definitely check this one out.
White Ghost Girls follows two American sisters who are taken to live in Korea with their family while their dad photographs the war. This story tells of how they are so carefree and fun...more
White Ghost Girls follows two American sisters who are taken to live in Korea with their family while their dad photographs the war. This story tells of how they are so carefree and fun...more
It's been awhile since I've read a 5-starer, but this one certainly qualifies for my rating scale. Even though this book was not set in Vietnam, it reminded me of the lushness of a couple films from Vietnamese director Anh Hung Tran , The Scent of Green Papaya and The Vertical Ray of the Sun. The writing of White Ghost Girls is strikingly visual and poetic.
Like its characters, this book feels lost and confused. It just doesn't seem to know what it's trying to be. Filled with beautiful but disjoint phrases evoking the scenery of colonial Hong Kong, the novel is one part travel memoir, one part poetry, and one part novel. Unfortunately, the plot doesn't feel developed enough to carry the book, and at times I thought that Greenway would make a much better travel writer than novelist.
At times, the book is overly descriptive, making it hard to follow....more
At times, the book is overly descriptive, making it hard to follow....more
This was just a lovely, poignant and somewhat tragic story - I really liked it. Kind of a coming of age story against the back drop of the Vietnam War (which is the era I grew up in). This author did a good job of painting Hong Kong in my mind and I loved her characterizations of the girls, their parents and Chinese nanny.
A young girl's perspective of the Vietnam war who is living on an island off the coast of Hong Kong with her Mom and sister - her father is a photojournalist who comes home every 6 weeks or so and spends the rest of his time in Vietnam. Very strange, frightening time for her. Beautifully written.
There are no discussion topics on this book yet.
Be the first to start one »
Alice Greenway lived the itinerant life of a foreign correspondent's child. She grew up in Hong Kong, Bangkok, and Jerusalem, as well as in the United States. She now lives in Edinburgh with her family.
More about Alice Greenway...
Share This Book
No trivia or quizzes yet. Add some now »
Dec 22, 2007 07:03am