Kowloon is a city of ghosts. For a girl with no memories washed up upon the shore, it presents an opportunity for a rebirth. Mercy Chan has a unique ability: not only can she see ghosts, she can commune with the dead and allow them to move towards the afterlife—a rare talent coveted by those who make Kowloon Walled City their home. For decades Mercy has worked as a ghost talker of sorts in connection with the Kowloon triad. She spends her days communicating with the ghosts who linger, usually the angry and wronged, bringing justice to their afterlife and to the city itself. But something darker lurks in the shadowed spaces, luring citizens to their watery deaths and speaking to Mercy through the bodies of the departed. With a proposal to demolish Kowloon up next on the docket, a serial killing spree could be what allows the legislation to pass. Even more sinister, this killer appears to have a personal connection to Mercy and is intent on drawing her close to their crimes almost as if in retaliation for something. The answer lies deep in the past in memories Mercy is unable to access. As Mercy follows closer and closer to this ghost, the less she can deny that the vicious spirit is on a quest for revenge and the object of its ire: Mercy herself.
A ghost-talker confronts her missing past and the ghosts that linger in Sunyi Dean’s historical gothic feat, The Girl with a Thousand Faces. It feels like eons since I first discovered Sunyi Dean and drifting back into her work feels as languorous as a cat taking a long stretch in the sun—entirely out of sorts with the actual tone of Dean’s sophomore novel: a historical gothic fantasy all about ghosts and the cycles we perpetuate. The Girl with a Thousand Faces is as cutthroat as the ghosts left to steep in sadness, anger, and regret. At the helm, Mercy Chan, a fifty something ghost talker with a mysterious past facing down a ghostly killer intent on forcing her to confront her own forgotten ghosts. The Girl with a Thousand Faces makes the reader into a kind of specter, wandering Kowloon Walled City alongside Mercy as she unravels the past. Dragged down deep into waters ancient and strange, Sunyi Dean weaves a startling narrative that will have you questioning the true villains, be they paranormal or man made. Vindictive ghosts are one thing, but Dean’s true talent lies in her glimpse into the real horror beneath, the devastations of war, grief, and generational traumas—with everything a cost of ignoring that pain. Brave this strange ghostly saga and whatever you do don’t look down.
The Girl with a Thousand Faces is a bit of a genre-bend, equal parts historical, fantasy, and gothic that begins to take shape through the unique setting of Kowloon Walled City. Setting is everything within a gothic novel and Kowloon, a city of ghosts (both human and paranormal), could not be more perfect for the story Dean constructs. Right away you can feel the claustrophobic nature of this densely packed city, a community of humans and ghosts that is home despite efforts to demolish it post-war. Kowloon is very much a city that reflects the pain that cannot be buried, of real people attempting to make a living after enduring the horror of the second World War. It makes sense then that ghosts have congregated within its boundaries and have continued to flourish even in the decades following. In a city rife with ghosts, Sunyi Dean questions what are the real ghosts—are they the literal phantoms and wraiths clinging to life, or do they represent a darker part of our humanity that we refuse to examine and excise. The Girl with a Thousand Faces presents an interesting duality in its perspectives, both ghost and human, to interrogate not just this essential question but how ghosts themselves come to be.
Much of what makes this book so hard hitting is the humanity underlying the horror. That we create our own ghosts which follow us and our descendents is far more horrific than the literal ghosts appearing within the narrative at times. There is a grief that comes alongside knowing this, in understanding that Mercy’s story is the result of pain endured by her family and a suffering that was never addressed generations prior. Relationships between sisters, mothers, aunts, and nieces, are all part of this delicate tapestry and a pain that went unanswered. These relationships are the beating heart of The Girl with a Thousand Faces and the nuance in depicting motherhood, specifically the relationship between mother and daughter were some of my favorite parts of the novel. Siu Yin and her mother, dancing and swimming with ghosts rather than reaching for each other in hard times, cogs in a relentless cycle that initially appears impenetrable. Throughout this complex web, Dean underpins the staggering traumas of war and colonialism which shape us and those who come after. In the aftermath, sometimes the pain caused is too great and by trying to hide it we cause more, leading to further tragedy. The Girl with a Thousand Faces knows the work of grieving and moving forward is a heavy burden, but it is essential work and part of freeing our own inner ghosts.
The Girl with a Thousand faces is the best thing a book can be: clever and horrifying as hell. While it has been some time between Sunyi Dean’s debut, The Book Eaters, and her sophomore novel, I would wait twice as long if it means she can keep delivering books such as this one. The Girl with a Thousand Faces is certainly one of the most interesting historical novels I have ever read. A ghostly jaunt through a post World War Two Hong Kong—specifically Kowloon Walled City—as Dean examines what makes a ghost and what it takes to truly reconcile them. The Girl with a Thousand Faces nails all the bittersweet facets of forgiveness and how essential it is to breaking the cycle of grief and trauma. Not without its heartbreaking moments through others who did not have the language to do the work of grieving, instead languishing in that pain and trauma and never fully surfacing. Though horrific, grief ridden, and painful at times, there is a tremendous joy found in breaking the cycle, in doing the hard work of reconciliation. Certainly not an easy path but one that is worth the work. Sunyi Dean doesn’t deny that we don’t always get the answers we’ve been longing for, craving an understanding from our family members who are long gone, never there to give us greater context. Those can be ghosts too, following us ever long even as the cycle is rented in two. Haunting yes, but fiercely hopeful, The Girl with a Thousand Faces asks us to trust in the haunted and dare to sink knowing we will eventually surface—if we can just make that leap.
Thank you to Edelweiss and the publisher for providing the advance review copy.
Trigger warnings: violence, murder, depression, death of a parent, grief, war, mass death
Literaryrobin 