LoveReading4Kids Says
March 2023 Debut of the Month
From its killer open line (“This house eats and is eaten”), Trang Thanh Tran’s She is a Haunting is a gripping, gothic ghost story. Tingling with mystery and romance, it’s set in a French colonial house in Vietnam, and sees bisexual, Vietnamese American teenager Jade become entwined in the secrets of the house, and its connections to her ancestors.
Jade and her little sister are spending the summer with their estranged dad in Vietnam, where he’s doing up the crumbling property to open as “Flower House” B&B. Jade has been tasked to create the website for his business with “hot girl” Florence, the daughter of his business partner. Given that affording college hinges on convincing her dad to contribute to the costs, Jade has decided to do what he wants, putting aside the fact he left her mother to bring up three kids.
So far, so tricky, and that’s just the half of it. From the outset, the house gives Jade disturbing vibes. Dead bugs amass on the windowsills, she experiences sleep paralysis, then one night she sees a young woman smashing maggots on her skin, a haunting presence with “the graceful showmanship of someone who knew my deepest secrets”. Was it a dream? A ghost? With Florence’s support, Jade is drawn into the mystery of the beautiful Vietnamese bride and the Lady of the Many Tongues, the house’s former owner, uncovering connections to her great-grandmother and racist colonialism as she does so.
After delivering such an inventive debut, Trang Thanh Tran is an author to watch — their writing is compellingly sharp, deliciously rich, and decidedly refreshing.
Joanne Owen
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She Is a Haunting Synopsis
This deliciously spooky, yearningly romantic ghost story from a brilliant debut author will thrill fans of Kalynn Bayron and Wilder Girls by Rory Power.
Jade Nguyen has always lied to fit in. She's straight enough, Vietnamese enough, American enough - at least for this summer with her estranged father in Vietnam. Just five weeks of ignoring the quietly decaying French colonial house he's fixing up, then college and freedom are hers. But soon Jade begins waking up every morning certain that something has clawed down her throat ... from the inside.
Then the ghost of a beautiful bride visits her with a cryptic warning: DON'T EAT. When her father and little sister don't believe her, Jade decides to scare them into leaving by staging some haunting events of her own. She recruits Florence, the daughter of her dad's business associate (and more of a distraction than Jade bargained for) to help. But the house has other plans. It's hungry. A home, after all, is only as powerful as those who breathe new life into its bones. And this one is determined never to be abandoned again ...
About This Edition
| ISBN: |
9781526657084 |
| Publication date: |
28th February 2023 |
| Author: |
Trang Thanh Tran |
| Publisher: |
Bloomsbury YA an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing PLC |
| Format: |
Paperback |
| Pagination: |
336 pages |
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Trang Thanh Tran Press Reviews
A riveting debut from a remarkable new voice! Trang Thanh Tran weaves an impressive gothic mystery in which Jade's father is determined to restore a decrepit home to its former glory and Jade is the only person who feels the soul-crushing devastation of colonialism lingering within its walls. - Angeline Boulley, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Firekeeper's Daughter
About Trang Thanh Tran
Trang Thanh Tran grew up in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in a big family of Vietnamese refugees. They enjoy writing speculative stories about food, belonging, and the diaspora. Their favorite snack is iced coffee and a buttermilk biscuit, making the South the perfect home. She Is a Haunting is their debut novel. Find her on Instagram @nvtran
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