Ghost Girl

Thirteen-year-old Cath is a new girl at a Catholic convent. She is afraid of the nuns, unused to the restriction and terrified of God. She finds refuge in nature, and her friend Olive’s vision of the starry limitless universe. Cath’s sister Very is at art school in seventies Punk London. She lives a wild chaotic life with bedraggled artists, outrageous homosexuals, and shadowy nightclub owners. When Cath visits Very, the two sisters whirl through the city together, along Chelsea Embankment and through the alleys of late-night Soho. But London, like the convent, holds its dangers and Cath must find her own way through.

Reviews of Ghost Girl

'A lyrical account of two sisters experiencing the best and the worst of adolescence' Image 'Exciting, highly-visual … only McEwen's brilliance with detail could bring it before our eyes so vividly … Ghost Girl has that gift of making you feel you're there' Sunday Express 'Like the implausibly intense flavour of wild strawberries, Helena McEwen's imagery takes you deliciously by surprise. Ghost Girl is an exercise in delicacy and precision. Its assured, painterly rhythms feather excitement in the pit of your stomach' Sunday Herald 'This seductive lyricism transforms the everyday into something exquisite … Compellingly written, this is a sensitive depiction of the trials and tribulations of growing up' Time Out