Overview

Can a ghost from the future save a life in the past? A chilling tale of dark forces and revenge… The ghost turns up one summer day, alone in a world she once knew, among people who were once her family. She knows she is one of four sisters, but which one? She can be sure of only one thing – that there's been an accident. As she struggles to find her identity, she becomes aware of a malevolent force stirring around her. Something terrible is about to happen. One of the sisters will die – unless the ghost can use the future to reshape the past. But how can she warn them, when they don't even know she exists?

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9780007112173

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Reviews

...Her hallmarks include laugh-aloud humour, plenty of magic and imaginative array of alternate worlds. Yet, at the same time, a great seriousness is present in all of her novels, a sense of urgency that links Jones's most outrageous plots to her readers' hopes and fears... Publishers Weekly

A strange and confusing book, first published in 1981 in England, about a disembodied spirit who isn't sure if she's a ghost, or even whose ghost she is. She suspects she's Sally Melford, one of four sisters whose neglectful parents run a boarding school, until she spies Sally, physically alive and well. Apparentally she's in the clutches of Monigan, an evil goddess invoked by one of the sisters, Cart, in an elaborate game of black magic gone wrong; she's actually the Sally of the future, hospitalized in critical condition, traveling back through time in an attempt to save herself and her sisters from the fate they've accidentally conjured. Freeing herself from Monigan's clutches proves to be a long and complicated process, especially for readers accustomed to and eager for Jones's usual well-braided plots and startling twists. A large cast of unpleasant characters provide fascinating moments; while Sally is relatively decent and sympathetic, her ongoing confusion about her identity diffuses her point of view. Gripping moments, yes, but on the whole disappointing. (Kirkus Reviews)

'The complex plot, which twists and turns to the surprising climax, is absorbing, but equally interesting and frequently amusing are the family dynamics and the character sketches of the four fascinatingly eccentric sisters.' Horn Book 'Gripping! Profoundly satisfying.' Publishers Weekly

Author Information

Diana Wynne Jones (1934–2011) spent her childhood in Essex and began writing fantasy novels for children in the 1970s. With her unique combination of magic, humour and imagination, she enthralled generations of children and adults with her work. She won the Guardian Award in 1977 with Charmed Life, was runner-up for the Children's Book Award in 1981 and was twice runner-up for the Carnegie Medal.

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