I am haunted by Diana Wynne Jones' The Time of the Ghost which is quite fitting since the book is about ghost haunting her sisters and trying to figure out her identity.

The book starts with an unusual beginning: the confused wanderings of a panicked ghost who doesn’t know who she is or what exactly has happened. The unnamed, bodiless narrator knows only two things: that she is one of four sisters, and that there's been a terrible accident. This creates quite a fascinating mystery for the reader. Abd yet, for what seems like a long while, we simply follow the ghost around, perceiving the memories that awaken (in a sort of time slip) as she stumbles across the people and places that she knows once had so much meaning to her. Early on it could be frustrating to read, because a ghost doesn’t have much agency when she can’t talk to anyone or move any objects. However, our ghost learns a few tricks that get her noticed by her sisters and their friends, and the plot rolls along, especially when worship games and blood sacrifices give way to an ancient, evil spirit with a mortal grasp on the living. And this spirits name is Monigan.

The Worship of Monigan is a game that the four sisters made up, in which an old rag doll supposedly represents the goddess Monigan. Throughout the story, the sisters vary from treating the Worship of Monigan as a game to believing in it quite seriously. Could Monigan been the cause of the accident of our unnamed, bodiless narrator? Well, you'll have to read The Time of the Ghost to find out.

This was an unsettling, supernatural English novel for young adults, one that combines elements of mystery literature, time-travel, and the horror genre to create a story about the perils of messing with the unknown, the horrors of abuse, and the struggle between familiar bonds. The bonds between the sisters are portrayed realistically. And the goddess Monigan (which is a creepy doll) was horrifically rendered as well as some of the pagan rites attached to conjuring Monigan. Some have claimed that the abusive nature of the parents and the boyfriend is not becoming of children's/young adult literature but children and teens are quite aware of the evils within this world and it is not necessarily creepy dolls and goddesses that freak them out. It's those they are close to: parents, friends, lovers abusing them that causes nightmares. I know personally this horror.

As with many of DWJ's novels, the ending is complex and satisfying, and actually has a nice twist that I did not see coming. I was literally shocked at the last few sentences (as well as satisfied). The solution to the problem of Monigan's hold over the ghost is brilliant.

I plan to re-read this one. I may need to purchase my own copy because according to WorldCat, The Time of the Ghost is not among the twenty works by Jones that are most widely held in participating libraries, and this is a shame. ( )

An interesting short novel of Jones' which I had not read before. This takes the idea of the unreliable narrator to a new level by starting in the (third person) viewpoint of a character walking down a country lane and unable to remember what has happened apart from a strong sense of there having been a serious accident - and then realising that she no longer has a body. From there the 'ghost' finds her way to a boys' school run by the parents of four young girls and where she has an increasing sense that she is one of them. But apart from the family dog, no one can see or hear her.

Despite the ghost's confusion she gradually learns that the girls, fed up with the gross neglect of their parents - which during the course of the book descends into downright abuse - have hit on the idea that one of them should disappear for a while (staying at a friend's in the area) and they will force the parents to notice and acknowledge that absence.

The ghost decides she must be the missing girl and that she is dead after an accident - but then it transpires that nothing has happened to the fourth girl. And from there develops the complexity of the novel, with its shifts in time and its involvement with the worship of a supposedly imaginary being which has had the undesired effect of stirring up something powerful, ancient and evil ....

The real strength of this book is in the characters of the girls and to a lesser extent of the parents, some of the boys with whom the girls have formed an alliance, and the ghastly cook from whom the girls are forced to "steal" food which has otherwise been denied them. The dynamics between the sisters, their love/hate relationships, and their mutual dependence in adversity is what drives the book forward. I only felt it flagged a bit towards the fairly rushed ending when it flashes forward in time intermittently so that we see how things had turned out and who the 'ghost' really was - and learned how the evil which would catch up with that person had to be averted in the past. But there are some creepy sections and this story is quite dark given the parental abuse. My only real problem is that the way the girls turn out is not quite consistent with their younger selves. So an enjoyable read but not quite a 4 star for me. ( )

A challenging read for the target audience I would think. The point of view character is a ghost, but with no memory of why she's a ghost. She's not even sure who she's the ghost of. There are four sisters, living an odd life with neglectful parents. Father is a headmaster prone to rage who can't remember which daughter is which. First, Sally (possibly) has to find out who she is, then why she's a ghost. It becomes clear she hasn't died yet -- the cover makes clear she's a ghost from the future -- but she still doesn't know why. Eventually dark secrets are revealed.

The story for me is hurt by how mean the characters are to each other. This is deliberate and part of the story, but it means that this remains more a puzzle tale than one with emotional heft.

Not my favorite Jones but one of the more interestingly constructed books. Recommended. ( )

Possibly my favorite DWJ book. The story is creepy, funny, and complex. The characters are memorable and distinctive. A bit on the darker side as far as mentions of more serious issues like abuse, but it works well and I get something new out it with every reread since I first read it as a teenager. ( )

https://tamaranth.blogspot.com/2021/03/2021036-time-of-ghost-diana-wynne-jones.h... ( )