The Time of the Ghost

As always Diana Wynne-Jones effortlessly and in few words creates a her world, this time centered around four sisters dealing with a childhood of neglect as their parents pour all their attention into the boy school that they run. So the sisters are left to their own devices, and being imaginative and creative souls they create their own games although in this game, they may have quite literally got more than they bargained for. The story twists and turns as past and future blends in the fight that the sisters face against the evil, that they unwittingly have admitted into their lives.And it is so beautifully written and the sisters are so perfectly described each in their own quirky not quite perfect way.

I think the story behind this book is unique -- the main character starts off confused, only to discover she is bodiless and has no idea why, except an overwhelming panic of "There's been an accident!". She turns out to be a ghost and it takes several chapters for her to figure out which of four sisters she is a ghost of -- and yet, all four are still alive and healthy. There is some jumping back and forth in time but it is not meretricious, and it is clear when it happens, except maybe the first time when it is not clear to the character and so cannot be clear to the reader if the whole confusion thing is to be pulled off. Once it is discovered what has gone on and what will soon go on that is, well, rather deadly, the ghost has to figure out how to stop the bad things from happening. The way the bad thing is stopped is rather cheesy and predictable, if you're in the "feel good" kiddie novel mindset, but that is the only fault of the book. Otherwise, the characters are excellently portrayed and very unique, and the book has a lot more depth to it than you'd think.

Diana Wynne Jones' work always make me grab my head exclaiming "this so clever and original, how did she ever think of that?" while they read effortlessly. Can't think of sth I could write without adding spoilers. Powerful stuff. I have heard the theory diana's fans are in either the "Archer's Goon" camo or the "Fire and Hemlock" camp. i definitely belong to the former, yet i believe this one is more similiar to the latter. Utterly enjoyable, surprising, moving, thought-provoking. in a word: Diana.

A slightly disjointed story with unlikeable characters eventually lead to one of dwj's few perfectly wrapped up endings. Though the plot of the story was not up to her usual standards, the ending was moving, surprising, and extremely satisfying. Worth a read for that alone.

Great storyline, ROCKSTAR writer. I was surprised HOW QUICK I got it, and it was in ok to good quality. I would suggest this book to anyone who loves Jones and a GREAT MYSTERY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I now have come down with Jonefever.

Diana can make suspense last to the end of the book. I believe this was considered an "adult" book but all of Dianna Wynne Jones Books are Adult in that all ages can read them and enjoy them.

Another great story from Diana Wynn Jones; she was a master story teller.

awesome

I have only been a fan of Diana Wynne Jones for a year or two, and so I'm not as much of an expert on her as some other reviewers on this site. However, I have noticed some recurring tropes in her fiction, including the notion of absent or incompetent parents, which is a theme brought out particularly vividly in this novel. The parents here are hideously neglectful and Jones conveys the potential for damage that such behaviour can cause very effectively.The four sisters, as children, are in many ways awful and unattractive - the gap-toothed, goblin-like Fenella, the large and loud Cart, the neurotic Imogen and Selina who seems to be embracing the dark arts. Their behaviour is both ignored and controlled, in that they are allowed extraordinary freedom to do as they please due to their parents' lack of interest, but at the same time they are constrained by the circumstances of their living in a boarding-school environment, and being expected to behave in a way that fits with their parents' vague ideas about propriety. Their father's reference to them as 'bitches' and his inability to tell them apart, and their mother's failure to notice that one of them is missing, or to care that her youngest daughter appears to be wearing a sack and has tied her hair in knots, is both astounding and horrifying, but also has the ring of truth.These children appear incredibly vulnerable and Jones constructs a wonderful atmosphere of impending danger in the first part of the story - when Imogen is almost killed by being suspended from the rafters on a rope, or when Sally creeps out of her friend's homely farm in the middle of the night, or when Fenella and Cart have to virtually steal food from the unpleasant school cooks, these events all feel like part of the gradually building tension. And the second part of the story shows how this sense of danger is grounded in reality.This ability to create atmosphere is a particularly admirable skill in Jones's work and it is demonstrated very effectively in this book. The weird life the sisters experience as children lends itself to the weird supernatural experience in which they become embroiled, and the clever plot-device of having the viewpoint of the tale that of a 'ghost' who doesn't even know who or what she is adds to the disconcerting and disturbing effect the story has right from the beginning.A shocking mini-climax in the centre of the tale suddenly alters the reader's perspective as we are pushed forward in time (then back and forth several times) and our view of the sisters changes considerably. Jones conveys the fact that these unpreposessing young women have managed to grow up well, despite their problems, but a terrible pall still hangs over their lives until the ghost can help to defeat Monigan. I felt that, while the whole 'Monigan' story was interesting and well done and added an appropriately gothic creepiness to the story, the actual story of the girls themselves, their individual psychologies, was enough to keep me hooked - and I actually wanted to know more about their lives.Jones does not shy away from presenting the truth about people; even when her stories are in themselves implausible fantasies, I find the insides of her characters' heads almost always convincing. They may not be like me, or even like anyone I know, but nevertheless I believe in them as people. I think this is a real gift in a writer, particularly a writer of children's literature.

I loved this story, it is a brilliant twist on a ghost story that will keep you wondering,part who is it, part who done it, ghost story. Lovely characters that you quickly learn to love and empathise with, extremely funny in places. It tells the story of four eccentric sisters and their strange life where their parents run a boys boarding school but while they have all the time in the world for their male boarders they have little time left for their daughters, who are left to run wild, taking care of themselves while fighting with one another then with equal furiosity defending each other against 'Himself' as they refer to their father.The story is told through the eyes of one of the sisters who has become a ghost, only she doesn't know why?

Brilliant

Thoughtful

Okay but bit confusing