Ghost wall by Sarah Moss

Granta, 2019. ISBN: 9781783784462.
(Age: Adult-Senior Secondary) Recommended. A slender volume of 149 pages, Ghost wall kept me rivetted to the page, breathless as I followed the story of Silvie, a young girl who has joined an anthropology course, re-enacting life in early Britain. The group comprising of Silvie, her obsessive father and meek mother, a professor and three students, build a primitive camp and hunt and forage for food in the surrounding forests. Silvie's father is obsessed with the life in the Iron Age and is drawn to stories of sacrifices found in the bog.
The first chapter detailing the sacrifice of a young girl is gripping as Moss details the rituals that are carried out. In sparse but vivid language, the author shows the reader the terror of the girl as she is prepared for sacrifice. The next chapters are told in the wry and intelligent words of Silvie, as she watches the students who have backgrounds and aspirations far from hers. She is particularly drawn to Molly, an independent and caring girl, who shows her a different way of life to the one that her father has dictated. As the days progress, it is evident that Silvie's father is abusive and violent and this culminates in a scene where his lack of care is horrific.
Packed into this book are themes of nationalism and harking back to what is perceived as better times, reminiscent of Brexit. As well, the horror of domestic violence and its victims and the power of feminism is finely drawn.
Readers who have been haunted by the story 'Singing my sister down' in Singing my sister down and other stories by Margo Lanagan will be just as gripped by this memorable story.
Pat Pledger