The Time of the Ghost

Diana Wynne Jones

Language: English

Publisher: Greenwillow

Published: Jan 1, 1981

Description:

She seemed to have no body. She thought she might be a ghost. She did not even know her name. All she knew was that she was one of four sisters whose parents ran a boarding house in a boys' school -- but whether she was fat Cart, morbid Imogen, almost-normal Sally, or strange Fenella, she had no idea. Only one thing seemed clear: Her peculiar state had something to do with Monigan, the goddess Cart had invented a year ago.

The ghost tried desperately to let the sisters know she was there. She tried to tell boys from the school and to attract her parents' attention. For a long time nobody noticed her except Oliver, the dog. When the sisters did notice her, they tried to deal with her in all sorts of ways, and nearly everything they did got someone into bad trouble.

In fact it took a lot of trouble before everyone realized that Monigan was a real goddess, terrible and threatening, and that the ghost was somehow in her power. And it took a sacrifice from everyone before the ghost could discover who she was. But saving her from Monigan would be even more difficult.

**

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?