The Time of the Ghost

The Time of the Ghost is one of my favourite Diana Wynne Jones novels. It has a truly intriguing beginning -- we are inside the consciousness of a bodiless being, speeding along a country lane, knowing only that 'something has gone wrong, there's been an accident.' This ghostly being doesn't know who or where she is, and only gradually remembers details about her home and family; however, things remain fuzzy to the point where she is not sure until almost the end of the book which of the four Melford sisters she might be.

The plot is slightly tricky, involving swoops back and forth in time as well as the identity muddle, but as usual with Diana Wynne Jones the underlying concept is solid as a rock. Somehow these children have accidentally revived an ancient and bloodthirsty presence, they have pledged their lives to her in jest, but now Monigan has come to claim her due, and she is deadly serious. The struggles of the 'ghost' to understand what is happening parallels the gradual comprehension of the reader, and the agonising (and sometimes very funny) battle to communicate the situation to her oblivious siblings, is tremendously satisfying. And the stakes are as high as they could be.

Diana Wynne Jones often treads a fine line between confusing and cleverly twisty, which means that her books reward re-reading. I loved The Time of the Ghost even more the second time around.