A Ghost in My Suitcase
Puffin Australia 2009 www.penguin.com.au/puffin
ISBN 978 0 14 3303794
‘It is a remarkable achievement to blend so many themes successfully together. This story will have wide appeal to young readers, and is highly recommended.’ Reading Time Vol 53, No. 2 May 09
For Teachers’ Notes click on the PDF icon
The Story
The flute music stops, and my breath catches in my throat. Silence falls like a veil. Then I hear something – no, I feel it in my chest.
‘Steady yourself,’ Por Por whispers. ‘It’s here…’
When Celeste travels to China to visit her grandmother, she uncovers an incredible family secret.And with this secret comes danger and adventure. If Celeste is to save her family and friends, she must learn to harness her rare and powerful gift…
Background
During school visits I often get asked who my favourite characters are. The truth is, I like all my characters, even the really nasty ones. But sometimes a character quietly demands to be the star of their own book. This is what happened with the grandma character, Por Por, in a previous book of mine called The Pearl of Tiger Bay. She is a ghost-hunter and I love her for her quirkiness, her intelligence and wisdom. She is old and suffers from dementia and yet her ghost-hunting skills are still so powerful.
Who is Por Por?
I got to wondering about her life in China before she migrated to Australia. Where did she live? Where did she learn her ghost-hunting skills? What was her childhood like? Who did she marry? All these unanswered questions lead me to write A Ghost in My Suitcase. This novel, therefore, is a prequel to The Pearl of Tiger Bay.
Setting
The next thing I had to consider was setting. Setting is very important to me because I see every scene in my mind as if I am watching a movie.
The Water Town of Wuzhen
Three years ago, I visited the ancient water town of Wuzhen. It has a history of two thousand years. I knew this was the perfect place to base a ghost story around with its dark alleyways, quaint wooden houses standing in water, beautiful moon bridges and winding canals.
Ghost-Hunting in China There is a long history of ghost-hunting in China. These sorcerers use special swords, mirrors, hand signs and talismans to trap their prey. I have used the equipment and methods of catching ghosts from books that I have read on the subject and combined these facts with my imagination.
My Heroine, Celeste
The young heroine in the novel is called Celeste. Celeste is a name I have always liked probably because, when I was first learning to talk, my mother would have me repeat it over and over again. She thought the way I said it was cute. It is also appropriate because my heroine is half French, half Chinese. And by the way, the girl on the cover of the book is my cousin’s daughter. Her real name is Belinda.
Taking From Real Life
Much of what I write is from personal experience and none more so than the chapter in the book called “It’s Raining, It’s Pouring”. In the 1980’s I studied Chinese painting at the Zhejiang Academy of Fine Art, Hangzhou. That summer, we were taken on a field trip to Wuyi Mountain in Fujian Province. The experience of the bus ride through the mountains was one I will never forget. Who has ever heard of putting up an umbrella inside a bus to shelter from the pouring rain, or frogs plopping around your feet on the wet floor, or a piglet in the arms of one of the passengers, or a man climbing on board with a bark cape, woven bamboo hat and two baskets of ducks?
I could never have imagined such a bizarre scene. Life is certainly stranger than fiction.
REVIEWS
I Love Your New Book, A Ghost in My Suitcase. It’s The Best I’ve Ever Read!
I’ve Read It 5 Times And Reading It A 6th Now!
I Love The Idea Of Ghost-Hunting And How Celeste And Por Por Go On Adventure’s Together.
Candice Age 13 August 2009
A Ghost in My Suitcase is an adventure story with many layers. Gabrielle Wang tackles the subject of death poignantly… with a sure, light touch and with grace… and provides humour in the middle of grief and danger. A Ghost in My Suitcase, a poignant engaging read. Sharon Greenaway Magpies March 2009
What appears to be a simplistic novel seemlessly weaves a family mystery, anger, grief and a family profession that defies expectation. Celeste’s grandmother is a ghost catcher through an art that has been passed down through her family. Young readers will love the swords, hand signs and talismans that are the tools of the trade, especially as the key ghost issue of the novel is tied to many of our characters. It’s simply written allowing the characters to speak for themselves and for the reader to absorb the issues naturally. The spookiness of the ghost catching methods will also capture the imaginations are they are beautiful, thrilling and scary. A Ghost in the Suitcase is a great story of the strength of family and the importance of family legacy. Adele Persnickety Snark Sept 2009
Gabrielle Wang lets me taste Por Por’s delicate homemade dishes, and feel the mist on a poorly lit Shanghai street. I hear the thumps and bangs of unseen foes, and delight at open umbrellas in the old bus when it rains. Gently flowing, easy-to-read prose sets me floating down the river in a water taxi, yet the pulse beats faster as dangers are revealed.
I can’t hide behind Por Por when things get complicated. What will happen if Por Por’s powers aren’t enough? Can Celeste save the day with her newly found gifts? You’ll have to read this treasure yourself if you want to find out. Jo Burnell The Reading Stack. January 2010
QUESTIONS FROM READERS
Q: what inspiered you to write a ghost in my suitcase?
and
what made you think of the name Ting Ting?
A: Often a setting is the first thing that inspires me. With A Ghost in My Suitcase it was the water town of Wuzhen I visited one year. I thought it would be an amazing place to set a spooky ghost story. It had all the elements – narrow alleys, ancient buildings and there were no cars.
I always take a great deal of time with names of my characters. Celeste used to be called Isabelle. Ting Ting used to be a male university student called Kai. With choosing Chinese names I’m always careful to pick one that is easily pronounced so I thought Ting Ting was just right.
BOOK LAUNCH PHOTOS
Elliot (Year Eight) and me Fantastic Fishpond Cake
Author Carole Wilkinson, holding a piece of cake in a lucky envelope Authors Claire Saxby, Carole Wilkinson and Corinne Fenton
Me and Belinda, who posed for the cover of the book Authors Kirsty Murray, Michael Wagner, Jane Godwin who is also my publisher
Teachers Marg Sneddon, Senka King and me Book Bonding owner, Natasha Boyd who hosted the launch
Authors Ali Ashley, Chris Bell and Dee White Jackson (11 years old)
Signing a book for Melissa
Signing a book for Eliza
Ghost Fish from left Big Mouth, Passionfruit Jelly and Long Scar
Natalie
Holding up a ghost catching mirror and coin sword
This article was featured in Penguin Education News February 2009
A box of magic pastels, a garden of healing, a fox spirit, a mystical Chinese monastery, a fantastical weather-controlling beast, a water town full of ghosts, and a ghost-hunting granny are but a few of the ideas I have used in my stories.
One cannot help but be influenced by one’s heritage and so I have drawn on mine, delving into the history, philosophy and folk tales of China, and combining these elements with my imagination to write my novels. At the same time, they act as a vehicle to convey my thoughts on deeper human issues.
A Ghost in My Suitcase is about loss and healing, the importance of family and friendship, finding the strength within to overcome emotional and physical difficulties, and the value of older generations in the passing on of knowledge.
But it is also a ghost story.
The idea grew out of a previous novel of mine called The Pearl of Tiger Bay. Por Por (the word for maternal grandmother in Chinese) is a ghost-hunter and was only a minor character in that story. But she had such a strong personality with her humour, quirkiness and courage that she called out to be the star of her own book.
I began to wonder what her life might have been before she migrated to Australia. What was her childhood like? What happened to her husband? How had she become a ghost-hunter? What had been her trials and tribulations? Who was she really?
One of the wondrously mysterious things about writing – and there are many – is that even though the characters are pure inventions, once conceived, they really do take on a life of their own. It is as if, once written into existence, they become real living people who feel free to dictate how the story goes. In fact, all the characters I have invented have become dear friends of mine, even the bad ones.
Therefore I cannot really take credit for inventing Por Por. I provided the mould, she did the rest herself.
Then there was the setting. Shanghai and the water towns in Zhejiang seemed perfect for a ghost story. While I was living in China studying at the Zhejiang Academy of Fine Art, I often visited Shanghai. This place is haunted by the many ghosts of the past. After losing the Opium wars in the mid 1800’s, China was forced to concede large parts of Shanghai first to Britain, then later to the French, the Americans and the Japanese. In these concessions, Chinese law was powerless. The foreigners built western style mansions, played polo and tennis, ate European food and shopped for western goods in western style shops and Emporiums. They lived and died in an artificial Europe, surrounded by the overwhelming reality of China, its beauty and its squalor.
Wu Zhen, the water town I based the Isle of Clouds on, is an example of this beauty with its narrow flagstone alleys and wooden stilted houses lining canals upon which graceful boats slip to and fro. It is very easy, as there are no cars in Wu Zhen, to imagine yourself there, walking around with the ghosts of a thousand years ago.
And now to my heroine, Celeste – a twelve year old who is embarking on an incredible journey taking her mother’s ashes home to China. In the first few drafts, Celeste was half Chinese, half Italian and her name was Isabella. But then I thought it would be interesting to use the French concession in Shanghai as a backdrop, with its colourful history and its many ghosts, so I changed her name to Celeste. And now you will find that she is half French, half Chinese. Writing is all about going with the flow.
There are three things I know for certain when I begin a novel.
1. My audience
2. The setting
3. That it will end happily
Everything else is left up to choice. I make hundreds of small decisions everyday to do with plot, voice, characters, sentence structure, words, and punctuation.
That’s why, even if it is a rather lonely existence, I will never tire of writing stories. Of course, I always have my characters to keep me company.
Reviews for A Ghost in My Suitcase
The following excerpts are taken from an article in Magpies. Cover Book Review by Sharon Greenaway, Volume 24, Issue No. 1. March 2009 ‘An adventure story with many layers. A Ghost in My Suitcase begins with twelve-year-old Celeste Laclaire flying unaccompanied from Australia to China, the land of her mother’s ancestors. She is bravely fulfilling her mother’s wish. ‘Nearly there, Mama,’ I whisper. Mama always wanted to return to China one day. So that’s where I’m taking her ashes, back to the Isle of Clouds, to the home of our ancestors.’ (p18) It is not only Celeste who is dealing with the death of her mother. Through her recounts we know that her father, an artist, has lost his creative soul and her little brother Robbie misses his mother so much that he can’t sleep alone. Gabrielle tackles the subject of death poignantly and realistically. Perhaps it is this (Chinese) philosophy that allows Wang to write about such a life-changing event with a sure, light touch and with grace. A Ghost in My Suitcase provides insight into grief – when Celeste recalls how family friends tried to help the family after her mama had died, all she felt was that they were hovering around like witches waiting to swoop. (p10) – and provides humour in the middle of grief and of danger, for example when Celeste eagerly awaits the wisdom of her ghost hunter grandmother. Her heritage and studies, combined with her life in Australia, is reflected convincingly in A Ghost in My Suitcase, a poignant engaging read.
School Life Magazine New Zealand When Celeste travels to China to visit her grandmother, she uncovers an incredible family secret, and with the secret comes danger and adventure. If she is to save her family and friends, Celeste must learn how to harness her rare and powerful gift. The wonderful descriptions in the book really place the reader in China through the eyes of a twelve year old girl going to the country of her mother for the first time. The illustrations reinforce this point, while being detailed they are small and simple like those a budding young artist might sketch in pencil while thinking how to express the feelings she has in words.
I loved the book ghost in my suitcase its very nice i loved when the ghost transformed when she captured them in the mirror and placed them in a pond. Rosemary 11 years old
‘Her Mama has died and 13 year old Celeste is taking her ashes back to China, her mother’s ancestral home. Things are different in this country and her grandmother, her Por Por, is not what she expected. Her grandmother has a family gift – she is a ghost catcher. Does Celeste have this gift too? And there is also her Por Por’s adopted child, Ting Ting whom Celeste must get to know and then unite with to confront the ghostly danger ahead.
A great story filled with wonderful Chinese culture.’ Chris Cheng- Newkidsbooksinoz
