A stunning Gothic tale set in a historical Hong Kong that meshes ancient myths and local legends into a haunting story of ghosts, grief, and women who will not forgive.
Child death.
When Mercy Chan washes up on the shores of Hong Kong with no family, no money, and no memories, the only refuge she finds is the infamous, ghost-infested slum of Kowloon Walled City. Since then, she has rebuilt her life, working for the local triad as a ghost talker and dealing with the angry and bitter spirits who haunt the district. The filthy gutters and cramped alleyways of Kowloon have become her home.
But the past Mercy can’t remember isn’t done with her. An unusually powerful ghost has infested Kowloon’s waterways, drowning innocents and threatening the district. It claims to know Mercy—and secrets from her past that are best left forgotten.
As Mercy is drawn into a deadly cat-and-mouse game with this malignant spirit, she begins to realize that the monster she fights within these walls may well be one of her own making.
Don't just take our word for it...
“Gripped me from the start and refused to let go. It is a mystery, a war story, a tragedy, but more than anything, it is a haunting story of loneliness, love, and loss. The Girl With a Thousand Faces confirms Sunyi Dean as one of the most interesting voices in genre fiction.”
– Gareth Brown, USA Today bestselling author of The Book of Doors
“Sunyi Dean’s storytelling is gripping and sure, her characters complex and cathartically vengeful, her worlds richly imagined and transportive. The Girl with a Thousand Faces contends with all manner of ghosts, and beautifully examines the nature of grief, rage, and all that must be put to rest in order to truly live.”
– Olivie Blake, New York Times bestselling author of The Atlas Six
“The fantastical and historical come together in a skillfully woven narrative filled with vengeful ghosts, grief, and intergenerational trauma. Dean’s atmospheric writing takes you deep into the shadows of the walled city, daring you to find a way out.”
– Monika Kim, author of The Eyes Are the Best Part
Taste the very first page
August 20, 1975
Late afternoon, and the Walled City was a fleshy soup. Human pedestrians slicked past each other in narrow alleys, bodies filmed with sweat. Sad-faced ghosts peered out from corners or hovered on filthy eaves. Steam rose from mildewed gutters, suffusing both living and dead alike.
In among the shifting crowd, Mercy Chan paused at a crossroads, peering down the different alleys and struggling to recall the directions that her boss had given her not an hour before. The district was a maze, even for those who knew it well.
Should have written the directions down, she thought sourly. It was too hot to remember things that weren’t written down.
Every part of Kowloon was layered in shade, but the lack of sunlight brought no relief. The lower levels in particular were full of machineries and factories; they built up heat, like an oven. Mercy was trying not to bake in that dark oven. She tugged at the soggy neck of her plain linen shirt, peeling it from her skin in an attempt to create a little air circulation. But there was no air to circulate, only humidity.
She was supposed to be wearing a triad jacket—white and green, Cobra Lily’s colors, patterned in a snakeskin brocade—but she could not be bothered with long sleeves in this heat. Besides, Bao didn’t like her jacket, wouldn’t sit on her shoulder when she wore it. Even less incentive to ever put it on.
Since she’d chosen a regular sleeveless vest, the ghost cat had deigned to accompany her, compacting himself into a white, fluffy-looking bundle of fur. He nestled between the crook of her neck and shoulder, emanating a tiny radius of chilly air. A long tail curled over her upper arm in languid rest. It was a good, safe comfort to know he was there.
Bao opened one bright-red eye, stretched out a claw, and raked her collarbone lightly.
“Stop that!” Clearly, she’d stood in one place too long for his liking. “If you get bored so easily, why do you come with me?”
The ghost cat yawned.
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