SuitabookThe Time of the Ghost
Diana Wynne Jones
- Reading
- Read in short, unhurried sections and pause when the viewpoint or timeline becomes unclear. Keep track of the sisters and recurring clues, then discuss how the ending resolves—or leaves unresolved—the identity mystery.
- Themes
- Neglect and care: Four sisters are left to manage basic needs while their parents concentrate on running a boarding school. The book leaves its stance open to more than one reading.
- Identity and uncertainty: A spirit cannot establish who she is and investigates her connection to a physically living sister while trying to alter events. The uncertainty is used as the story's central mystery and viewpoint device, rather than being presented as a straightforward problem with an immediately known answer.
- Supernatural danger and agency: One sister's elaborate game invokes a goddess, after which the sisters face a malevolent force and a danger the ghost tries to prevent. The book leaves its stance open to more than one reading.
- Worth knowing
- The central discussion is how neglect and lack of adult care affect the sisters, while the supernatural plot turns questions of identity, responsibility and possible rescue into a mystery.