She Is Haunted

By: Paige Clark

Narrated by: Kimie Tsukakoshi

I know lots of things now that I'm dead. Peter from apartment two has a spastic bladder. My former boss, Morgan, keeps her toenails in a gold jewellery box. My brother and his wife are trying for a baby. I always excuse myself before things get too heated. I don't know much about my mother yet. I am waiting for grief to catch her, but she mostly seems ashamed - of her body, of what it made.

A mother cuts her daughter's hair because her own hair starts falling out. A woman leaves her boyfriend because he reminds her of a corpse, another undergoes brain surgery to try and live more comfortably in higher temperatures. A widow physically transforms into her husband so that she does not have to grieve.

In She Is Haunted, these renditions of the author search for recognition and connection, and more than anything else, small moments of empathy. But in what world will she move beyond her haunted past and find compassion for herself?

With piercing insights into transnational Asian identity, intergenerational trauma and grief, the dynamics of mother-daughter relationships, the inexplicable oddities of female friendship and the love of a good dog, Paige Clark has crafted an exquisite, moving and sophisticated debut work of fiction. Full of wit and humour, She Is Haunted announces an entrancing new literary voice as contemporary as it is unique.

©2021 Paige Clark (P)2021 W F Howes

Critic reviews

"An astonishing debut." (Wells Tower)

"Paige Clark is the best new writer in Australia and this book is like nothing else." (Robert Lukins)

"Paige Clark writes with wit, warmth and nuance, giving us a collection of relatable characters, sneaky insights and surprising bursts of joy." (Emily Maguire)