BOOK OF THE MONTH: GHOST TOWN by Kevin CHEN

Written by Helen Stenbeck

Eliciting fear from the imagination of ghosts and regrets – Ghost Town: the novel, by Kevin CHEN

When it comes to the concept of ghosts, many consider them haunting, unsettling, or even eerie. Everyone has a certain visual image of a ghost, and every culture interprets this supernatural phenomenon differently. In literature, authors create stories that transcend the conventional notion of ghosts. Taiwanese author Kevin Chen’s 2019 novel ‘Ghost Town’ (English version translated by Darryl Sterk, 2022) accentuates ghosts into stories of a family.

Kevin Chen was born in the township of Yong-Jing, central Taiwan. He has been a journalist, interpreter and dubbed as an actor with a passion for creative writing. During his twenties, Chen first published a short story ‘The Generation of Blossoming Nails’, and later books such as ‘Attitude’, ‘Three Ways to Get Rid of Allergies’, and ‘The Ninth Body’. Chen’s literary genre highlights his childhood experience growing up in Taiwan during the 70s and 80s. Aspects of family relationships, attitudes of queer culture, and melodramatic of rebellions of youth are often seen in Chen’s works. Chen’s first translated novel ‘Ghost Town’ won the Golden Tripod Award, the annual Taiwan Literary Awards, and was selected for the New York Times Fall Booklists, and Library Journal’s starred book reviews.

‘Ghost Town’ tells the story of Chen Tien-Hong (Keith), the Taiwanese man who returns to his rural hometown Yong-Jing, after tumultuous experiences in Germany. His return coincides with Ghost Festive, a time when the spirits of the dead are believed to roam the land of the living. As one of two sons born in a family full of daughters, Tien-Hong’s parents had tragically high expectations of him. Keith navigates his estranged family and the ghost of his past. The novel unfolds the intricate web of relationships, betrayals, cultural beliefs and clashes of antagonisms. It unravels many voices as readers discover the essences of the narratives from both living and dead, delving into secrets and tragedies that shaped Keith’s family.

"The story of Keith’s time in Germany is disconnected from this grid. In the book’s flattest moments, his crime feels like a crude lure dangled to coax the reader along. It’s sealed in its own compartment in the overstuffed suitcase, and would have benefited from getting tangled and smushed with the rest. It might have been messier. But, as the rest of “Ghost Town” shows so well, life gets messy, and Chen is an author who can handle it." –– The New York Times

Thought the protagonist of the novel is Keith Chen, the daughters of the Chen family are undisputedly the novel's highlights. The eldest daughter, encumbered by traditional expectations and struggling in a difficult marriage. Her story reflects the societal constraints enforced upon women in rural Taiwan and the devastating consequences of unfulfilled desires and suppressed emotions. Another daughter grapples with the fallouts of a youthful indiscretion, a secret that reverberates through the family and contributes to the many irreparable relationships. The individual stories are interwoven with the broader narrative of the family’s downfall, spotlighting the challenges encountered by women within this patriarchal structure.

In a recent online talk with Free Write, a Taiwanese creative writing platform, Chen speaks about his experience attending a close friend’s funeral in Germany, drawing attention to the difference between how cultures interpret ‘death’.

“At the funeral I’ve just attended in Germany, it was a tree burial. There was no religious ceremony. The family printed out the person’s favourite poem and read it during the funeral, followed by the attendees singing the person’s favourite song. Yet it was still very emotional.”

“In the funerals I’ve attended in Taiwan, many were associated with religious rituals, Taoist monk chanting and the family would hire a professional weeper to cry at the ceremony, to elicit emotions.”

During the talk, Chen referred to the Chinese term ‘chu-mei’ (除魅), meaning the removal of superstitions and worshipping rituals exist in many cultures. In contrast, Chen’s novel ‘Ghost Town’ ruminates Taiwan’s profound beliefs in taboos and superstitions of death. How those beliefs are heavily invested in the imagination of ‘ghost’, the invisible entity, evoke extensive fear in the culture and social behaviours.  Chen takes this concept and connects with personal memories and Taiwan’s history of the martial law.

‘Ghost Town’ is an unmissable novel which explores themes of identity, family and a nation’s past. Chen’s mesmerising storytelling paints a vivid portrait of a place and its people, amplifying Taiwan’s vibrant cultures of folklore, and emulsified into the past of a family in a small town. The sublime and evocative novel invites its readers to contemplate the enduring strength of history, the fragility of family bonds that turned secrets into cicatrices.

Ghost Town, by Kevin Chen (Translated by Darryl Sterk)

• Get an English physical copy at Dymocks.

• Get a Chinese ebook at Readmoo, Kinokuniya

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