The Seventh Moon

It is an ancient Chinese belief that in the seventh moon the hungry ghosts of those who have died without proper ceremony come back to haunt the living. In his most mesmerizing novel yet, Marius Gabriel evokes turbulent emotions on every page of this tale of a mother and daughter torn apart by wartime--and of a past never buried.

With Japanese planes bombing Singapore early in World War II, Francine Lawrence and her small daughter, Ruth, wait in the fading splendor of Raffles Hotel for Francine's British husband. Together they will flee to England. But when he is delayed, the hotel demands that Francine, half-Chinese and unwelcome there, leave at once.

Thus begins a terrifying journey, as Francine seeks to escape a world exploding in nightmare--and ultimately makes a gut-wrenching decision: to entrust Ruth to strangers in order to save the child's life. But when the war ends, all traces of Ruth have vanished; years of searching bring only heartbreak.

Three decades later Francine is a formidable businesswoman, pouring all her energies into her companies. Then one day a soft-spoken young woman walks into her New York office on the Festival of the Hungry Ghosts. Her name is Sakura, and she hints that she may be Francine's daughter.

What Francine does not know is that beneath Sakura's calm surface lives the heart of a warrior. Francine cannot begin to imagine the places Sakura has been, the horrors she has endured--or the secret that gives her the strongest motive in the world to lie.

With The Seventh Moon readers will discover why critics have called Marius Gabriel "gripping" (Kirkus Reviews) and "spellbinding" (Booklist). This is the most stunning and emotionally powerful novel yet from a storyteller with a rare talent to enthrall.