Time of the Ghost

Infobox Book
name = Time of the Ghost
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author = Diana Wynne Jones
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country = Great Britain
language = English
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genre = Fantasy
publisher = Harper Collins
release_date = 1981
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media_type = Print
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"The Time of the Ghost" is a 1981 novel by British children's author Diana Wynne Jones. It is about a ghost who observes four sisters, knowing she's one of them, but can't remember which one.

Plot Summary

The book begins with the words "There's been an accident! Something's wrong!" She doesn't know who she is, or how she died, or quite where she is. She floats invisibly toward a boarding school which she vaguely remembers. She encounters four sisters, Imogen, Cart, Sally and Fenella, who worship an old ragdoll called Monigan as a game. She knows that she's one of these sisters, but can't remember which one.

The Worship of Monigan is a game that the sisters made up, in which the old doll supposedly represents the Goddess Monigan. However, the ghost learns that Monigan is very real, and that she has claimed the lives of one of the sisters as her own, to be paid in seven years' time. The ghost realizes that she is from seven years in the future and Monigan has a claim on her life. She desperately tries to contact the sisters, to stop Monigan's evil plan.