Mother, Ghost, Mango Seed

Set in Thailand from 1976 to the present, Mother, Ghost, Mango Seed is a haunting yet hopeful exploration of grief, motherhood, and cultural identity

‘With pathos and swift, transporting prose, Natalie Gregory reveals a version of Thailand rich with counterculture, protest, and the lingering ghosts of those erased from collective memory’ Aube Rey Lescure, Women’s Prize shortlisted author of River East, River West

‘Mother, Ghost, Mango Seed is a brilliant and richly imagined debut. Gregory writes beautifully about motherhood, loneliness and the clash of family and politics’ Luan Goldie, Women’s Prize longlisted author of Nightingale Point

‘This book is not read, it is imbibed through gorgeous descriptions of food and rituals that bring Thailand's political and cultural history to the fore. Motherhood and grief are treated like the mysteries they are, as are repressed desires and their costs. This is an unforgettable read' Fauzia Musa, The Strangling Fig

A single thread can unravel a web of secrets …

Lin returns from England to Bangkok to care for her dying mother. In the city, pro-democracy protestors clash with the military government and ambitious new king. And among all this, Lin’s mother dies.

Numbed at the wake and feeling like a stranger in her home country, Lin tries to cook her mother’s favourite dish, but her mother’s recipes are all missing, and in their place is an old political leaflet which everyone refuses to translate. Lonely and intrigued, Lin sets off with her baby to the Thai countryside in search of answers.

As she discovers herself and her culture, Lin quickly finds that tugging at a single thread can unravel a web of secrets held for decades, driving away loved ones, breaking cultural taboos, and uncovering dreadful truths behind a devastating political past.

About the Author

Natalie Gregory, like her protagonist, had a Thai mother. It was the accidental disposal of Natalie's mother's recipes, shortly after her mother passed away, which eventually inspired the novel's inciting incident. With a BA in English and History and an MSc in International Politics, Natalie has made a career out of writing for others, including as a speechwriter, but her passion has always been fiction.

Her short story, 'A Bowl of Soup', was published in Together in the UK's anthology, Hear our Stories by Victorina Press in August 2023. This story also won the Creative Writing NZ flash fiction competition and was shortlisted for the Exeter Short Story Prize. Natalie lives in Buckinghamshire.