Yangsze Choo

The Ghost Bride is a gentle and timeless folkloric journey into romance, another culture, another time, and another world. One part Victorian haunting, one part mythic katabasis (journey to the underworld), one part historical romance, The Ghost Bridge is a satisfying novel. Li Lan, daughter of a once prosperous but now poverty-stricken merchant in Malaya (Malaysia) in the 19th century, is asked to become the ghost bride of the recently dead heir of the Lim family, a wealthy house in show more Malacca. Li Lan balks at the prospect, never having liked Lim Tian Ching when he was alive, and wanting more for herself than perpetual childlessness and widowhood. Then the haunting begins. Unable to escape Lim Tian Ching in her dreams, and unable to avoid his family in waking, Li Lan turns to a medium to help her be rid of her ghostly visitor, while at the same time falling in love with the new heir of the Lim family, Tian Bai.

That's part 1. There are four parts. As Li Lan's story progresses, she passes through different stages and roles: she lives a half-life, visits the underworld, searches for her long-dead mother, falls in with a variety of shady but fascinating characters, and performs tasks for a shadowy fellow, Er Lang, who vaguely calls himself a 'minor official' in the underworld. Li Lan's journey to resolve all of these aspects (and finally rid herself of Lim Tian Ching) drives the narrative, but her gentle yet pragmatic character, her resourcefulness, and her internal struggles with sense of self, love, and duty compel the reader. Though many of the characters are archetypes (as in most fairytales/folktales) representing various aspects of humanity, Yangsze Choo infuses them all with life (or afterlife). Her clearly shaped creation of the Plains of the Dead and her seamless interweaving of Chinese and native Malaysian folklore offer a fascinating and engrossing alternative to the traditional gothic novel. I was also occasionally reminded of traditional Greek and Roman folktales (where the katabasis features heavily, coupled with the hero's journey trope), particularly the myth of Cupid and Psyche, the second part of which follows Psyche's journey to save herself, reunite herself with her love, reconnect with a mother figure, and complete daunting tasks with the aid of several wily characters.

I loved this book from start to finish, and I was so sorry to see it end. I also greatly appreciated that the author did not make the ending tediously obvious from the beginning. I genuinely felt that the heroine's actions and own personal growth dictated the course of the narrative, rather than fitting awkwardly into a predetermined teleology. Such a fantastic read. show less

Malaya, 1931. Ji Lin is working secretly as a dance hall girl trying to make money to help pay off her mother's debts. Ren is a houseboy working for a doctor who descends into apparent madness before his death, demanding that Ren find his finger and bury it with him so he can rest in peace. Meanwhile, Ji gets the finger and while she and Ren both race against time to figure out the mystery of the finger, several mysterious deaths occur, possibly caused by a vengeful tiger.

Beautifully show more blending historical fiction, mystery, and Asian folk tale, this compelling story completely hooked me as it became more and more complicated, more and more intense. I had to stop reading right before bed because the hairs on the back of my neck would stick up while I read and I'd be too wired to rest. Superb storytelling, and I can't wait to see what Yangsze Choo does next. show less

A delightful fairy tale for adults set in Japan and China at the end of the Qing Dynasty, in the early 1900s.

Bao is a man who can hear when someone is lying, an ability he acquired after his old nanny prayed for him at a fox shrine. He is a detective, at first hired by a shop owner to discover the identity of a woman found dead in an alley behind his shop, and later hired by a wealthy man to find a concubine who ran away from his estate. As he pursues his investigations, he recalls his life: show more his late wife, his father who was perpetually disappointed in him, and especially his childhood sweetheart Tagtaa.

Snow is a fox, one of the mythical kind that can also take human form. She is on a quest for revenge on the man who killed her child. The passages when she remembers her child are heartbreaking, but for the most part Snow is plucky, resourceful, clever, matter-of-fact about the restrictive roles of women in Chinese and Japanese society, and a wry observer of human—and fox—nature.

There’s a little of everything in this story: humor, romance, tragedy, mystery, and murder. Snow is an engaging and beguiling character who swept me up in her story.

I listened to the audiobook, read by author Yangsze Choo, who did a wonderful job and whose British accent was very pleasant to listen to. show less

In Malaya in the 1890s, 19 year old Li Lan lives with her opium addicted, widowed father. Formerly a wealthy man, opium use has caused her father to trust the business to partners who took all his money, leaving them alone in a big house with only a cook, a maid, and Li Lan’s Amah- the nurse/nanny who brought up Li Lan and also her mother. While having three servants sounds fabulous to our modern mindset, in that time and place it was the bare minimum.

Li Lan is in danger of becoming an show more old maid, but has given no thought to marriage, preferring reading and studying. So she is surprised when one day her father asks her, out of the blue, if she would like to become a ghost bride to the recently deceased son of one of the richest families in the city. To become a ghost bride is to wed someone who has died, and live with their husband’s family as if a widow. Li Lan turns down the offer and thinks nothing will come of it. But it’s just the start of an incredible story that’s part Chinese mythology, part fantasy, part romance, part murder mystery and part espionage, as the sheltered Li Lan finds herself under attack by demons and ends up in the land of the dead. Can she find her way back? Who is the mysterious Er Lang? Was her prospective bridegroom murdered, and if so, by who? More than one person had motive and opportunity, including a man that Li Lan desperately hopes did not do it. Who can she trust in this weird place?

I like Li Lan, a smart girl whose ingenuity and strength get her through many bad situations- even though she has a few panic moments. The story flows compellingly, and the setting is vividly portrayed. Although written for adults, I think this novel would be enjoyed by young adults, also, as it’s also a coming of age tale. This is Choo’s first novel, and I hope it won’t be her only one. show less