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allysonwbrunette 's review for:
The Night Tiger
by Yangsze Choo
This historical fiction novel follows the lives of two main characters and switches back and forth between their perspectives: an 11-year old boy named Ren and a 20-something young woman named Ji Lin. Both are living lives that are not guided by their own decisions in 1930s Malaysia and both feel a compulsive effort to resolve the troubles of others. Despite not ever meeting one another prior, Ji Lin’s and Ren’s lives will become permanently intertwined through (of all things) a severed, mummified finger. This story highlights class and gender issues facing immigrants in Malaysia prior to WWII, as well as the challenges of coming-of-age while facing issues that most teens and 20-something would not have to bear on behalf of their parents / employers / families. Throughout both sides of the story, you are rooting for Ren and Ji Lin, but simultaneously wishing that they had better luck and better families. Though I’m not certain of how historically accurate this story is, it really highlighted to me how much class, socioeconomic status and gender played a role as social determinants in the early 20th century.