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A review by sterling8
The Ghost Bride by Yangsze Choo
4.0
Four and a half stars! Looking at the cover of this book, I expected some slow-moving historical fiction kind of like Snow Flower and the Secret Fan. Instead I got a book that could easily have been put into the genre section (scifi/fantasy) but has been marketed as "literary fiction" because that's where the acclaim and hopefully for this author, the money will be.
To be clear, saying that the book is like genre fiction is a compliment from me.
This plot of the book hinges on a practice I had never heard of- that of marrying the dead in order to unite a family financially or legitimize an heir. In this case, the reason for Li Lan, our protagonist, to be approached with the idea of being a ghost bride is more sinister. Her prospective bridegroom met with an untimely death, and it turns out that he still wants her, even from beyond the grave.
Atmosphere and setting are quite well done in this novel. Malaya (now Malaysia) in the late nineteenth century, in a genteely decaying town that is no longer a trade center. We hear the chirping of insects, feel the heat of the nearby jungle, see the melding of European and Chinese architecture. There are also some quite creepy ghost scenes. The sense of dread felt by our heroine as she dreams of her ghostly suitor is brought out well.
Midway through the book, suddenly we are transported to the spirit world along with our heroine, and what had been a meditation on culture and women's roles becomes a coming of age story in which Li Lan must find her own strength and save herself in a place where she doesn't know the rules. The book's spirit world is a hodge-podge of different religious traditions, much like the world our heroine left behind. I found it fascinating. To me, much of the book reads like a Chinese fairy tale, with both malevolent and benevolent characters- it's all a question of who to trust, and how far.
There's also some romance in the book, and I'm not sure that was my favorite part. I won't say too much about it, but I wonder if the book would have been better left by our heroine finding herself instead of choosing the right guy.
Sometimes the pacing of the book was a bit jerky, and sometimes I wanted more of the interior life and feelings of our main character. I'm still not quite sure who she is or what personality traits I would ascribe to her, mostly because she serves as a reader stand-in as we discover the author's wonderful invented spirit world.
However, this was a very strong debut and I'll happily read more by this author. I'll recommend it to friends, too. Anyone who is interested in different cultures or mythology will enjoy this book.
To be clear, saying that the book is like genre fiction is a compliment from me.
This plot of the book hinges on a practice I had never heard of- that of marrying the dead in order to unite a family financially or legitimize an heir. In this case, the reason for Li Lan, our protagonist, to be approached with the idea of being a ghost bride is more sinister. Her prospective bridegroom met with an untimely death, and it turns out that he still wants her, even from beyond the grave.
Atmosphere and setting are quite well done in this novel. Malaya (now Malaysia) in the late nineteenth century, in a genteely decaying town that is no longer a trade center. We hear the chirping of insects, feel the heat of the nearby jungle, see the melding of European and Chinese architecture. There are also some quite creepy ghost scenes. The sense of dread felt by our heroine as she dreams of her ghostly suitor is brought out well.
Midway through the book, suddenly we are transported to the spirit world along with our heroine, and what had been a meditation on culture and women's roles becomes a coming of age story in which Li Lan must find her own strength and save herself in a place where she doesn't know the rules. The book's spirit world is a hodge-podge of different religious traditions, much like the world our heroine left behind. I found it fascinating. To me, much of the book reads like a Chinese fairy tale, with both malevolent and benevolent characters- it's all a question of who to trust, and how far.
There's also some romance in the book, and I'm not sure that was my favorite part. I won't say too much about it, but I wonder if the book would have been better left by our heroine finding herself instead of choosing the right guy.
Sometimes the pacing of the book was a bit jerky, and sometimes I wanted more of the interior life and feelings of our main character. I'm still not quite sure who she is or what personality traits I would ascribe to her, mostly because she serves as a reader stand-in as we discover the author's wonderful invented spirit world.
However, this was a very strong debut and I'll happily read more by this author. I'll recommend it to friends, too. Anyone who is interested in different cultures or mythology will enjoy this book.