Black Water Sister
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4.0 • 1 Rating
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- €5.99
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- €5.99
Publisher Description
This mischievous Malaysian-set novel is an adventure featuring family, ghosts and local gods - from Hugo Award winning novelist Zen Cho.
'A sharp and bittersweet story of past and future, ghosts and gods and family, that kept me turning pages into the dark hours of the night' – Naomi Novik, author of Uprooted
Her grandmother may be dead, but she's not done with life . . . yet.
As Jessamyn packs for Malaysia, it’s not a good time to start hearing a bossy voice in her head. Broke, jobless and just graduated, she’s abandoning America to return ‘home’. But she last saw Malaysia as a toddler – and is completely unprepared for its ghosts, gods and her eccentric family’s shenanigans.
Jess soon learns her ‘voice’ belongs to Ah Ma, her late grandmother. She worshipped the Black Water Sister, a local deity. And when a business magnate dared to offend her goddess, Ah Ma swore revenge. Now she’s decided Jess will help, whether she wants to or not.
As Ah Ma blackmails Jess into compliance, Jess fights to retain control. But her irrepressible relative isn’t going to let a little thing like death stop her, when she can simply borrow Jess’s body to make mischief. As Jess is drawn ever deeper into a world of peril and family secrets, getting a job becomes the least of her worries . . .
‘This may be Zen Cho's best work yet’ – Karen Lord, author of The Best of All Possible Worlds
‘A compelling and deftly written ghost story' – Kate Elliott, author of Cold Magic
*Zen Cho won the Hugo Award for Best Novelette in 2019 for If At First You Don't Succeed, Try, Try Again
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
A young woman confronts a formidable god in this stirring paranormal fantasy from Cho (Sorcerer to the Crown). Jessamyn Teoh, an unemployed, recent college graduate, moves back to Malaysia with her parents. While coping with being uprooted from her life and struggling with her now long-distance relationship, Jess begins to hear a disembodied voice and is horrified to discover that it belongs to her late grandmother, Ah Ma. The fierce, plucky Ah Ma refuses to move on to the next life until Jess helps her exact revenge against gangster Ng Chee Hin, who's planning on tearing down the temple of her god, the Black Water Sister. Jess reluctantly agrees to become her grandmother's medium—but while working to save the temple and attempting to make an ally of Ng Chee Hin's son, Sherng, Jess accidentally angers the Black Water Sister. Now the god stalks her, demanding retribution for her wrongful deed—and Jess has no choice but to pay her debt or she'll lose everything she has left. Cho's multifaceted characters, like her masterful plot, are never quite what they first appear. Unpredictable twists keep the pages turning while the comic but endearing relationship between Jess and her sassy grandmother provides the story's heart. This is must-read fantasy.
