The Ghost Bride
A Novel
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4.2 • 372 Ratings
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- $14.99
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- $14.99
Publisher Description
Now a Netflix Mandarin original drama!
From the New York Times bestselling author of The Night Tiger, a Reese’s Book Club pick
Yangsze Choo’s stunning debut, The Ghost Bride, is a startlingly original novel infused with Chinese folklore, romantic intrigue, and unexpected supernatural twists.
Li Lan, the daughter of a respectable Chinese family in colonial Malaysia, hopes for a favorable marriage, but her father has lost his fortune, and she has few suitors. Instead, the wealthy Lim family urges her to become a “ghost bride” for their son, who has recently died under mysterious circumstances. Rarely practiced, a traditional ghost marriage is used to placate a restless spirit. Such a union would guarantee Li Lan a home for the rest of her days, but at what price?
Night after night, Li Lan is drawn into the shadowy parallel world of the Chinese afterlife, where she must uncover the Lim family’s darkest secrets—and the truth about her own family.
Reminiscent of Lisa See’s Peony in Love and Amy Tan’s The Bonesetter’s Daughter, The Ghost Bride is a wondrous coming-of-age story and from a remarkable new voice in fiction.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In her debut novel, Choo tells the unlikely story of a young Chinese woman who marries a dead man. No, this is not a tale of vampires or zombies, but of an ancient custom among the Chinese in Malaysia called "spirit marriage." Set in 1893 colonial Malacca, the novel follows 17-year-old Li Lan, who, like other young women her age, hopes for a lucky and prosperous marriage. The wealthy Lim family's proposal seems to be a great stroke of luck until Li discovers that their son, Lim Tian Ching, is already dead, stricken by fever months ago. Li's father refuses the offer, but even the prospect of marriage forces her to confront the fact that she and her father are in danger of losing the comfortable middle-class life they once enjoyed. Madam Lim presses her case during the day, Lim Tian haunts Li's dreams from the afterlife, and she pines for another suitor altogether Lim's cousin Tian Bai. When Li falls ill, she plunges into the world of the Chinese afterlife, complete with ghost cities, servants, and its own bureaucracy. Choo's clear and charming style creates an alternate reality where the stakes are just as high as in the real world, combining grounded period storytelling with the supernatural.
Customer Reviews
Wonderful
This story is a fascinating, compelling odyssey through the spirit afterlife world and how it all affects the bride’s future. Fantasy intertwined with reality, beautifully crafted with usage of factual information about the time and place. It’s reflective of so much research. The writing draws you in and even at the conclusion, you want more.
Sleep deprived
This book had me reading until 3-4 in the morning on many nights, and not on purpose! It’s an unusual story and one that is filled with adventure. Highly recommend.
The Ghost Bride
An entertaining ride and so sorry to let these characters go!!! Vivid and beautifully written. I feel as though I myself have visited the Plains of the Dead with the heroine and met her ghosts, dragons and returned a changed person!! Thoroughly enjoyed from beginning to end!!