Introduction

"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." Publishers
Weekly


"What makes all this work is the sumptuous world of Chinese émigré
culture and the love story that flows under it all--the kind so full of longing,
the pages practically sigh as you turn each one." Oprah.com - Book of the
Week


"'The Ghost Bride', an impressive first novel, takes
readers on one of the wildest rides since Alice fell down the rabbit
hole." San Jose Mercury News


"Choo's remarkably strong and arresting first novel
explores the concept of Chinese "spirit marriages" in
late-nineteenth-century Malaya through the eyes of the highly relatable Li
Lan...With its gripping tangles of plot and engaging characters, this truly
compelling read is sure to garner much well deserved attention."
Booklist


Li Lan, the daughter of a genteel but bankrupt family, has few prospects. But fate intervenes when she receives an unusual proposal from the wealthy and powerful Lim family. They want her to become a ghost bride for the family's only son, who 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 a terrible price.

After an ominous visit to the opulent Lim mansion, Li Lan finds herself haunted not only by her ghostly would-be suitor, but also by her desire for the Lim's handsome new heir, Tian Bai. Night after night, she is drawn into the shadowy parallel world of the Chinese afterlife, with its ghost cities, paper funeral offerings, vengeful spirits and monstrous bureaucracy--including the mysterious Er Lang, a charming but unpredictable guardian spirit. Li Lan must uncover the Lim family's darkest secrets--and the truth about her own family--before she is trapped in this ghostly world forever.

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Excerpt

Malaya 1893




One evening, my father asked me whether I would like to become a ghost bride. Asked is perhaps not the right word. We were in his study. I was leafing through a newspaper, my father lying on his rattan daybed. It was very hot and still. The oil lamp was lit and moths fluttered through the humid air in lazy swirls. ... view entire excerpt...

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