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. 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. In her debut novel, Choo tells the unlikely story of a young Chinese woman who marries a dead man. 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. 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. Such a union would guarantee Li Lan a home for the rest of her days, but at what price? Rarely practiced, a traditional ghost marriage is used to placate a restless spirit. Instead, the wealthy Lim family urges her to become a “ghost bride” for their son, who has recently died under mysterious circumstances. 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. Yangsze Choo’s stunning debut, The Ghost Bride, is a startlingly original novel infused with Chinese folklore, romantic intrigue, and unexpected supernatural twists. From the New York Times bestselling author of The Night Tiger, a Reese’s Book Club pick

The ghost bride by yangsze choo