Choo also clearly delights in sharing her knowledge of Chinese and Malay folklore, traditional belief, and magical practices. Compared to other times and places in Asia, such as Colonial or Post-Colonial India, or China during the Mao years, Colonial Malaya-William Somerset Maugham notwithstanding-is a relatively under-explored setting in fiction for the international market. Not that it should necessarily need one: The Ghost Bride was aimed at the young adult market, whereas The Night Tiger is adult fare, so a greater degree of complexity would be expected. The Night Tiger is also set in Malaya, although in the early 1930s, but it lacks its predecessor’s immediately graspable premise. Malaysian-Chinese Yangsze Choo’s best-selling debut historical novel, The Ghost Bride was set in late 19th century Malaya with an immediately compelling premise: a young Chinese girl in is married off to a ghost.
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