A startlingly original voice makes its literary debut with this wondrous coming-of-age story, infused with Chinese folklore, romantic intrigue, adventure, and fascinating, dreamlike twists: September’s Indigo Spotlight title is Yangsze Choo’s The Ghost Bride.
The pure joy of soaring imagination and the weight of old, old truths are married in this enchanting tale of secrets and love in the Chinese afterlife. Take her hand and let the Ghost Bride guide you on a magical, unforgettable journey.
The Indigo Blog is pleased to share this blog from Yangsze Choo today, on the origins of her novel.
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Why You Should Write That Book. Anyway.
I must confess that when my mother found out that I was writing a book about dead people and ghost marriages, she said plaintively "Why...why can't you write something *nice*?" I could only tell her that I thought it was an interesting story. Then I went away (rather guiltily) and continued writing whenever I could sneak some free time. Now, as much as I still listen to my mum, despite the fact that I’m quite middle-aged, I’m very glad that I didn’t heed her. Because if I had, it would be the second time that my book, The Ghost Bride, did not get written.
In fact, when I was still a university student struggling over what to do with my senior thesis, I’d wanted to write about the historical role of female ghosts in Asian culture. Thanks to a childhood spent reading far too many strange Chinese tales, I had always wondered: 1. Why was it that by and large, Asian ghosts seem so much more terrifying than Western ones and 2. Why were the worst ones all female? Clearly, it must be some sort of subconscious recognition that women were traditionally disempowered in Asian society, and perhaps this reflected their frustrations.
Unfortunately, I never did write that thesis because I chickened out, thinking that no one would ever employ me if they saw that on my resume (more fool me, because I later realized that nobody really cares what you write about for your thesis unless you’re going into academia)! Instead, I ended up writing a terrible dissertation about the economics of Chinese industrial townships, which was so mind-numbing that even I could hardly read it without feeling the urge to rush out of the library and buy myself a bag of Cheetos. Needless to say, I didn’t find any extra inspiration, besides gaining several pounds and permanently orange-stained hands.
However, I kept the idea of women and ghosts rattling around in the back of my head and they showed up in a number of short stories that I wrote. Years later, I started a novel about an elephant who was a detective. There were many reasons why this (though marginally better than industrial townships) was also not a good subject, but in the meantime, while I was doggedly researching my elephant book in the archives of our local Malaysian newspaper, I came across a sentence which alluded to the decline of spirit marriages amongst the Chinese.
“What is this?!” was my first reaction. Never mind that there wasn’t anything about elephants in the article. Then I realized that this must refer to the marriage of the dead. I’d vaguely heard of this before, since ghost stories are the weapon of choice for Chinese grandmothers, but this matter-of-fact reference was so intriguing that what began as a subplot for my elephant book took on a life of its own.
There’s actually a long Chinese literary tradition of strange tales set in the blurred borderline between spirits and humans, where beautiful women turn out to be shape-shifting foxes, and the afterlife is run like a monstrous parody of Imperial Chinese bureaucracy. It’s a very rich and curious mythology that I’d love to introduce readers to, especially since I think the prospect of being married off to a dead man touches on all sorts of fears for women - in addition to an arranged marriage, there’s family pressure and worse still, a bridegroom who’s actually dead.
My mother has now come around to the idea of the book. In fact, she read and loved it, which made me ridiculously happy (I need to figure out the secret behind maternal approval and apply it to my own kids). But most importantly, though it was sometimes a struggle, I enjoyed writing this novel. Far more than I ever connected with the economics of Chinese industrial townships. So whether you’re writing or reading, I’d like to encourage you to pursue what you find deeply interesting. And don’t eat too many Cheetos.
Thank you so much for having me on Indigo Spotlight. It’s been a pleasure and an incredible honour to be featured. For further suggestions about what to eat while you read, come visit my blog at http://yschoo.com!
-Yangsze Choo, August 1st 2013