While I have all three Yangsze Choo novels on my TBR, I opted to read The Night Tiger (Flatiron 2019) first. As the story of the ghost bride is referenced in this novel, I should have likely read Choo’s debut before The Night Tiger, but I don’t think it was necessary. (That may change once I read The Ghost Bride.) I took a gamble that I’d like Choo’s writing and bought all three works at the same time. If The Night Tiger is any indication, that gamble paid off.
A whisper of magical realism sings throughout the pages of this historical fiction, set in the 1930s in colonial Malaysia – and when done correctly, those magical realism whispers will always be my favorite. I loved this novel.
Ji Lin, brilliant and beautiful, is forced into an “acceptable” career as a dressmaker. In secret, she works as a dance-hall girl to help pay off her mother’s mahjong debt. While her stepfather has plenty of money to pay off the debts, he also has a violent temper, and she has no desire to see her mother at the receiving end of his abuse. Life gets a bit interesting when a client drops a vial with a preserved human finger inside.
Ji confides in her stepbrother, Shin, who is studying to be a doctor, the course of study she’d longed for but been denied. Shin is of no blood relation, but they were born on the same day, both named for one of the five Confucian Virtues. After he confirms it is human, she decides it must be returned to the man’s family. The patron has unexpectedly died, and she intends to attend his funeral to return it.
Meanwhile, Ren (another Confucian Virtue) is frantically trying to find the finger of the man he had worked for. When Dr. MacFarlane was dying, he made Ren promise to find the finger and bury it in his grave before the end of the 49-day period. Dr. MacFarlane believed he turned into the night tiger towards the end, and Ren was afraid of his mad ramblings but he is committed to finding the finger and keeping his promise.
Ren is a twin, but his brother, Yi (the fourth Confucian virtue), died. Sometimes, Ren still feels a connection to him. Ji Lin has a strong connection to both Yi and Ren, seeing Yi in her dreams. Yi tells her of his brother and tells her to be aware of the person whose name is the fifth Confucian Virtue.
Ren’s quest to find Dr. MacFarlene’s finger crosses paths with Ji Len’s quest to return the finger dropped in the dance hall to its rightful owner, and the fifth Confucian value, the one Yi warned Ji of, is revealed. As the story unfolds, colonialism, local legends and folktales, and forbidden love intertwine with a story of grief, loyalty, human trafficking and murder.
The Night Tiger is an absolute delight of a read, beautifully and magically told – hitting so many of the things that are my favorites. Read this book.
A Girl Named Tommi 