The Ghost Bride

Enjoyable, but not perfect.

A fantasy story in a highly unusual setting. The heroine is the daughter of an impoverished Chinese family in Malaya who gets involved with the world of spirits and the afterlife when she attracts the attention of the dead cousin of her fiancee.

Fascinating descriptions of both our and the next world. Unusual characters but, appart from Li Lan and a couple of outhers, not with very much depth. The antagonists in particular seem to be rather flat - evil, greedy and not much else. The plot didn't quite hold my interest, though. Too much hiding, getting caught and getting rescued, not enough real development. I am also not convinced of the ending.

Still, the novel gave me a few hours of immersion in places I hadn't known before and would like to visit again.

Recommended.