Book Chamber | July 23

Tuesday, July 23, 2024 — 6:30 pm

Don’t judge a book by its movie (now streaming on multiple networks). Classifying this murder mystery as a beach novel might be demeaning. Murder. Romance. Ghosts. But the book has greater worth than a Chick Lit pocketbook. It also educates us about Asian culture. Visit the Asian underworld of the dead in 19th century Malacca. Yangsze Choo’s imagination unfurls Chinese superstitions – or rather convictions – with respect to death, marriage, love, family, and sacrifice.

This is not your classic story of fearless, clever, and brawny Odysseus descending into Hades. No. The young Li Lan, daughter of a genteel but bankrupt family, must marry the (ghostly) dead son of a wealthy plutocrat. He invades her dreams and she wanders through his nether world. Join us, July 16 when we will debate the satisfaction of the surprising finale.