a mystery that turns into an unlikely love story, would love to see this made into a movie

I picked this up at the October BookCrossing meeting to add to my pile.

Though ruled by British overlords, the Chinese of colonial Malaya still cling to ancient customs. And in the sleepy port town of Malacca, ghosts and superstitions abound.

Li Lan, the daughter of a genteel but bankrupt family, has few prospects. But fate intervenes when she receives an unusual proposal from the wealthy and powerful Lim family. They want her to become a ghost bride for the family's only son, who recently died under mysterious circumstances. Rarely practiced, a traditional ghost marriage is used to placate a restless spirit. Such a union would guarantee Li Lan a home for the rest of her days, but at a terrible price.

After an ominous visit to the opulent Lim mansion, Li Lan finds herself haunted not only by her ghostly would-be suitor, but also by her desire for the Lim's handsome new heir, Tian Bai. Night after night, she is drawn into the shadowy parallel world of the Chinese afterlife, with its ghost cities, paper funeral offerings, vengeful spirits and monstrous bureaucracy—including the mysterious Er Lang, a charming but unpredictable guardian spirit. Li Lan must uncover the Lim family's darkest secrets—and the truth about her own family—before she is trapped in this ghostly world forever.

Strange book. Yet I kept reading. It was a bit spooky but it got very interesting at the end and made you think a lot about where the author got her idea. It was interesting to read the notes section at the end as it clarified what are actual Chinese beliefs and where her imagination took her.

Well - finished this just in time to take it to tomorrows Book Crossing meeting at Cravings.

Picked up at the January meeting.

Taking to the March meet up - theme "Three to get Deadly"!

This was such a cool world, mixed with bits of chinese afterworld lore!

To the finder:
Calgary has an active group of BookCrossers that meet to swap books and discuss book crossing every second Saturday of the month at 11am at Cravings Market on Fairmount Drive SE. We always love to meet new crossers, so please join us any time you like!

Thank you for pushing this book across the table to me at the meetup yesterday. I look forward to having it claw it's way to the top of my TBR Mountain Range.

Today, I told some online Bookcrossing friends that I didn’t know what book to read after finally finishing my last book.
One of them sent the suggestion for this book that has been waiting to be read for almost 5 years. Oops.
I’m going in…

This was such an interesting book and it dealt with a culture with traditions and beliefs that I had never read about before.
Thank you so much for sharing this amazing book with me and I apologize for taking so long to blow the TBR dust off it…but I am glad that I did.
Erin is the next reader according to the post it note inside.

Sorry, but I need to return some books back to the group at our meetup at Cravings. It has been such a long time since we have gotten together!
So many books and so little time!
This was a fantastic movie!

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This book is with me, for a future wild release.