The Night Tiger by Yangsze Choo

I think this is probably going to be one of my favourite books of the year. A beautifully written magic realist historical novel set in Malay during the 1930s. The story centres around Ren, a young boy who is given a mission by his British master (who has died) to return his missing finger to his grave, preventing the master from walking the earth in search of it, and Ji Lin, a young woman who works as a dance partner but wishes to become a nurse. Along with Ji Lin's stepbrother Shin, they are mysteriously connected by the Confucian virtues.

A great part of the story is taken up with Chinese traditions and mythology, which is fascinating. The main motif of the story is that there is a were-tiger killing and mauling people, this is part of the magic realist aspect as well as imagery the author uses to describe the reoccurring dreams where Ren and Ji Lin communicate.

The time period and the place are perfectly chosen as you get the amazing imagery of the tiger and the sense that things are changing as the expats live and work in Malay, mostly as doctors and missionaries. Another important character is William, who works as a doctor and is Ren's new master. There is a sense of the western world colliding with the eastern world, as well as old versus new and Ji Lin's role as a woman is changing. She longs for the freedom of escaping from her family by becoming a nurse, but at the same time she feels tied to her mother and to her stepbrother, whom she is in love with. The characters are also very well written and it's the kind of book that you could easily re-read to pick up more of the hints in the story. The characters are never quite what they seem, no-one is perfectly good or evil although Ren has such innocence and is masterfully written, something I image was difficult as he is so young. The unexpectedness of the characters make them even more human and is a big part of why I think this is such a magical book.

As readers have found on Quercus's brilliant #NightTigerTogether Twitter book club, it makes for some brilliant discussions and would make a perfect book club read. Yangsze Choo has participated in some of the discussions and has provided a brilliant insight into the writing process, she is currently in talks with Netflix about making her novel The Ghost Bride into a TV series. Can't wait to read it or see it as she provided some hints about it in the novel. She is also doing a Q&A on Twitter next week, so I will be looking forward to participating in this too.