The Night Tiger: The Reese Witherspoon Book Club Pick

by Yangsze Choo

THE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

'The two main characters will captivate you as their paths are destined to cross... you won't be able to put this one down!'
Reese Witherspoon

'I was willingly propelled into a fascinating and exotic world'
Daily Mail

They say a tiger that devours too many humans can take the form of a man and walk among us...

In 1930s colonial Malaya, a dissolute British doctor receives a surprise gift of an eleven-year-old Chinese houseboy. Sent as a bequest from an old friend, young Ren has a mission: to find his dead master's severed finger and reunite it with his body. Ren has forty-nine days, or else his master's soul will roam the earth forever.

Ji Lin, an apprentice dressmaker, moonlights as a dancehall girl to pay her mother's debts. One night, Ji Lin's dance partner leaves her with a gruesome souvenir that leads her on a crooked, dark trail.

As time runs out for Ren's mission, a series of unexplained deaths occur amid rumours of tigers who turn into men. In their journey to keep a promise and discover the truth, Ren and Ji Lin's paths will cross in ways they will never forget.

Captivating and lushly written, The Night Tiger explores the rich world of servants and masters, ancient superstition and modern ambition, sibling rivalry and unexpected love. Woven through with Chinese folklore and a tantalizing mystery, this novel is a page-turner of the highest order.

'An exuberant medley of magic, romance and weirdness'
The Times

'[A] highly imaginative and a spellbinding read'
Woman's Weekly

• ISBN10: 1787470458
• ISBN13: 9781787470453
• Publish Date: 12 February 2019
• Publish Status: Out of Print
• Out of Print: 29 March 2021
• Publish Country: GB
• Imprint: Quercus Publishing
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 480
• Language: English

Reviews

[nannah]

DNF @ 23%.

I loved Yangsze Choo’s other book, The Ghost Bride, so I was pretty excited to get into this one. And I did love it … until I got a feeling about where the main romance was headed. Unfortunately, I was right.

Content warnings:
- incest
- (I didn’t get this far, but other people have mentioned:) abuse, assault, unhealthy relationships

Representation:
- the main character, her family, and the other main character (Ren) are Chinese

In 1930s Malaysia, an old doctor asks his young Chinese houseboy to find his missing finger and bury it with him within 49 days of his death -- or his soul will roam the world as a man-eating tiger. Meanwhile, Ji Lin, a girl with a gift for numbers and who always wanted to be a doctor, has to give up her dreams because of her stepfather’s urging and her mother’s mahjong debt. She takes a part-time job as a dancer, which has her crossing paths with a Chinese salesman who accidentally leaves her with a very unlucky gift: a mummified, severed finger. Along with her stepbrother, Ji Lin tries to find who it belongs to.

As I mentioned earlier, I loved this book initially. The descriptions were lush, the characters all unique and lovable in their own, sometimes strange ways. But then I got hits of the developing romance. Eventually it got to the point where I had to look it up. I’m not one for incest, and yes, step siblings count as incest. It’s not about blood relation, but about family. Plus, I hear the stepbrother is incredibly possessive and abusive -- and nearly assaults Ji Lin. So no, I will not be reading on.