{{Short description|Malaysian writer of Chinese descent}} {{Infobox writer | name = Yangsze Choo | birth_place = Philippines | occupation = Novelist | nationality = American | alma_mater = Harvard University | genre = Fantasy }}
'''Yangsze Choo''' ({{zh|c=朱洋熹<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.zaobao.com.sg/news/fukan/books/story20210308-1129545|title=透过民间传说唤醒内心记忆 马来西亚作家朱洋熹走红欧美文坛|date=8 March 2021|language=zh|newspaper=Lianhe Zaobao|accessdate=7 September 2023|trans-title=Awakening Inner Memories Through Folklore, Malaysian Writer Yangsze Choo Became Popular in European and American Literary Circles|last=Huang Juan ({{lang|zh-hans|黄涓}})}}</ref>|p=Zhū Yángxī}}) is a Malaysian writer of Chinese descent, whose novel ''The Night Tiger'' was selected as one of 70 works in the Big Jubilee Read, a campaign to celebrate the Platinum Jubilee of Elizabeth II.
== Biography == Choo was born in the Philippines, to a Malaysian family of Chinese descent.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=Yangsze Choo {{!}} Authors |url=https://us.macmillan.com/author/yangszechoo |access-date=2022-04-19 |website=Macmillan |language=en-US}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite news|first= Anandhi |last=Gopinath|title=Local author Yangsze Choo on the runaway success of her debut novel |url=https://www.optionstheedge.com/topic/culture/local-author-yangsze-choo-runaway-success-her-debut-novel |access-date=2022-04-19 |work=The Edge Malaysia: Options|date= 14 March 2019|language=en}}</ref> Her father was a diplomat and the family moved frequently, so she spent her formative years in Thailand, Germany, Japan and Singapore.<ref name=":1" /> She attended Harvard University and subsequently worked as a management consultant.<ref name=":2">{{Cite web |last=Miller |first=Stuart |date=7 February 2020|title="Wild Dreams" |url=https://www.harvardmagazine.com/2020/03/montage-wild-dreams |access-date=2022-04-19 |website=Harvard Magazine |language=en}}</ref> She began to write after leaving management consultancy to focus on her family, often writing at night.<ref>{{Cite news| work= New Straits Times | date = 7 November 1921|last=Kamal |first=Intan Maizura Ahmad |title=History and hantu are the ingredients behind Malaysian master storyteller, Yangsze Choo's recipe for literary success! |url=https://www.nst.com.my/lifestyle/sunday-vibes/2021/11/743158/history-and-hantu-are-ingredients-behind-malaysian-master|access-date=2022-04-19}}</ref>
Her first novel ''The Ghost Bride'' took three years to write.<ref name=":1" /> It is a fantasy novel, based on the practice of ghost marriage and drawing on Chinese mythology to create its world.<ref>Vinczeová, Barbora. [https://dokumenty.osu.cz/ff/kaa/ojoep/ostrava-journal-vol1-2019-full.pdf#page=45 "The Concept of Afterlife: Transforming Mythology into Fantasy in Yangsze Choo's The Ghost Bride."] ''Ostrava Journal of English Philology'' 11.1 (2019).</ref> It became a ''New York Times'' best seller, and was selected as a Best Book by Oprah.com.<ref name=":2" /><ref>{{Cite web |last=Asia |first=Tatler |title=Yangsze Choo |url=https://www.tatlerasia.com/people/yangsze-choo |access-date=2022-04-19 |website=Tatler Asia |language=en}}</ref> It later formed the basis of the Netflix-original series ''The Ghost Bride,'' which was co-directed by Malaysian directors Quek Shio-chuan and Ho Yu-hang. It starred Huang Pei-jia, Wu Kang-jen, Ludi Lin, and Kuang Tian.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Cheema |first1=Sukhbir |date=22 January 2020 |title='The Ghost Bride' directors tell us what it's like working with an all-Malaysian crew and why the Netflix series was shot in Mandarin |language=en-sg |work=Mashable SEA |url=https://sea.mashable.com/entertainment/8721/the-ghost-bride-directors-tell-us-what-its-like-working-with-an-all-malaysian-crew-and-why-the-netfl |access-date=21 August 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Creepy ghost wedding custom featured in 'The Ghost Bride' on Netflix {{!}} The Star |work=www.thestar.com.my |url=https://www.thestar.com.my/lifestyle/entertainment/2020/01/14/she-gets-a-proposal-to-marry-the-son-of-a-wealth-family-thing-is-he039s-dead |access-date=21 August 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Chin |first1=Koyyi |date=10 August 2020 |title=Director Quek Shio Chuan Tells Deeply Personal Stories Through His Films |language=en-MY |work=Tatler Malaysia |url=https://my.asiatatler.com/life/director-quek-shio-chuan-tells-deeply-personal-stories-through-his-films-guang |access-date=21 August 2020 |archive-date=19 August 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200819043809/https://my.asiatatler.com/life/director-quek-shio-chuan-tells-deeply-personal-stories-through-his-films-guang |url-status=dead }}</ref>
Her second novel, ''The Night Tiger'' took four years to write.<ref name=":1" /> It is set in 1931 in Malaya, then part of the British Empire, and addresses the Malaysian myth of the weretiger.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Bin Zubair |first=Hassan |date=2020 |title=Book Review: The Night Tiger by Yangsze Choo |url=https://www.al-kindipublisher.com/index.php/jweep/article/view/18 |journal=Journal of World Englishes and Educational Practices |language= |volume=2 |issue=1}}</ref> It was selected as one of 70 works in the Big Jubilee Read, a campaign to celebrate the Platinum Jubilee of Elizabeth II.<ref>{{Cite web |title=BBC Arts - BBC Arts - A literary celebration of Queen Elizabeth II's record-breaking reign |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/2Ynpj933DJ2YG5nsMS6fn8k/a-literary-celebration-of-queen-elizabeth-iis-record-breaking-reign |access-date=2022-04-19 |website=BBC |language=en-GB}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=BBC Arts - BBC Arts - The Big Jubilee Read - 2012-2022 |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/4RNfHvd2sxNlHDFFqzTGVKc/the-big-jubilee-read-2012-2022 |access-date=2022-04-19 |website=BBC |language=en-GB}}</ref>
Choo published another novel, ''The Fox Wife'', in 2024.<ref>{{Cite web |date=November 18, 2023 |title=The Fox Wife |url=https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/yangsze-choo/the-fox-wife-choo/ |access-date=2025-07-10 |website=Kirkus Reviews}}</ref> It is set in Manchuria in the early 1900s, and centers on a fox spirit hunting for justice.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Simon |first=Scott |date=2024-02-10 |title=Yangsze Choo on her new novel 'The Fox Wife' |url=https://www.npr.org/2024/02/10/1230605053/yangsze-choo-on-her-new-novel-the-fox-wife |access-date=2025-07-11 |work=NPR |language=en}}</ref> The book was longlisted in 2025 for the International Dublin Literary Award and became a finalist for the World Fantasy Award for best novel.<ref>{{Cite web |last=IGO |date=2025-01-14 |title=The Fox Wife |url=https://dublinliteraryaward.ie/the-library/books/the-fox-wife/ |access-date=2025-01-28 |website=Dublin Literary Award |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last= |date=2025-07-07 |title=2025 World Fantasy Awards Finalists |url=https://locusmag.com/2025/07/2025-world-fantasy-awards-finalists/ |access-date=2025-07-11 |website=Locus Online |language=en-US}}</ref>
== Novels ==
* ''The Ghost Bride'' (William Morrow & Co., 2013)<ref>{{Cite book |last=Choo |first=Yangsze |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZgkSBgAAQBAJ&q=the+ghost+bride |title=The Ghost Bride |publisher=William Morrow & Co. |year=2013 |isbn=978-0-06-222732-4 |edition=1st |location=New York |oclc=828723965}}</ref> * ''The Night Tiger'' (Quercus, 2019)<ref>{{Cite book |last=Choo |first=Yangsze |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5b1fDwAAQBAJ&q=the+night+tiger |title=The Night Tiger: the utterly enchanting and spellbinding mystery and Reese Witherspoon Book Club pick |date=2019-02-12 |publisher=Quercus |isbn=978-1-78747-048-4 |language=en}}</ref> * ''The Fox Wife: A Novel'' (2024)
== Reception == ''The Ghost Bride'' was described by the ''New York Journal of Books'' as suitable for readers who want "to learn about cultural tradition or who have tired of either vampire or zombie genre".<ref>{{Cite web |title=a book review by Diane Brandley: The Ghost Bride: A Novel |url=https://www.nyjournalofbooks.com/book-review/ghost-bride-novel |access-date=2022-04-19 |website=www.nyjournalofbooks.com |archive-date=2021-10-25 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211025112124/https://www.nyjournalofbooks.com/book-review/ghost-bride-novel |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |title=The Ghost Bride: A Novel |last=Brandley |first=Diane |url=https://www.nyjournalofbooks.com/book-review/ghost-bride-novel |work=New York Journal of Books |access-date=2022-04-19 |archive-date=2021-10-25 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211025112124/https://www.nyjournalofbooks.com/book-review/ghost-bride-novel |url-status=dead }}</ref> Critical theorist Anita Harris Satkunananthan,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Anita Harris Satkunananthan – MLA Commons |url=https://mla.hcommons.org/members/anitahs/ |access-date=2022-04-19 |language=en-US}}</ref> through her analysis of the work, coined the term "Malaysian Chinese Domestic Gothic" to describe the text.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Satkunananthan |first=Anita Harris |date=2020-07-27 |title=Transnational Hauntings, Hungry Ghosts: Malaysian Chinese Domestic Gothic Fiction |url=https://sare.um.edu.my/index.php/SARE/article/view/25274 |journal=SARE: Southeast Asian Review of English |language=en |volume=57 |issue=1 |pages=37–54 |doi=10.22452/sare.vol57no1.5 |s2cid=221095058 |issn=0127-046X|doi-access=free }}</ref>
Patricia Schultheis, writing in the ''Washington Independent Review of Books'', described ''The Night Tiger'' as a "darn good yarn" that is "free of political polemics and post-colonial self-righteousness".<ref name="schultheis">{{cite news |last1=Schultheis |first1=Patricia |title=The Night Tiger: A Novel |url=https://www.washingtonindependentreviewofbooks.com/index.php/bookreview/the-night-tiger-a-novel |access-date=19 April 2022 |work=Washington Independent Review of Books |date=21 March 2019}}</ref>
== Personal life == Choo lives in California, with her husband and children, and keeps chickens.<ref name=":0" />
== References == {{reflist}}
== External links ==
* [https://www.tokyoweekender.com/2021/05/10-questions-with-yangsze-choo-author-of-the-night-tiger/ 10 Questions With Yangsze Choo, Author of ‘The Night Tiger’]
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Category:Living people Category:Year of birth missing (living people) Category:Malaysian people of Chinese descent Category:Malaysian women novelists Category:Malaysian novelists Category:Malaysian fantasy writers Category:Harvard University alumni Category:21st-century Malaysian women writers Category:Malaysian emigrants to the United States