Yangsze
Bestselling Novelist
Fantasy and Literary Fiction Writer
Travels from: San Francisco, CA

“Choo’s writing is lush and the slow revelation of complication relationships and reunions hum with tension. This is a treat.” ― Publishers Weekly

Yangsze Choo is the New York Times bestselling author of THE GHOST BRIDE (now a Netflix Original series) and THE NIGHT TIGER, a Reese Witherspoon Book Club Pick, Amazon’s Spotlight Pick, a Book of the Month Club selection, and one of Bookbub and USA Today’s best books of the year. It was also a Big Jubilee Read selection for Queen Elizabeth II’s Platinum Jubilee.

Her new novel, THE FOX WIFE, is a Time Magazine Best Book of February 2024, a Book of the Month Club, a Fresh Fiction pick for Oprah Daily, as well as a semifinalist for Jimmy Fallon’s Book Club on The Tonight Show. She lives in California with her family and loves to eat and read (often at the same time). THE FOX WIFE and all previous novels would not have been possible without large quantities of dark chocolate.

Yangsze's Featured Titles

The Fox Wife: A Novel

Henry Holt and Co. |
Literary Fiction

Some people think foxes are similar to ghosts because we go around collecting qibut nothing could be further than the truth. We are living creatures, just like you, only usually better looking . . .

Manchuria, 1908.
In the last years of the dying Qing Empire, a courtesan is found frozen in a doorway. Her death is clouded by rumors of foxes, which are believed to lure people by transforming themselves into beautiful women and handsome men. Bao, a detective with an uncanny ability to sniff out the truth, is hired to uncover the dead woman’s identity. Since childhood, Bao has been intrigued by the fox gods, yet they’ve remained tantalizingly out of reach―until, perhaps, now.

Meanwhile, a family who owns a famous Chinese medicine shop can cure ailments but can’t escape the curse that afflicts them―their eldest sons die before their twenty-fourth birthdays. When a disruptively winsome servant named Snow enters their household, the family’s luck seems to change―or does it?

Snow is a creature of many secrets, but most of all she’s a mother seeking vengeance for her lost child. Hunting a murderer, she will follow the trail from northern China to Japan, while Bao follows doggedly behind. Navigating the myths and misconceptions of fox spirits, both Snow and Bao will encounter old friends and new foes, even as more deaths occur.

New York Times bestselling author Yangsze Choo brilliantly explores a world of mortals and spirits, humans and beasts, and their dazzling intersection. Epic in scope and full of singular, unforgettable characters, The Fox Wife is a stunning novel about old loves and second chances, the depths of maternal love, and ancient folktales that may very well be true.

The Night Tiger: A Novel

Flatiron Books |
Literary Fiction

Reese Witherspoon x Hello Sunshine Book Club Pick
INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

“A sumptuous garden maze of a novel that immerses readers in a complex, vanished world.” ―Kirkus (starred review)

An utterly transporting novel set in 1930s colonial Malaysia, perfect for fans of Isabel Allende and Min Jin Lee

Quick-witted, ambitious Ji Lin is stuck as an apprentice dressmaker, moonlighting as a dancehall girl to help pay off her mother’s Mahjong debts. But when one of her dance partners accidentally leaves behind a gruesome souvenir, Ji Lin may finally get the adventure she has been longing for.

Eleven-year-old houseboy Ren is also on a mission, racing to fulfill his former master’s dying wish: that Ren find the man’s finger, lost years ago in an accident, and bury it with his body. Ren has 49 days to do so, or his master’s soul will wander the earth forever.

As the days tick relentlessly by, a series of unexplained deaths racks the district, along with whispers of men who turn into tigers. Ji Lin and Ren’s increasingly dangerous paths crisscross through lush plantations, hospital storage rooms, and ghostly dreamscapes.

Yangsze Choo’s The Night Tiger pulls us into a world of servants and masters, age-old superstition and modern idealism, sibling rivalry and forbidden love. But anchoring this dazzling, propulsive novel is the intimate coming-of-age of a child and a young woman, each searching for their place in a society that would rather they stay invisible.

The Ghost Bride: A Novel

William Morrow |
Historical Fantasy

Now a Netflix original drama!

From the New York Times bestselling author of The Night Tiger, a Reese’s Book Club pick, Yangsze Choo’s stunning debut, The Ghost Bride, is a startlingly original novel infused with Chinese folklore, romantic intrigue, and unexpected supernatural twists.

Li Lan, the daughter of a respectable Chinese family in colonial Malaysia, hopes for a favorable marriage, but her father has lost his fortune, and she has few suitors. Instead, the wealthy Lim family urges her to become a “ghost bride” for their son, who has 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 what price?

Night after night, Li Lan is drawn into the shadowy parallel world of the Chinese afterlife, where she must uncover the Lim family’s darkest secrets—and the truth about her own family.

Authors-Unbound_icon-web-link.png

The Ghost Bride/the Chinese marriage of the dead

Book talk about the Chinese marriage of the dead, including folk beliefs about burned offerings, paper money, and the connection between families and ancestor worship. The notion of the dead having marriages and the Chiense afterlife, as well as

Also includes a slide show about with photographs of overseas Chinese communities and the preparations for the Festival of Hungry Ghosts

Authors-Unbound_icon-web-link.png

The Night Tiger/Mirror worlds, dancehall girls, and were-tigers in 1930s colonial Malaya

Book talk about 1930s colonial Malaya and the large rambling houses left by the British, as well as the relationships between servants and masters (a Downton Abbey of the tropics).

Parallel or mirror worlds within dreams, the significance of twins, Malay and Chinese superstitions concerning fengshui, lucky numbers, and were-tigers. Dancehall girls and their popularity. Child servants, as well as my own family history as tin miners and plantation workers from the setting of the novel in the Kinta Valley.

Authors-Unbound_icon-web-link.png

The Fox Wife/Childhood first love,

Book talk about the shape-shifting foxes of Chinese, Japanese, and Korean literature, the cult of the fox in northern China/Manchuria, and its

Includes a slideshow of the beautiful garden villas of the literati in China, some of which were 1000 years old, with plants and courtyards designed to create worlds within worlds.

Authors-Unbound_icon-web-link.png

Modern roses and their Chinese heritage/Ancient Chinese flowers and their cultural significance

I’m currently writing a novel about plants and roses. Interestingly, most people don’t realize that the repeat flowering modern roses are all descended from crosses from China. Previously, European roses were only once-flowering, but China had repeat flowering roses that continue to bloom through the summer, from 1000 years of rose breeding. The 4 mainstays of modern European roses, such as “Old Blush”, were all collected from China in the 1700s, and crossed with once-flowering European roses to create our modern repeat-flowering roses.

Ancient Chinese roses, hybridized since the Han and Tang dynasties, had very poetic names such as “Sleeping Beauty”, and “Pearl in the Dragon’s Mouth”. They were separated into 2 types, known as qiang wei (climbers) and yue ji (flowering every month).

A discussion on Chinese gardens as well as the cultural meanings of specific plants and flowers.
Includes a slideshow on ancient Chinese roses as well as the historic gardens of Suzhou and Hangzhou

Authors-Unbound_icon-web-link.png

Culinary Adventures in Historical Fiction

As an avid cook and reader myself, I’ve particularly enjoyed researching historical food for my novels. For each book, I’ve cooked and eaten my way through historical and regional cuisines to reflect the dishes that appear in the plot.

Cuisines include 1930s colonial British food, Malay and peranakan dishes from the 1800s, and northern Chinese/Japanese food.

Yangsze’s Press Link

Honors, Awards & Recognition

The Ghost Bride:
NYTimes bestseller
Netflix Original Series
Oprah.com’s Book of the Week
Indie Next List pick
Barnes & Noble Fall ‘13 Discover Great New Writers selection
Goodreads Choice Award Finalist for Best Fantasy
Glamour Magazine 2013 Beach Read
Good Housekeeping Magazine Book Pick
The Bookseller Editor’s Pick
Library Journal Barbara’s Pick

The Night Tiger:
Instant NYTimes bestseller,
Reese Witherspoon Book Club Pick
Book of the Month Club Pick,
A Most Anticipated Book (Glamour, Real Simple, Parade, Bustle, BookPage, Goodreads, PopSugar, BookRiot, Refinery29, Tor.com, HelloGiggles)
USA Today: Best Books of the Year So Far
Refinery29: A Best Book of the Year (So Far)
Parade: A Best Book of the Year
National Geographic: 13 New Books for Spring Break Trips

The Fox Wife:
Book of the Month Club,
Semifinalist for Jimmy Fallon’s bookclub on The Tonight Show,
A Best Book of February by Time
A Most Anticipated Book of 2024 by LitHub and BookPage
A Fresh Fiction Pick by Oprah Daily
A February 2024 IndieNext Pick
A February 2024 LibraryReads pick

Media Kit

By clicking the link below you will be directed to a Google Docs Folder
where you can download author photos and cover images.

Similar Authors

Angie

Kim

Award Winning Novelist
Jamie
Bestselling Historical Novelist
Etaf

Rum

NYT Best Selling Author
Katherine
Bestselling Novelist
RF
Bestselling Fantasy Novelist

We’ve received your Message!

An AU Representative will connect with you as soon as possible.