Constantly Moving the Bookmark

Lin Lan is the only daughter of a respectable but impoverished Malayan family. Her father shocks her one morning inquiring whether she would be interested in being the “ghost bride” to a recently deceased young man from a very well-to-do family. The young man, Lim Tian Ching has started appearing to his mother in dreams telling her of his infatuation with Lin Lan. In some cases becoming a “ghost bride” is considered an honour, but not in this situation. Soon Lim begins invading Lin’s dreams as well. To exorcise him Lin and her Amah visit a fortuneteller. Following her advice Lin Lan accidentally finds herself chasing Lim through the afterlife. With one foot in the world of the living and one foot in the world of the dead, Lin fears that she may be losing her tenuous hold on her own physical being and find herself stranded there.

This book is beautifully written. This book is filled mythical beings and interesting stories from oriental legends. This book paints vivid word pictures. This book is a ghost story. For me, the combination of these things would automatically earn this novel a five-star rating. Unfortunately, despite the beautiful prose and interesting characters I found it a very slow moving read. Sometimes I felt as mired in the dreamscape as Lin herself, yet I plodded on because, like Lin I did need to know how the adventure would end.