The Night Tiger: Book Review

The Night Tiger: A Vintage Book Review

The Night Tiger book review by Tam Francis

The Synopsis

The Night Tiger (Flatiron Books; First Edition, Second Printing edition (February 12, 2019)  by Yangsze Choo is a genre-crossing, magical realism, murder mystery, historical fiction set in 1930s Malaysia.

For The Night Tiger, Choo chose three characters to tell her enchanting tale: Ren, Ji Lin, and Dr. William Acton. We follow Ren, an 11-year-old houseboy at the deathbed of his master/employer, Dr. MacFarland, who tasks the boy with his, Dr. McFarland’s, dying wish of retrieving the doctor’s amputated and preserved finger, donated years ago after a hunting accident. According to local superstition, Ren must return the finger to the doctor’s grave within 49 days before his soul disappears or the doctor’s spirit will be left to wander the earthly plain and not move on.

Ji Lin, our next character, is apprenticed as a dressmaker’s assistant, but unbeknownst to her family she also moonlights as a dance hall girl in efforts to pay off her mother’s mahjong gambling debts which in 1930s Malaya (which is what Maylasia was called in the 30s), being a dancehall girl in not respectable and close to being a prostitute. During one of her dances with a patron, a strange man gives her a severed finger in a glass tube, and then leaves the dance hall.

So at the onset of the story, we have Ren searching for a finger. Ji Lin, a secret dance hall girl, searching for a man who lost a finger.

Adding to the story,  Ren is sent to live with the doctor’s colleague, William Acton, who’s point of view takes up a third narrative.  William takes Ren on as a houseboy, but we soon find that William hides a mysterious and murky past. And to add to the suspense there is a tiger killing villagers in Ren and William’s vicinity. Ren is worried that his dead master was/is a weretiger spirit and will continue to wander restlessly until his finger is returned.

The other element of the story is that Ji Lin’s estranged step-brother who is studying to be a doctor, ends up at the hospital where William works.

The Night Tiger Book Review: What I liked about it

• Being a swing dancer, I was fascinated with the depiction of the dance hall. In the NPR interview, Choo explains how she first read about Chinese dance halls in an old book when she was a kid. In Return to Malaya by [R.H.] Bruce Lockhart (1936) he describes visiting a Chinese dance hall, “There’s all these young girls, and they dance really well — they’re professional dancers — and in between dances they’re all kept in a pen, and … you can only dance with them for a ticket.” Choo comments that “he’d [Lockhart] mentioned how mysterious it was — like, nobody knew anything about them. They were so — you know, in some ways they were cloistered. There were lots of rumors — what did they do on this side, or maybe they did nothing? And I thought: This is such a weird world, and also so glamorous, to think of all these girls in their flapper bobs and cheongsam  or … Western clothes there to dance.”
• As a historical fiction writer who has also dabbled in paranormal, this novel jumped out at me when Scott Simon interviewed the author on NPR’s Weekend Edition. I actually pulled over and scribbled the title and author down on a scrap piece of paper.
• The historical slant of The Night Tiger is set in 1930s Malaysia, which was a part of the world I haven’t read much about, but I love the music, fashion, and dances of the 30s.
• The Night Tiger also uses a split narrative which is a form of narrative that tells a story in two or more different perspectives, usually different people. Dual or split narrative is also an effective technique that can be used to tell the story of people at two different points in time. Which appealed to me since my Jitterbug Dress series is a dual narrative that is set in both the 1940s and the 1990s.
• Another interesting literary device the author uses is that Ren and William’s story is told in third person past tense, while Ji Lin’s story is told in first person, past tense. All of them have tight limited-perspective narratives so the reader only knows what the characters know.
• When I read it, I thought Choo, did a great job of juxtaposing the beast or wild animal inside each person and where the line of who we are inside and what we present to society is drawn.
• The author does an amazing job creating tension and suspense, keeping me guessing on how or if all these narratives will intertwine.

Magical Realism: What is it?

I’m sure everyone is familiar with historical fiction, but not as many are familiar with magical realism, also called marvelous realism which has been popularized in literature, painting, film, and theatre. It’s a style that creates a realistic view of the modern world while also adding magical elements. Not to be confused with fantasy genre like Lord of the Rings and Game of Thrones.

Magical realism can also fall under the heading of fabulism, in reference to the conventions of fables, myths, and allegory used in the narrative. In fine art think of Frida Kahlo and Henri Rousseau, popular films you may have seen, Midnight in Paris and Amelie, and in literature other novels you may have read Bless me Ultima and Like Water for Chocolate. There are many more, but that’s just to give you an idea of the genre.

Weretigers: What are they?

In her notes Choo writes, “The Tiger has traditionally been revered across Asia. Ancestor worship in the form of tigers—belief that the soul of an ancestor could reincarnate as a tiger—was common in Java, Bali, Sumatra, and Malaya.

Spirit tigers appear in many guises, including guardian spirits of shrines and holy places, corpses who transform and entire village of beast-men. Tigers, like humans, were thought to possess a soul and were often addressed with honorary titles such as “uncle” or “grandfather.”

Shape-shifters in particular embody the tension between man and his beast nature. In most tales, the tiger acts in ways that people normally do not, expressing hidden or forbidden desires: the most basic of which is to murder people in their own houses. Amusingly, in Pu Songling’s story Mr. Miao, a stranger who joins a scholar as his drinking companion is so irritated by the poor quality of poetry recited at a gathering that he turns into a tiger and kills everyone. (Perhaps the ultimate literary criticism).”

Lets hope this review isn’t so bad that weretigers don’t come after me.

Favorite Quotes from The Night Tiger Book Review

“We were a chocolate-box family, I thought. Brightly wrapped on the outside and oozing sticky darkness within.”

“No, the dream-eater is a ghost animal. If you have nightmares, you can call it three times to eat the bad dreams. But you have to be careful. If you call it too often it will also gobble up your hopes and ambitions.”

“One of the appalling yet convenient things about being family is that you can trade accusations at night, then pretend next morning that nothing has happened.”

“Most of all, though, I wanted my mother to forgive me, and bless me, and tell me everything would be all right, just as she had when I was little, and there were only the two of us in the whole wide world. But perhaps that was part of not being a child anymore.”

What I Wanted More & Less of

• SPOILER: LESS: I was uncomfortable with the Shin/Ji Lin relationship because although not technically incest, it was awkward for this Western gal.
• LESS: Shin’s jealousy, possessiveness, and emotional manipulation was also awkward and unlikable.
• MORE: Given the nature of the lush jungle and exotic setting, I hoped for a little more poetic descriptions.

Overall

I enjoyed this novel on many levels. One of the things I like most about historical fiction is the mini-history lessons and exposure to other times and cultures which Choo aptly does. She also does a great job asking the big questions. I found that Choo used the Malayan folktale as a mirror for each of the characters and explored what was hidden in each of them. I also like how she highlighted the two worlds that William Acton straddled: that of the locals and that of the foreigners. She did a great job of showing the prejudices of differences in class and race.

And one of the best talking points of the book was how Ji Lin, who was a more talented student than her stepbrother, wasn’t allowed to go to medical school like her brother because she was a girl. It was a timely spotlight on how gender-dynamics worked in colonial Malaya and how women rebel and conform to societal expectations, drawing obvious comparison’s with women’s modern struggles today.

With The Night Tiger set in 1930s Malayla and with Ji Lin being a dance hall girl with Louis Brooks looks, it’s a charming read for anyone interested in this time period.

 Vintage Enthusiast Rating

Fashion: ♥♥♥

Music: ♥♥

Dance: ♥♥♥♥

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Do you like historical magical realism. Do you think the genres compliment each other or are at odds? Do you prefer more of a fabulist approach? Have you read any of Choo’s other novels like The Ghost Bride? What are some of your favorite magical realism novels?

Tam Francis is a writer, blogger, swing dance teacher, avid vintage collector, and seamstress. She  shares her love of this genre through her novels, blog, and short stories. She enjoys hearing from you, sharing ideas, forging friendships, and exchanging guest blogs. For all the Girl in the Jitterbug Dress news, give-aways, events, and excitement, make sure to join her list and like her FB page! Join my list ~ Facebook page