Sunday, September 1, 2013

Laura Bickle

Laura Bickle’s fiction for adults and young adults includes The Hallowed Ones, Embers, and Sparks. Her newest release is The Outside, a young adult thriller that received a Kirkus starred review.

Last month I asked the author about what she was reading. Bickle's reply:
I’m reading Yangsze Choo’s The Ghost Bride. The premise is fascinating: Li Lan, the daughter of a family with failing fortunes in Malaya, has been asked to be the ghost bride to the dead son of a wealthy family. I’d heard of the concept of ghost brides before, the idea of promising the living in marriage to the dead to placate unhappy spirits. Choo expands upon this concept in an amazing way, as Li Lan struggles to escape such a marriage while being haunted by the ghost of the petulant and powerful dead son. Li Lan crosses into the world of the dead to unravel the mystery of his death. Her dangerous journey to the land of the dead uncovers mysteries in Li Lan’s own family, representing her last chance to salvage her future and her family’s fortunes.

This is a gorgeous, gorgeous book – the rich imagery, cultural detail, and the compelling story make it a lovely gem. The tension between the worlds of the living and dead, so inextricably intertwined, creates a surreal, fascinating setting for this coming of age tale.
Visit Laura Bickle's website, blog, Facebook page, and Twitter perch.

--Marshal Zeringue